A Basset hound is held for a photograph at the Rutland County Humane Society in Pittsford Sunday. Photo: Cassandra Hotaling / Rutland Herald

By Cristina Kumka Rutland Herald

The family accused of neglecting more than 100 farm and domestic animals on two of their farms in Brandon and Hubbardton "went beyond their capacity to take care of them," the attorney representing Suzanne Hegarty and her relatives said Sunday.

"This isn't a case where you have a woman who doesn't care about her animals," said Peter Langrock in a phone interview from his Salisbury home.

"They had too soft a spot for animals is what they had," he said.

The prominent Middlebury criminal defense attorney is representing the Hegartys in their second brush with the law following allegations of animal cruelty and neglect.

Officers from the Rutland County Sheriff's Department along with 50 volunteers seized cats, dogs, rabbits, ferrets, doves, goats, Shetland ponies and roughly 60 horses Friday following a three-week investigation. The probe began after an official from Fish & Wildlife found a dead goat on one of the properties.

The animals were seized from a farm in Brandon and another farm in Hubbardton, according to Sheriff Stephen Benard, who did not provide the names of the farms owners.

However, on Sunday, Langrock identified the Hagertys as the owners of both farms and a Web site for La Chandolaine Farm at 671 Kimball Road lists the Hagertys as the owners.

The horses and other livestock were transferred to the Spring Hill Horse Rescue in Clarendon, a rescue site reportedly overcrowded before Friday's influx.

Thirty-two other "house" pets seized were being held and treated at the Rutland County Humane Society in Pittsford, according to Executive Director Gretchen Goodman.

While there hasn't been a final determination, Benard said at least 40 percent of the animals seized exhibited signs of malnourishment.

Langrock said when the Hegartys were approached by investigators Friday they willingly allowed the animals to be taken off their properties for evaluation by veterinarians.

"The Hegartys believed they treated their animals well," Langrock said.

"The authorities were interested in finding out if they (the animals) were too thin."

Langrock did indicate that the Hegartys "may well have been beyond their capacity to take care of them."

The Web site for La Chandolaine Farm touted the farm as offering "many different services," including riding lessons, horse and foal sales, breeding services, pony parties and a traveling pet zoo.

Langrock said the family did operate the farm for the sale of horses but said he wasn't sure if they rescued animals as well.

"In trying to do good things, they overextended themselves and the animals suffered for that," he said.

The owners of the farms would likely face animal cruelty and neglect charges, Benard said in an interview Friday.

In 2001, the Addison County Humane Society seized "Paka," one of the Hegarty's horses from an East Middlebury property they owned, without prior notice to the family, because it showed signs of being low in weight, according to court documents. Although no criminal charges were filed, the horse was treated and returned to the family.

Langrock said Sunday the Hegarty family is concerned with the health of their animals and is willingly cooperating with state investigators in Friday's case to make sure the animals get the care they need.

He said the animals had water and feed but it may not have been nourishing enough.

"The basic question is whether there was sufficient feed to keep them in the shape they were in," Langrock said.

Jill Tucker, a humane enforcement consultant with the Vermont Humane Federation, said the Hegarty case isn't the last cruelty case she expects to see this year.

"Neglect cases will rise because of the economy for sure," Tucker said.

"Hay has gone up double and grain has gone up. It's certainly tough to feed those animals."

But, she said, there isn't an excuse for getting animals help if you know they need it.

"The alternative is that they stand there and starve," Tucker said.

Contact Cristina Kumka at cristina.kumka@rutlandherald.com.