fashion.

“I think she overextended herself. She has a big heart, but not enough proceeds to support the animals with the care that they need.”

Last week, Nelson ordered goats, a calf, dogs and cats seized along with the horses and donkeys returned to Spencer.

When rescue and animal control workers went to Spencer’s property on May 28 they found a crippled goat, a donkey with severely overgrown hooves and malnourished horses. At Spencer’s Hitchcock property, pregnant and underweight horses roamed several acres with a llama, which was reported to be in poor condition.

Spencer testified Thursday that she had recently received many of the animals in poor health and was trying to make them well.

Nelson said he spent 12 to 15 hours this weekend toiling over his decision. He said he even talked with other veterinarians about the condition of the animals.

“I take these things very seriously,” he said.

Spencer’s attorney, Stephen Rubin, said he could not comment on Monday’s ruling because he had not spoken to his client.

Rubin painted Habitat for Horses as a money-hungry organization fighting to put his client, whom he said was a competitor, out of business.

On Tuesday, he grilled Jerry Finch, director of Habitat, on his salary, the organization’s finances and business operations. He said Finch seized Spencer’s horses so his nonprofit group could collect more adoption fees once they rehabilitated the horses.

Finch said the group would lose thousands of dollars for the care for just one 20-year-old horse.

“It will cost us at least $2,000 and up to a year of hard work to bring that horse back to health,” he said. “If he is lucky enough to be adopted, we might bring in $300. We do this because we don’t want to see animals neglected.”

Finch said that he was pleased with Nelson’s ruling and thought it showed the changing attitudes in the area toward animal welfare. Habitat for Horses has a contract with Santa Fe and Hitchcock for large animal rescues.

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