LOWELL — Former Dracut Selectman Cathy Richardson admitted to animal-cruelty charges Monday, more than a year after she voluntarily surrendered her three sick and undernourished horses to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

On the eve of trial, Richardson, 56, of 318 Richardson Road, Dracut, admitted to sufficient facts on Monday in Lowell District Court to five counts of animal cruelty by a custodian. Judge Ellen Caulo continued the case without a finding until Oct. 3, 2019, while she is on probation for three years.

If Richardson has no further legal issues, her criminal case will be dismissed at the end of her probation.

But with the animal-cruelty case still pending last May, Richardson, an incumbent selectman, finished last in the town election and lost her seat on the board.

Defense attorney Debra Dewitt, who represents Richardson, said her client decided to end the case because “it was in her best interest personally and professionally.”

Dewitt added that Richardson was “going through some difficult times back then. Things are going well for her now and she wants to move on.”

As part of the plea agreement, Richardson can keep some of her current animals, such as her mule, Lucy, chickens, pigs, rabbits and one horse, Baboo, Dewitt said.

Richardson is required to maintain proper care and shelter for the animals, comply with the inspections and recommendations of the MSPCA and Dracut Animal Control officer, complete an animal husbandry equine-care training program and notify any training programs that use her land of her probation status, according to court documents.

The MSPCA had accused Richardson in March 2015 of failing to provide adequate food, water, shelter and sanitary conditions for her four horses — Remy, Bailey, Blake and Baboo — and a mule, Lucy.

All of the animals were allegedly found to be thin and in desperate need of medical care. An MSPCA investigation found that during one of the worst winters in years, two of the horses took shelter under some trees because their man-made shelter was inaccessible due to manure and ice.

During some of the MSPCA’s visits, officials found no food or water readily available.

“She was really trying her best with her resources and then the awful winter,” Dewitt said of Richardson.

Richardson voluntarily surrendered her three of her four horses to the MSPCA, which cared for them at the Nevins Farm in Methuen. The sickest horse, 30-year-old Remy, not only recovered but flourished, eventually being adopted and renamed “Flora.”

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