Horses neglect Hopkins, SC (US) Incident Date: Thursday, Jul 31, 2003 County: Richland Local Map: available Disposition: Convicted Abusers/Suspects: » Colie Blease Martin, Jr » Colie Martin, III Case Updates: 3 update(s) available

Case ID: 2417 Classification: Neglect / Abandonment Animal: horse View more cases in SC (US) Login to Watch this Case

A father and son who run a horse-trading business are on trial this week, accused of starving or not providing proper medical care to 60 horses last August.

Colie Blease Martin III, 34, and Colie Blease Martin Jr., 61, each faces several years in prison if convicted on all counts.

In her opening statement Monday, Senior Assistant Solicitor Luck Campbell said some of the horses were so malnourished their ribs or hip bones were exposed, while other horses had open sores with �oozing pus.�

The trial before Circuit Judge G. Thomas Cooper is expected to run through this week and possibly into next. Campbell and Assistant Solicitor Jill Andrews could call as many as 60 witnesses, including 11 veterinarians.

Martin III is charged with 60 counts of ill treatment of animals, second offense. The charge carries a maximum 90-day sentence on each count, which means he could receive a total sentence of almost 15 years if convicted on all counts.

His first conviction stemmed from a 1998 complaint involving two horses, Campbell told Cooper outside the jury�s presence.

Martin Jr. is charged with 60 counts of conspiracy to commit ill treatment of animals, and would likely face a lesser sentence if convicted of all counts.

Investigators from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Richland County Sheriff�s Department seized the horses last August after an investigation by a Columbia-based horse rescue organization known as South Carolina Awareness and Rescue of Equines (SCARE Inc.), Campbell said.

One of the seized horses, a 10-to 15-year-old chestnut saddlebred mare � had to be euthanized after it was seized, the indictments said. The seized horses ranged in ages from several months to 28 years.

Watkins told jurors that although some horses �may not be pretty� to look at it, there was no evidence they were abused or in pain. He said he planned to call horse breeders to testify about industry standards.

�These animals were not pets,� he said. �It�s a farming operation.�

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