NEW SWEDEN – A Fort Kent woman has been charged with aggravated cruelty to animals after police discovered three dozen dogs and cats at her former residence on Rista Road.

Edith Goodrow-Keddy, 52, had been operating an unlicensed kennel for homeless dogs and cats, some of which had disabilities.

She has been scheduled to appear Thursday, March 28, in Caribou District Court to answer to the charge filed against her.

The 29 dogs and seven cats were found in a two-story house, in an old camper, in cages and running loose, according to Aroostook County Sheriff’s Deputy Dan Robertson.

He said Goodrow-Keddy had not lived in the house for at least two months, but would travel from Fort Kent once a week to leave the animals some dry food. “They had no water, period,” he said.

“The woman had a big heart,” he continued. “She meant well and did well early on.

“She was doing a good thing,” he said, putting emphasis on “was.”

Some of the animals didn’t look to be in too bad condition, he said, but others might have to be euthanized.

The animals were taken to the Central Aroostook Humane Society shelter in Presque Isle, where staff and members of the society’s board of directors worked until about 9 p.m. getting them settled. A local veterinarian examined the animals Wednesday.

“We’re full to the brim,” Christine Robinson, president of the society’s board of directors, said Wednesday. She said the shelter already had seven dogs boarded before the ones from New Sweden were brought in.

The telephone at the shelter has been “ringing off the hook” with calls from people offering to help out with donations, she said.

Robinson said the dogs brought in included a German shepherd, a boxer and a Great Dane. Others were mixed breeds.

She recalled one cat that was brought into the shelter.

“I looked into the cage and saw this white face with crusty eyes looking up at me,” said Robinson, adding that when she took that cat out of the cage and cradled it, it started to purr.

“It was like she was saying thank you,” she said.

Lois Pike, the shelter manager, said that considering the conditions they were living in, most of the animals were in good shape. Most of the injuries were old bite wounds on dogs that had fought. Some of them, however, were sickly.

A cat was found to be jaundiced and could be suffering from liver problems. Some dogs have broken teeth. Two bouviers, which resemble large sheepdogs, will have to be shaved because their fur is badly matted and knotted, Pike said.

A Great Dane brought in is in the worst condition of all.

“She’s nothing but skin and bones and has hair hanging off,” said Pike, adding that the dog also has an abscess on its foot.

Pike said she had been told some dead cats also were found at the Rista Road site.

Robinson said most of the animals brought to the shelter eventually would go up for adoption, but for now they must be held at the shelter because of the ongoing investigation by the state.

According to Robertson, conditions in the house where some of the animals were found were deplorable.

“We had to get Scott air packs from the fire department and hazardous material suits to go in,” he said.

Two Maine State Police K-9 officers and the local animal control officer went into the house, he said. State game wardens also assisted.

Robertson said police have had a problem since April 2000 with dogs running loose at the site. Earlier in the week, he had gone to the house again to serve Goodrow-Keddy with a civil warrant for that same complaint when he discovered she no longer was living there.

Nelson Ketch, chairman of the New Sweden Board of Selectmen, said Wednesday that as far as he knew, Goodrow-Keddy had not been living at the house since last fall. He said town officials have been trying to deal with the matter for some time.

“We’ve gotten complaints for a couple of years from people who live near there,” Ketch said, adding that many of the dogs were running in packs.

“Some people were scared to walk on the road over there,” he said.

Ketch said the property might be condemned, but town officials are seeking input from state health officials before taking any action.