AYER — A 78-year-old Ayer woman has been convicted of 30 counts of animal cruelty after authorities seized 162 animals and discovered several dead animals on her Taft Street property last year.
In Ayer District Court on Nov. 25, Ruth Maxant-Schulz received one and a half years in the House of Correction on the top count, with the term suspended for two years, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office. This means she will remain on probation during that time and could be required to serve the full jail term if she violates the conditions.
As part of the suspended sentence, she was ordered not to keep pets or engage in farming and to undergo a mental health evaluation.
On the remaining 29 counts, Maxant-Schulz was sentenced to two years of probation, to run concurrently with the top count.
Maxant-Schulz’s attorney, Daniel Murphy, said in an email to The Sun that his client — who he described as a “benevolent lifetime caretaker of animals” — is appealing the convictions, arguing the evidence was insufficient and that her constitutional rights were violated.
“Prior to the publication of these charges in multiple news outlets, Ruth had earned herself a stellar reputation in the community for good character and her nurturing of animals, for over seven decades,” Murphy said.
The case began on Feb. 20, 2024, when prosecutors said Ayer police officers were called to conduct a well-being check at the Taft Street property. Officers arriving at the scene saw animals roaming outside, including two ponies, along with several goats and ducks.
According to prosecutors, police also discovered multiple dead animals both outside and inside the residence — among them two goats at the front door and several more in a room littered with trash, feces, and debris.
While searching for Maxant-Schulz inside the home, officers found two baby goats lying side by side, one dead and the other alive but in poor condition. They also heard a dog barking from a back room and saw a duck wandering through the house.
Ayer’s Animal Control officer was called to the scene. Upon arrival, she reported hearing the cries of baby goats and noted there was no food or water set out for them.
On Feb. 23, 2024, the Ayer Police obtained a search warrant for the Taft Street residence. Working with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals-Angell, officers reported conditions consistent with what had been seen three days earlier.
Prosecutors said police also found a dog crate filled with fowl that had no access to food or water.
When Tufts veterinarians arrived, they determined the animals were at risk because of the property’s conditions and their lack of nutrition. The veterinarians concluded the animals were in a state of neglect and needed to be removed from the property.
At that time, an injured adult goat, seen limping with a broken leg, was treated by veterinarians and taken from the property.
Ayer’s health agent subsequently sought and obtained an administrative search warrant for the property. Inside a barn, the Nashoba Associated Boards of Health and the town’s Building Department reported finding a dead goat. Based on those observations, the Ayer Police applied for and were granted a second search warrant for the barn and the remainder of the property.
In addition to the livestock on site, police found dead and decomposing goats and chickens.
Prosecutors said many of the seized animals showed signs of neglect, including emaciation and various medical issues. Several goats were suffering from abscesses and mastitis, while several fowl taken from the property were treated for lice.
In total, prosecutors said 162 animals were removed during the two warrant executions: 49 goats, 91 chickens, 11 ducks, eight geese, two ponies, and one dog. All were taken into the care of MSPCA-Angell.
Murphy argues that the animal cruelty statute was misapplied and asked that all 30 animal cruelty convictions be reversed and vacated on appeal.
In a sentencing memorandum he submitted to the court, Murphy said Maxant-Schulz is currently appealing the convictions “based upon an insufficiency of the evidence and several violations of her state and federal constitutional rights.”
He said that his client was not accused of maliciously harming animals, but instead prosecuted under a theory that she failed to provide proper food, shelter, or sanitary conditions as required by law.
The memorandum added that at the time of the police well-being check in February 2024, “when the Ayer Police entered her property at 17 Taft Street uninvited, for a purported ‘wellness check,’” Maxant-Schulz was operating her animal farm under a Permit for Keeping of Animals and Fowl issued by the town, and had been subject to property inspections as part of that process by town officials, including the Ayer Police Animal Control officer.
Murphy said in his email to the Sun that the investigation was conducted by the Ayer Police, not the MSPCA-Angell — which he said “just assisted” — and he criticized authorities for opting not to request necropsies “of the three deceased adult goats or the deceased newborn goats, who simply failed to survive their birth, in the bitter cold of February.”
“A necropsy would have provided material evidence about these issues,” Murphy said, adding that without it, prosecutors could not prove the animals died from neglect rather than natural causes.
According to Murphy, at trial, Maxant-Schulz took the stand during the five-day trial to testify that she had isolated one deceased goat in a stall to determine whether further examination was needed and had placed two others behind her home until the ground thawed for burial. She said she contacted a man from a town cemetery department for help, but he was unable to assist.
“There was also evidence that the goats were in a near-frozen state,” Murphy said.
Maxant-Schulz also testified, according to Murphy, that she had operated her goat herd for more than 20 years and customarily buried deceased animals in her enclosed garden, which was protected by electric fencing.
Murphy added there was insufficient evidence that any alleged unsanitary condition negatively impacted the health of the animals.
“Neither the Statute nor case law defines what is ‘unsanitary’ for livestock and animals in general,” Murphy said in his email.
The defense attorney added that February 2024 was kidding season on the farm, when many goats were born, with some rejected by their mothers.
According to Murphy, Maxant‑Schulz testified she tried to save them by bottle‑feeding every four hours inside her cluttered home. The rest of the animals, she said, resided in the barn and bird coops, while a dog and ten young chickens were temporarily housed in the rear enclosed porch.
In response to what he said were Board of Health complaints about food storage, Murphy said his client purchased a commercial shipping container for food and kept three large freezers of animal feed. Multiple bales of hay, enclosed in plastic, were regularly purchased and stored, with more hay kept in the barn.
“There was plenty of testimony of her providing regular food and water to her animals,” Murphy said. “The prosecution’s primary theory was that of unsanitary conditions.”
To back up his claim about Maxant-Schulz’s “stellar reputation” in good character and care of animals, Murphy included seven letters from members of the community in the sentencing memorandum.
One letter said Maxant-Schulz treated animals “like her children.”
“I never saw her abuse them but always gave them the best care possible,” the letter said. “She is really a Saint in this world.”
Murphy also included in the sentencing memorandum a profile about Maxant-Schulz and her small farm published in The Sun in March 2009. In that article, she was quoted as saying, “Now, I’m balanced and in harmony and geese are an important part of that harmony. The best way of working with the world is to do it in the way God created.”
Follow Aaron Curtis on X @aselahcurtis, or on Bluesky @aaronscurtis.bsky.social.
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