Great Dane owner guilty on all counts

Christina Fay of Wolfeboro to be sentenced within 30 days for cruelty to dozens of dogs

OSSIPEE — Circuit Judge Charles Greenhalgh has found Christina Fay of Wolfeboro guilty of 10 counts of animal cruelty.

So said a 20-page order the judge wrote Monday, which noted that Fay will be sentenced within 30 days. The order was distributed to reporters by the communication’s office of the New Hampshire Supreme Court Tuesday.

That is also when the fate of the dozens of Great Danes that Fay has been convicted of abusing and neglecting will decided.

Though the trial, overseen by Greenhalgh, began Oct. 16 and ran six days through Nov. 14, the case actually started in June, when police and Humane Society of the United States seized 75 dogs from Fay’s home in Wolfeboro and nine more from a Bartlett location. The Conway Area Humane Society received another nine dogs prior to the seizure.

On Tuesday, Wolfeboro Police Chief Dean Rondeau and the HSUS issued a statement saying they were pleased.

Rondeau said he was thrilled with the verdict. “I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to prosecutors Simon Brown and Timothy Morgan, as well as The Humane Society of the United States, Conway Area Humane Society and Pope Memorial SPCA for their incredible work and dedication to rescuing and seeking justice for these Great Danes.”

Rondeau said he will ask Greenhalgh at sentencing to order that Fay’s dogs, which are in the custody of the HSUS, be surrendered.

“New Hampshire law states that upon a person’s conviction of cruelty, the court has discretion to determine the fate of victimized animals,” said Rondeau in a press release.

Fay’s legal team — Kent Barker of Winer and Bennett in Nashua and Jim Cowles of Walker and Varney in Wolfeboro — said they were disappointed by the verdict.

They issued a press release that said: “Mrs. Fay’s primary concern at present is the welfare of the dogs, who remain her property and have been held for six months post seizure as of this coming Saturday. Mrs. Fay looks forward to the next step in the process.”

The lawyers say they plan to appeal to the superior court.

Fay, 59, faced a dozen charges alleging she kept dogs in squalid conditions rife with feces and urine and denied them adequate food, water and care.

Leading up to the raid, Fay, who operated a kennel called De La Sang Monde Great Danes out of a mansion in Wolfeboro, said she faced staff turnover while she recovered from knee surgery. This hampered her efforts to keep the home clean, she said. Fay also said the weather was hot, and that was a contributing factor because the animals are temperature sensitive.

“The defendant was clearly aware of the conditions in her home and had sufficient  knowledge that they were not humane and did not meet the standard of care for these dogs,” wrote Greenhalgh. “She herself admitted that with so many dogs and so few employees she had entered a ‘perfect storm.’”

Greenhalgh said Fay told arresting Wolfeboro Police officer Michael Strauch that she “knew it looked bad” as she was being arrested.

In his order, Greenhalgh said the dogs’ living conditions began to decline in March. He said caring for the dogs was a 12-hour-a-day job when she had four or five people working for her. By 2017, it had fallen to two, including Fay.

“The Defendant’s schedule, if followed, would have certainly met the minimum standard of care of dogs as described by (expert state’s witness Jerilee Zezula),” wrote Greenhalgh. “It strains credibility, however, to believe the Defendant was able to maintain her schedule of care with only herself and (employee Julia Smith) working during the week and only the Defendant on weekends.”

Zezula described minimal care as providing: access to water at all times or at “regular intervals throughout the day,” wholesome and nutritious food, clean and comfortable places to rest, an appropriate area to exercise, opportunity to associate with humans and animals and a sanitary place to “void waste”

Greenhalgh Fay’s claim she could care for the dogs alone with the knee injury was also not credible.

At the end of last month, Greenhalgh dismissed two charges against Fay. One alleged that she failed to treat dogs with cherry eye, which is a condition involving a prolapse of a gland attached to the dogs’ third eyelids.

Greenhalgh disagreed with the prosecution and said there was evidence that she did attempt to treat dogs with that condition.  

The other charge that he dropped alleged that dogs were fed maggot-infested chicken. Fay disputed that claim, and Greenhalgh said no witnesses testified that they saw such food actually being fed to dogs.

Five charges Greenhalgh found Fay guilty of related to individual dogs named Zizi or H202, Fantasia or C6, Lyra or I1-03, Joue or G2 and Haraza or I1-05.

“The conditions in which these dogs were kept constitutes cruelty under RSA 644:81,” wrote Greenhalgh. “Their cages and living areas were covered with an accumulation of feces and urine days or weeks old.

“The dogs had to walk in and lay down (in) the waste covering the floor. The concentration of ammonia was great enough to cause or exacerbate conjunctivitis. I1-03 and H2-02 had tail tips consistent with happy tail (an injury associated with tail wagging against hard surfaces) which was not being properly treated. The defendant’s failure to treat papilloma virus was causing its spread and I1-05 and C6 were both infected. Two of the dogs G2 and I1-05 had untreated ear infections which were caused by conditions in the kennel.”

The other five charges relate to the dogs in general.

The judge wrote: “The evidence shows that the Defendant did not provide proper care, substance or shelter. Many of the dogs had untreated illnesses, including giardia, ear infections and papilloma virus. The evidence shows that these illnesses began to multiply and spread, untreated between May and June, 16, 2017. The dogs were left without adequate water on multiple occasions. They were housed in inadequate, unsanitary facilities, which did not allow them to remain clean and dry. Their living arras were poorly ventilated and they were exposed to unhealthy levels of ammonia.”

On Tuesday, Debra Cameron of Conway Area Humane Society confirmed that all of the nine dogs sent to Conway and their three puppies have been placed in new homes.

“We are relieved at the outcome, and feeling overwhelmed with gratitude for the HSUS’ dedication to ending animal suffering,” said Cameron.

Lindsay Hamrick, New Hampshire state director for The Humane Society of the United States, said “Given the facts of the case and the compelling evidence the state presented, Judge Greenhalgh was right to find the defendant guilty of animal cruelty. The suffering these animals endured at Fay’s hands could have been alleviated much sooner or prevented if New Hampshire had stronger commercial breeding laws.”

Hamrick said the dogs have recovered from many of their ailments but some have long-term health issues.