Woman ordered to start paying nearly $2 million in Great Danes neglect case

A woman who was convicted in 2018 of housing dozens of filthy and sick Great Danes in her New Hampshire mansion must now start paying back nearly $2 million for their care, a judge ruled Thursday.

Christina Fay was found guilty of 17 counts of animal cruelty.

She had been sentenced to pay the bulk of the money to the Humane Society of the United States, which took in, cared for and found homes for most of the 84 dogs seized from her 13,000-square-foot Wolfeboro residence in 2017. She also had to pay money to the town itself.

Her case was put on hold as she appealed to the New Hampshire Supreme Court, saying her privacy was violated when authorities allowed the Humane Society to take photos and video as it helped gather the dogs from the house. Her lawyer also unsuccessfully argued that Wolfeboro police had failed to disclose that an animal welfare group would be participating when they requested a search warrant from a judge. The court rejected Fay’s appeal in December.

Fay, 62, who joined the video hearing by phone and did not speak, has five years to pay back the money, in monthly instalments. She had pleaded not guilty and maintained that she loved the dogs.

“I lost everything I love,” she said in 2018.

Court records and testimony showed that Fay said she wanted to be the primary U.S. collector of European Great Danes and had been acquiring and breeding them since 2014.

Authorities who seized the dogs from Fay’s mansion back in June 2017 said the animals were living in urine and feces and suffering from health problems. Some of the dogs later died.