Horse neglect Bennington, NH (US) Incident Date: Tuesday, Nov 30, 2004 County: Hillsborough Local Map: available Disposition: Convicted Abuser/Suspect: Beth Alison Putnam Case Updates: 2 update(s) available

Case ID: 3683 Classification: Neglect / Abandonment Animal: horse View more cases in NH (US) Login to Watch this Case

An arrest warrant has been issued against Beth Putnam accused of underfeeding her horses, according to Police Chief Steve Campbell. She is facing 4 counts of cruelty to animals.

Four horses were seized from Putnam following an investigation by the state veterinarian, Dr. Clifford McGinniss. McGinniss said the horses had lost a lot of weight between a summer visit and one in December 2004.

"The horses looked good at that first visit," McGinniss said. "But by December, these horses had lost a lot of weight."

McGinniss said he and one of his technicians had told Putnam to provide hay, feed and water. The technician visited Putnam on several occasions and took photos of the horses.

"She said she'd fed them, but there was no hay chaff in the snow," McGinniss said of the last visit. "It was clear that she had not fed them. We contacted the New Hampshire Equine Humane Association, and one of their representatives came over with eight bales of hay. The horses are in safe custody now. They're being properly cared for."

This is not the first time Putnam has had horses seized from her, Campbell stated. "We took some horses from her about a year ago, but she had three or four horses left over."

The first seizure took place in the summer of 2003. Putnam claimed the action was illegal, and asked the selectmen to intervene in August. She also contacted the state Attorney General's Office, which concluded that her rights were not violated by the seizure, but that Putnam could pursue the matter in court if she wished.

"She never got those horses back," McGinniss said. "The deal was that if she gave up the three horses, she wouldn't face charges."

"The state was monitoring the current situation," Campbell said. "We were working with the equine society. It became evident that the horses had lost a lot of weight and were not getting hay, so we obtained an affidavit from the state veterinarian and requested a search warrant."

McGinniss said a horse's condition is evaluated on a one-to-nine scale that is commonly used in the equine world. A one on the scale is for a thin and emaciated horse, while nine is considered obese.

"An ideal weight for a horse is about four or five, depending on the use of the animal," McGinniss said. "The more weight a horse has, the less of his skeleton you're going to see. I rated her palomino at 3.5, which is not too bad, but you can't not have feed for them. The horses would probably still be there if she had only fed them like I asked her to."

Under state law, a first offense of animal cruelty is considered a misdemeanor, but subsequent offenses are considered to be class B felonies. Typically, conviction on a class B felony means from 3� to 7 years in prison, and the possibility of fines up to $4,000.

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References

	The Union Leader
	Fosters Online - March 24, 2005

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