FARMINGTON – Several state witnesses testified Wednesday that there was no food or water for dozens of animals kept at Carol Murphy’s home in New Sharon last winter.
They also testified that the 60 or so animals were living in filthy conditions. Some were dead, a duck had no feet, a dog was 60 to 70 pounds underweight, and a draft horse in a stall of manure and urine 6 inches deep had to be destroyed. One room in the house had cages stacked upon cages that held animals, they testified.
It was the first day of Murphy’s trial in Franklin County Superior Court on charges of animal cruelty and possessing animals without a permit.
The state seized the animals in March 2004 after state humane agents and others had been checking on the place since January of that year. Many of the animals were bought at auction.
Murphy, 60, sat beside her attorney, Andrews Campbell, shaking her head from side to side often and writing notes to her attorney.
Campbell told the jurors in opening statements that Murphy was kind and loving to her animals. He said she may have been doing some things wrong, but they were not intentional, conscious or reckless.
Assistant District Attorney Andrew Robinson presented part of the state’s case against Murphy, projecting pictures on the courtroom wall for the 12 jurors and two alternates to see.
A former state humane agent, Bentley Rathbun, testified that he had visited Murphy’s home several times, checking on animals outside between January and February, and left notices for her to contact the state animal welfare office.
During his trips, he said, he observed there was no drinkable water in a tub that had frozen solid and no edible food. He also noticed a dead skunk in the outside animal pen that contained two ponies, sheep, geese, birds and other animals.
Another witness, Mary Baumgartem, testified she met Murphy at an auction and gave her advice on how to care for her animals.
Baumgartem said she went to Murphy’s house in late January to offer her help. She knocked on the door and no one answered, but there was a lot of noise inside. The door opened up and she entered the house without permission, Baumgartem said. There were lots of animals in there, she said, including cows, rabbits, birds and pigs. She also said there was a pile of dead animals: two sheep, two calves and a pony or donkey, at the bottom of the steps from the kitchen to the barn.
The smell was strong, she said.
She drove to the nearest phone and called the animal control officer.
“Things weren’t right there,” she said. “It was horrible.”
Baumgartem said Murphy later brought some animals to her house so that the state wouldn’t get them, including a dead calf.
Melanie Nadeau said she went to Murphy’s house after Murphy asked her how to get a dead pony out or her barn. She provided Murphy with some hay for the animals when Murphy told her she didn’t have any money.
What she saw in the next three days prompted her to take pictures of animals in the house and send them to the state, she said.
She made the decision to call the state animal welfare authorities, she said.
State veterinarian Dr. Christine Fraser testified she was called to the Lane Road house to euthanize a draft horse named Thunder. She said that after an examination, she determined the horse had neurological problems and a collapsed rectum. The horse, which she said was significantly underweight, was lying in what she called filthy conditions, in a mixture of manure, urine and old bedding. He was basically a textbook rabies case, she said.
Fraser described most of the animals’ living conditions inside the house as filthy. Her testimony continues at 8:30 a.m. Thursday at the courthouse.
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