Horse neglect - 18 seized - Star Tannery, VA

Monday, Aug 16, 2010

A local veterinarian is set to appear in court next month for a hearing on multiple animal cruelty charges after authorities seized 18 horses from her former property because they were not being properly cared for.

Gwendolyn Jeanne Pfouts, 40, who owns Berryville Avenue Veterinary Clinic in Winchester, is facing 18 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty in Frederick County General District Court.

The charges come a few weeks after authorities seized the horses from Pfouts' former home at 2121 S. Pifer Road in Star Tannery after receiving calls from neighbors about the animals' poor condition. A bank in South Carolina recently foreclosed on the Pifer Road home.

According to a criminal complaint filed in court, two deputies received a phone call from someone on Aug. 16 in regard to the welfare of the horses. When police arrived, they found 18 horses "of various breed, age and sex with no shelter, inadequate food and lack of water."

"There were numerous horses that were very thin and needed vet care," the complaint says. "There were several piles of plastic wrapping on the ground."

Several witnesses, including animal control officers and veterinarians, were called to testify at a General District Court hearing Thursday to determine whether the county could sell the horses. Pfouts attended the hearing with her attorney, David Bean. An equine specialist, who was asked by the Frederick County Sheriff's Office to examine the horses, testified Thursday that their treatment was "inhumane."

Other witnesses, meanwhile, said the horses had little or no shelter, as well as inadequate water and hay. One neighbor said she found dead foals on Pfouts' property last winter. Months before the seizure, many had expressed concerns about the horses' welfare and often brought feed for the animals.

Thursday's hearing lasted well into the night before Judge David S. Whitacre ruled the horses were not given adequate care and ordered that the animals be sold by local government or disposed by sale or gift to a state-supported institution. Pfouts, meanwhile, is expected to be arraigned in General District Court on Oct. 25, according to online court records.

References

• Northern Virginia Daily News - Sept 4, 2010

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