OAKLAND — Charges could be filed as early as Monday in a case of alleged animal abuse and neglect on a King Wildesen Road farm.
The Garrett County Humane Society now plans to bring charges against three people — Richard Friend, the Oakland man who apparently owned the animals, Friend’s wife and a son.
Friend did not respond to an interview request from the Times-News.
Deb Clatterbuck, a Humane Society volunteer investigator, said the agency is still awaiting reports from veterinary analyses and forensic testing on dead animal remains, but has enough information to proceed with the charges.
On May 13, officials seized 26 horses, 18 cattle and six goats from the Garrett County property, saying the animals were neglected and slowly starving to death. It was the largest number of animals ever seized by the county Humane Society in a single incident.
The horses were transported to Days End Farm Horse Rescue in Woodbine, and the cattle and goats to another farm adjacent to Days End.
On Tuesday one of the horses, a mare that had apparently been nursing an unweaned yearling foal before being moved to Days End, had to be euthanized.
Sue Mitchell, director of development at the horse rescue, said the decision to euthanize was made by a veterinarian.
“It was a quality of life issue for her,” Mitchell said. “A necropsy was performed on her and those results are pending.”
The other horses are still on a critical-care treatment plan, which means 24-hour care and a slow, gradual reintroduction to food, Mitchell said.
“They were in an extremely precarious situation,” she said. “We’re still introducing foods and medicines and vaccinations to them. That could cause a shock to their system at any time.”
The carcasses of multiple dead horses, found in the same pasture as the living animals, are still undergoing testing in an Orlando lab by experts with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Clatterbuck said the number of animals’ remains found on the property could be much larger than the 17 initially reported, because multiple animals might have been placed on one carcass pile.
The cost of the lab work will be covered by the ASPCA, but the county Humane Society is seeking grants to help fund the cost of care for the surviving animals. Clatterbuck said the cost of moving all the animals totaled about $20,000, and that figure could increase to about $50,000 with the addition of veterinarian and farrier bills.
Days End Farm put out a call for volunteers and donations to help care for the horses, Mitchell said.
“We’ve gotten such a tremendous response, so we want to say thank you,” she said. “And we still need more. Please continue to call.”
Contact Megan Miller at mmiller@times-news.com.
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Charges may be filed in Garrett horse neglect case
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