Upper Bucks Woman Accused of Cruelty to Horse

A Springfield Township, Bucks County woman is facing aggravated animal cruelty and neglect charges for allegedly failing to provide veterinary care for an eleven-year-old thoroughbred horse named Brazilliant.

According to the Bucks County SPCA, the arrest of Heather M. Fitzgerald, 54, earlier this month followed “multiple…reports of poor conditions at (her) property” which were investigated by BCSPCA Humane Law Enforcement officers as well as a 2025 court order requiring her to rehome all of her animals within six months, with which she allegedly failed to comply. A May 7 news release published on the animal welfare organization’s Facebook page said Fitzgerald has been “repeatedly cited for alowing her dogs to run loose” and that one of her dogs allegedly killed a neighbor’s cat last year, prior to her alleged neglect of the horse.

The BCSPA said Brazilliant “suffered painful conditions from untreated cancer that had spread throughout his body,” which was discovered in mid April. They added that the cancer left him “in such poor condition that equine veterinary specialists determined that immediate euthanasia was the most humane outcome to end Brazilliant’s pain.”

The organization said its officers became aware of Brazilliant’s plight after Fitzgerald emailed them about an eye injury she was trying to treat on her own.

“They were dismayed to find Brazilliant in very poor condition,” the release said. “His badly damaged eye appeared to be sunken into the socket and was weeping what appeared to be a mixture of blood and pus. A large lump was visible near his mouth making it difficult to eat. He was very thin and stumbled when walking.”

“In consultation with BCSPCA’s Shelter Veterinarian, BCSPCA transported Brazilliant to Penn Vet’s New Bolton Center Hospital in Kennett Square,” it noted. “Their equine veterinary specialists examined (him) and came back with the worst possible news. His eye was cancerous, and the cancer had spread to the bones in his face, down his spine and into other parts of the body, causing neurological symptoms in his back legs. He was suffering terrible pain from the cancer eating away at the bones in his face.”

BCSPCA officials said the type of cancer Brazilliant had is “common and treatable,” and that with early intervention it could have potentially “been kept from spreading.”

“This is a tragic case of failure to provide veterinary care,” they added.

Fitzgerald was arraigned on the animal cruelty and neglect charges filed by Springfield Township Police on May 4 and was committed to the Bucks County Correctional Institution in lieu of 10 percent of $150,000 bail, which was later reduced to a nonmonetary bail condition. Court records show that she was released after signing a nonmonetary bond on May 8.

A preliminary hearing before District Judge Gary Gambardella in Ottsville is scheduled for Monday, June 8 at 9:15 a.m.

The docket filed in the case did not list an attorney for Fitzgerald.

Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using information provided by the Springfield Township Police Department, the Bucks County SPCA and Bucks County court records.