Update: Trial proceedings have been suspended for the week of Sept. 23. The trial will resume Sept. 30.

A Texas equine veterinarian and amateur dressage rider is in court this week facing a felony charge of animal cruelty related to using a cattle prod on a horse she was treating. 

A jury in Brazos County, Texas, will decide if Ashlee Watts, DVM, formerly with Texas A&M University, abused an equine patient under her care, according to state prosecutors. Watts, 47, of College Station, Texas, was indicted on an animal cruelty charge in October 2021. She also previously faced a civil case brought by a horse owner whose animal was under her care in recent years. 

The criminal felony trial got underway on Monday, Sept. 16, and is expected to last a week. 

According to the 2021 indictment, Watts is accused of excessively using a cattle prod on a horse named Allie. The indictment described her actions as “intentionally and knowingly torture to a livestock animal,” and explained that it is not a common or generally accepted practice. A cattle prod, commonly called a “hotshot,” is a handheld device that produces an electric shock. 

The Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners revoked her license to practice earlier this year after an investigation into the case found evidence of animal cruelty, unnecessary and unauthorized treatment and dishonest record-keeping in failing to document her use of the hotshot.

According to “undisputed background” information given in that investigation, Watts performed surgery on Allie to treat an abscessed infection in her rear hoof. While the horse awoke from anesthesia and initially appeared “bright,” she was still unable to stand the day after her procedure. The horse was moved to a stall with a mechanical lift the next day but was still unable to support her own weight in the sling.

While the mare reacted to the electrical shots, which video indicated were administered to areas of her body including her face, ears, muzzle and tailhead, she was never able to stand independently. At one point in the video, she was lowered back to the ground and left to rest on her side for approximately seven minutes before she was raised in the hoist again, and Watts administered more shocks.

At that point, video from the stall documented Watts “using the hotshot for over half an hour (including an approximately seven-minute break in the middle).” The text continues: “Allie was lowered and left alone to rest. She died in the stall approximately an hour and half later.”

A necropsy revealed that, in addition to the hind-foot infection Watts had treated, the mare was suffering from “severe pneumonia with numerous abscesses in her organs” and “unlikely to have survived even if she had been able to stand following surgery.”

“There is no allegation that [Watts] misdiagnosed Allie or should have recognized these conditions, which the evidence indicates are very difficult to diagnose,” the document notes, specifying that the case revolves solely around her hotshot use. “There is also no claim regarding the surgery that [Watts] performed.”

Following the mare’s death, a Texas A&M veterinary technician filed a complaint with the Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners and provided the stall video documenting Watts’ hotshot use.

During the veterinary board hearing, Watts testified that, “I strongly dislike using a hotshot and only use it when I think there is no other option to save the horse’s life.” She also testified that she had used a hotshot on only one other horse in her decade at Texas A&M, and that horse recovered.

As a result of the investigation, Watts’ veterinary license was revoked earlier this year.  

Regarding her current criminal trial, Watts’ attorneys did not respond to requests for an interview from The Chronicle of the Horse this week. Texas prosecutors said they cannot comment on a pending case.

Watts worked in research labs and performed clinical work at Texas A&M University as part of the large animal clinical sciences department since 2012. She’s also an amateur dressage rider who has competed in U.S. Equestrian Federation-sanctioned competitions, including the U.S. Dressage Finals. 

Her teaching and hospital responsibilities ended in October 2021, Kelly Brown, a spokesperson with Texas A&M University, confirmed. But Watts was still employed as a researcher through tenure until October 2022.

“Texas A&M does not permit the use of cattle prods on horses, and Dr. Watts was held accountable in a manner that reflects the seriousness of the situation,” Brown said in an email to the Chronicle.

Watts previously was sued in civil court by Heather Kutyba, the owner of another horse she treated. Kutyba dropped her cases due to state employment law and other personal reasons, she told local Texas outlets in 2021, but she has kept public tabs on the fallout from Allie’s case through videos and long-form posts detailing her own horse’s story and Watts’ progress through the state and court systems. 

If convicted of felony animal cruelty, Watts could face up to $10,000 in fines and up to two years in jail.