Butterfield Farm goats seized after months of neglect

CORNWALL — Dozens of goats were rescued last week from a local farm, where they had been kept by a tenant farmer. Dozens more had already died.

A search-and-seizure warrant, issued following complaints of neglect, was served Jan. 16 at the Butterfield Farm on Hautboy Hill Road. Tara Bryson, 40, of West Suffield, Conn., was named in the warrant. Bryson leases land from Buddy and Irene Hurlburt, who operate Hautboy Hill Farm there.

The Animal Control Division of the state Department of Agriculture recovered about half of a herd of about 100 goats. The surviving goats were taken to Niantic, Conn., and the York Correctional Institute’s animal rehabilitation facility.

There was no report at press time of charges filed against Bryson, who reportedly could not be found.

According to its website, the Butterfield Farm Company was established in 2009, and produces cheese, yogurt and bath and body products made from goat milk.

Buddy Hurlburt told The Lakeville Journal he started leasing part of his former dairy barn to Bryson last spring. By fall, it was obvious the goats were not being properly cared for. In deference to the investigation, he would only say there were activities taking place that were abnormal to animal husbandry.

He filed a complaint with the Department of Agriculture, as did Arielle Betti, who keeps cows in another part of the barn. Around Nov. 1, the department’s investigation began. The situation was monitored and Bryson was ordered to make changes to the way the goats were cared for.

Still, they were underfed and infested with parasites from eating manure, Hurlburt said. In the winter, their water froze.

Bryson hired young people to help her tend the goats, but they never lasted long, Hurlburt said.

“They couldn’t stand to see the goats neglected. They did what they could, but there was always someone new. One worker even used her own pay to buy hay.”

His attempts to speak with Bryson were futile, Hurlburt said, probably because she owed him months worth of back rent. 

“She was flying under the radar. She would come in at odd times, like 2 a.m., when she knew no one would be around.”

Despite efforts by her employees and orders by the state to seek medical attention for the goats, according to Hurlburt. Bryson allegedly said she could not get a veterinarian to come out to the farm.

The notion further angered Hurlburt, who said he knows of no local veterinarian who would not have treated the sick animals, regardless of whether or not Bryson paid them.

The integrity of Bryson’s products was also questioned. When milk production from her malnourished goats dropped, she mixed in cow’s milk, according to statements made to the state by her workers.

In late December, after the state failed to move quickly enough to prevent goats from dying, Hurlburt called Cornwall Animal Control Officer Brad Hedden. He called State Animal Control Officer Richard Gregan. 

That escalated the investigation, especially when state officials came to the farm to find goats shivering in the cold, sickly  and dying in increasing numbers. 

With the warrant finally issued and executed, the Hurlburts are grateful that it happened in time to save some of the animals, but are left to clean up the heart-wrenching aftermath of the neglect.