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Ruth Maxant-Schulz, 77, of Ayer, was charged with 30 counts of animal cruelty following a police raid at her home, the Middlesex District Attorney said on Monday, April 8, after her arraignment.
Officers were called to her Taft Street home on Feb. 20 and found several animals roaming outside the house.
However inside, things were much less bucolic.
Police returned several days later and found several dead and rotting animals, including two dead goats next to several others inside a room filled with feces, debris, and trash, police said. Officers also located four dead baby goats with one next to a kid that was near death inside the home.
Several other baby goats were locked in a room without food or water, authorities said.
A Tufts veterinarian who went with officers on the raid said many of the animals were locked in cages without food or water, many had parasites such as lice, and many needed immediate medical treatment, the DA's office said. One goat was found walking around on a broken leg. It was taken to Tufts for emergency care.
The veterinarian said the remaining animals were being neglected and needed to be removed from the house, authorities said.
Police seized 162 animals, including 49 goats, 91 chickens, 11 ducks, 8 geese, 2 ponies, and 1 dog, officers said.
Officers got another search warrant for the rest of the property and found several other dead and becoming goats and chickens.
A judge released Maxant-Schulz on her own recognizance, but she is not allowed to possess to care for any animals as a condition of that release. She also gave up possession of the animals taken from her home.
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