Richardson admitted facts on five counts of animal cruelty Monday, Oct. 3, in Lowell District Court, just before jury selection was scheduled to begin for her trial.
Judge Ellen Caulo continued the case without a finding for three years while Richardson is on probation, according to Elizabeth Vlock, spokeswoman for the Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan.
"Continued the case without a finding for three years" -- what this means is that she is NOT pleading guilty. She's admitting she did SOMETHING and, in exchange, the judge is putting her on probation for three years. As long as she doesn't get arrested (Misdemeanor/Felony) in the next 3 years, at the end of the 3 years, the animal cruelty charges will be dismissed. On her criminal record it will show that she was charged with animal cruelty for starving her horses, but it will also list DISMISSED.
She may also be able to get the entire thing expunged from her record afterwards. This would mean it gets completely removed from her record, and all the police reports, etc. associated with the case are blocked so no one can get access to them.
The former selectman, who lost her bid for re-election earlier this year, was facing the animal cruelty charges for allegedly failing to provide adequate food, water and shelter to four horses and a mule last year.
Three of those horses were surrendered to the MSPCA's Nevins Farm in Methuen in March 2015, including Flora, who came to the farm severely underweight and with injuries.
DAMNING EVIDENCE AGAINST CATHY RICHARDSON
Veterinarian Dr. Bryan Parrott testified that Remy was seriously underweight to the point where "she was just a skeleton." He rated her body a one -- the worst -- on a 1-to-9 equine body-scoring scale.
Parrott also testified that Remy's hooves were "long and misshapen," and pus oozed from a festering wound on her withers. Her legs were stained with feces and urine, a sign that she was laying in her own excrement.
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| Veterinarian Dr. Bryan Parrott |
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| Remy, or Flora as the mare was renamed by the MSPCA, as she appeared the day she was surrendered by Dracut Selectman Cathy Richardson. Courtesy MSPCA |
Aiden Mackey, then an 11-year-old from Methuen, started a fundraiser to help with care for Flora and her fellow horses. Flora was then adopted by the Mankivsky family of Westwood last fall and has been boarded at Cerulean Farm in Millis ever since.
“Flora is continuing to thrive in her new home,” MSPCA spokesman Rob Halpin said Tuesday. “She's gained all the weight back that she lost and, as best we all can tell, is loving life.”
Dunkin and Dewey, the two other horses surrendered with Flora, were also deemed healthy by the MSPCA earlier this year.
Richardson's initial trial for the animal cruelty charges took place in early February of this year in Lowell District Court. On Feb. 4, Caulo, the judge, declared a mistrial in the case, Vlock said previously.
In a statement given to the Lowell Sun, Cathy Richardson insisted the decision to agree to the case being continued without a finding was “ultimately the best way to protect my family, my profession, my farm and my community as well as demonstrate my commitment to all four.”
Pff. Whatever.
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| Remy as she appeared after being in the care of the MSPCA, having regained weight. Courtesy MSPCA |
Richardson was ordered by the judge to comply with MSPCA inspections and recommendations; provide and maintain proper conditions for all animals on her farm; to take an MSPCA course on equine care and animal husbandry; and to notify any programs that she hosts of the outcome of her case, Vlock said.
(Eagle Tribune - Oct 27, 2016)
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