Searsport woman gets horses back

SEARSPORT – Kathy Hecht, the Searsport woman whose horses were moved by a veterinarian last month to a Swanville farm out of concern for their welfare, picked up the animals Friday afternoon and returned them to her home.

Hecht said Friday that she picked up two adult horses and a foal and sent a third adult animal to a local man for further convalescence.

Chris Boynton, who operates Goose River Farm in Swanville with his wife Lynn, claimed Hecht gave away the third adult horse to have it euthanized.

In late February, a private veterinarian examining Hecht’s horses found that seven had died in recent weeks, and that seven more needed better shelter from the frigid weather.

Tests later revealed the horses that perished were poisoned by a growth hormone typically found in cattle feed. Cattle can tolerate the additive, but horses cannot.

Hecht denied feeding the horses the wrong feed.

“My horses are basically home after this horrific tragedy,” she said, but declined to go into detail about the history of the animals.

“This has been emotionally gut-wrenching. My horses are my family, and I’ve essentially lost half my family,” she said.

Hecht has been breeding Morgan horses since 1981, she said, and the poisoning of the horses has destroyed years of work.

While Hecht seemed eager to put the death of the horses behind her, Lynn Boynton said the saga is far from over.

Boynton met Thursday with Seth Bradstreet, commissioner of the state Department of Agriculture, state veterinarians Don Hoenig and Christine Fraser and the department’s animal welfare law enforcer, Norma Worley.

Hoenig returned a telephone message Friday, but said Fraser is handling reporter inquiries, and she was unavailable until next week.

Boynton sent a letter Friday to Bradstreet, criticizing Hoenig, Fraser and Worley for their conduct at the meeting, and said Fraser and Worley “seem intent on protecting Kathy Hecht.”

Boyton said in a telephone interview that state officials are not enforcing animal welfare laws, and that she tried to persuade them to seize Hecht’s horses.

“My preferred outcome is that she is not allowed to have horses,” she said of Hecht. State officials “say they don’t have enough to seize the horses [and that they] wanted to continue working with her, getting her to comply,” she said.

Hecht arrived in the area in 2003 with 35 horses, and just seven are still alive, Boynton said. A mare that remained with Hecht gave birth earlier this week, but the foal died, Boynton said.

Hecht would not comment on Boynton’s claim about the number of horses that have died over the last four years.

Earlier this week, Hecht had a sheriff’s deputy deliver a summons to Boynton that would allow Hecht to come onto Boynton’s property.

Boynton said they were willing to release the horses, but that Hecht had to come to terms with a boarding bill of $4,219, which included charges for the Boynton’s trailering the animals to their farm, caring for and feeding the horses and burying the dead horses.

“We’ve offered to work out a payment plan,” Boynton said, that would have Hecht paying $200 immediately, then $100 each week.