Animals found in squalid conditions Lee, NH (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Aug 16, 2011 County: Strafford
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Amy Nason
Police charged a woman with nine counts of animal cruelty, one each for the number of animals found allegedly living in squalor last month in the trailer from which she was evicted.
Police said the landlord at 1 Old Mill Road took a sheriff to evict Amy Nason from the trailer on Aug. 16, but found the animals there.
Officers with Lee and the New Hampshire SPCA went back the following day and found nine animals all living in poor conditions, police said.
"It was just dirty and smelly," said Lee police Sgt. Brian Huppe. "I wouldn't walk in there with my regular shoes; I put on my hazmat shoes."
Huppe said there were animal feces throughout the trailer, including up and down the hallway and on a bed. He said most of the animals had no food or water and all but one, a ferret, were roaming throughout the residence.
"He was the only animal in a cage and he had no water or food in the cage with him," Huppe said.
There were nine animals found at the home: three dogs, a ferret, two birds, an adult cat and two kittens with their umbilical cords still attached. All were taken by the SPCA.
In addition, police found a dead turtle inside the trailer and a dead cat outside.
"It looked like it had been there for a while because it was basically flat," Huppe said of the cat. "I had to ask one of the SPCA people what it was because I wasn't sure."
NHSPCA's veterinarian report that indicated medical tests for the three dogs came back positive for Lyme disease and anaplasmosis, another tick-borne disease. Both the cats and dogs were treated for flea infestations.
Each count relates to each of the surviving pets. Police said they decided to focus on the living animals. Police said it would have been difficult to determine how the turtle and the cat had died.
Though the ferret is eating regularly under the care of the animal shelter, it was underweight when brought in from the home. The two birds are being treated with antibiotics as well, as they are infested with mites.
Police issued an arrest warrant for Nason for nine misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty on Aug. 26.
She had been in contact with authorities since they took the animals and oscillated between wanting them back and not, Huppe said. Prior to eviction, Nason had lived in the trailer with her husband and daughter.
Nason, who has since moved to Hampton, turned herself into Lee police on Tuesday, Huppe said.
During her booking, she decided to sign over all the animals to the SPCA, giving that agency ownership of them.
Nason was released on $3,000 personal recognizance bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 11 in Dover District Court. References |