#standwithstarmountain – Star Mountain Kennel

Edited – Animal Cruelty Charges Against Margaret Boisture Dismissed

Hartford, August 29, 2023 – The animal cruelty charges against Margaret Boisture were dismissed today by Judge Stephanie Damiani of the Connecticut Superior Court on a motion by the State’s Attorney. In his statement in support of his dismissal motion, Assistant State’s Attorney Edward Azzaro highlighted the lack of evidence to support the felony charge of cruelty to animals and the lesser charges of unlawful tethering of animals and operation of a kennel without a license. Judge Damiani acknowledged Ms. Boisture’s guilty plea to one count of failure to administer a timely rabies vaccine, an infraction under Connecticut law, but immediately waived the fine and, in an unusual gesture, apologized to Ms. Boisture on behalf of the state for the ordeal inflicted on her by these charges.
The charges stemmed from a January 2020 raid on Ms. Boisture’s Star Mountain Kennel by the Bloomfield, Connecticut, animal control officer and police. Prior to that, Ms. Boisture was one of the leading breeders of Portuguese Podengo Pequenos in the United States, her dogs having won many honors on the national and local scene. Most of her top dogs were confiscated in the raid and, to save them from subsequent sale or destruction by the state, Ms. Boisture was forced, at great expense, to give them away. Also as a result of the charges brought against her, the American Kennel Club suspended her privileges, effectively ending her championship lines of dogs. Vicious local publicity brought her into disrepute and made her the subject of harassment by her neighbors that continues to this day.
Finally, after three and a half years, the state has dismissed the charges for lack of evidence. “I am grateful to Judge Damiani and State’s Attorney Azzaro, both only recently assigned my case, for taking the time and making the effort to review these baseless charges,” Ms. Boisture said after the proceedings today. “But what happened to me is all too typical of the attacks on responsible dog breeders by overzealous “animal rights” ideologues. All of my careful work of ten years was destroyed in a day, for absolutely no reason. A large part of my heart went with all my dogs, scattered to the four winds. I will never get it back, or them.”

Star Mountain Kennel has begun rebuilding its championship breeding operation and Ms. Boisture expects that the AKC will shortly reinstate her to full club privileges. A new generation of top dogs is up and coming, with generous help and advice from Ms. Boisture’s friends in the dog world throughout the U.S., Europe, and Australia. “I want to send my sincere thanks to all the friends, old and new, who stood with me in so many ways through all of this,” Ms. Boisture said. “I cannot imagine what might have happened had I not had such steady, generous support. Words cannot express how grateful I am to each of them.”

THIS IS AN ALBUM SO YOU CAN MEET AND SEE THE WONDERFUL DOGS “SEIZED” FROM ME BY ACO SPARKS. DOGS THAT ARE INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONS. DOGS I SHARE MY LIFE WITH. IF THIS COULD HAPPEN TO ME……..

Dear Friends,

As some of you may know, we are moving our location from Windsor to Bloomfield, CT. We have owned a farm there for several years and thought it would be the perfect place for the kennel to thrive. During our move, my dogs were seized. I have still not recovered them and fear for their health and well being.

I breed and show purebred Portuguese Podengo Pequenos. I have done so for more than ten years; it is my passion. Many of my dogs are champions and grand champions. In most years one or more of my dogs rank in the top ten in the breed in the American Kennel Club rankings. The notion that I would neglect the health and safety of any of these dogs is patently absurd.

I care for the wellbeing of my dogs scrupulously. We are currently moving them from their previous kennel at (and in) our home to a new kennel at our farm, ten minutes from the house. In early February, we will also move our residence to the farm (after the current tenants vacate the farmhouse). At the farm, the dogs are housed in a modern 2,000 sq.ft. building with washable walls, concrete floors with floor drains, central HVAC (including radiant heat in the floors), good lighting, hot and cold water, washer and dryer, and kitchen for food preparation. They are exercised outside morning and evening during cold weather and kept inside the rest of the day and night, in large, open-web crates that allow them to stand up, turn around, and lay down. Each morning and evening, we clean their crates (they are dogs and sometimes they make a mess!) and, if needed, provide fresh towels for them to sleep on. We also tend to their quarters and other needs, washing floors, cleaning food bowls, providing fresh water, grooming them, and feeding them. In warmer weather, they have outside runs, including doghouses in which they can shelter if it rains. In a recent inspection by the American Kennel Club, my kennel operation received the highest marks, with no negative comments.

I also care diligently for their health. The same veterinarians have cared for my dogs for years and can attest unequivocally to the level of care that they and I provide. My kennel assistant is a veterinary technician in training and can give the same unconditional account. All of my dogs were in good health when they were seized on January 24th.

I am very selective in my breeding program, striving to produce puppies that meet the highest standards for this energetic, robust, and ancient breed of hunting hounds. In recent years I have whelped four or five litters each year out of careful matches; I have studied the genetics of this breed and use that information to avoid congenital problems (which are thankfully few in the breed). I keep the puppies of highest promise for my pack, place others of high promise with other reputable breeders or breed enthusiasts in reciprocal arrangements, and place the others carefully in pet homes. I use the Puppy Culture program to raise my puppies from birth. In most cases the puppies are with me 10 to 12 weeks and of course never leave before 8 weeks. My dogs have done very well as show dogs, in agility competitions, as therapy dogs, and as wonderful friends and companions to their owners. I am an American Kennel Club Bronze-Level Breeder of Merit.

On a noise complaint, the ACO wanted a tour of my facility on the morning of January 24th. I politely declined. She put a police officer on my property with orders to prevent my morning chores, then got a search warrant on a false complaint that my dogs are left out overnight. (NEVER have we left an animal out overnight.) I invite you to watch the videos I have posted on Youtube (links below). Some I took on Jan 3 and 5th of the kennel before moving in. One I took on the 6th, the day we moved in.

I am writing this to all of you to inform you that I might be in the news shortly. In addition to the above travails, I have been threatened by the town attorney with arrest (without mention of what the charge might be). Also, I am sending this as a reminder that this can happen to anyone of you!!! Be careful and stand up and fight. There is a war on our rights! Stand up and fight.

Three videos I made of our set up.