Starving Horses Rescued from Maryland Farm

Link [There is one picture.]

At a farm located on King Wildesen Road in Garrett County, Maryland, 49 horses and cattle were rescued. At least 17 carcasses were found; 10 were horses and several were cattle according to Garrett County Humane Society.

The Days End Farm Horse Rescue took in 26 horses. All presented in different degrees of starvation and neglect. On the Henneke Scale, an objective evaluation of a horse's body condition, with numbers ranging from 1 to 9, and a body condition of 3 meaning no fat reserves on the horse's body, the horses were rated as a 1. According to the horse rescue, on an average, each horse was underweight 200 pounds. The rescued cattle were brought to a farm near the horse rescue.

"This was the largest number of animals ever seized at one time," stated Investigator Deb Clatterbuck, Garrett County Humane Society. A forensic pathologist specializing in animal neglect cases will examine the remains of the animals found to determine the cause of their deaths. Some of the carcasses had been thrown on garbage piles and recently burned.

The owner of the property was not present during the seize, and his name has not been released. Charges will most likely be of neglect against the owner.

I'm going to take a wild guess here and say they probably starved to death. Seeing as the horses rated a one.