“ The defense also highlighted messages which suggested that, when the reported starvation and alleged neglect occurred, it was many of these horses’ first winters spent primarily outdoors, which can be a tough adjustment.”
I know that we have all rehashed this to no end, but my god I cannot believe that they are still trying to use THIS as a reason for the way those horses looked.
Exactly. What rubbish. There is no excuse for the neglect these horses endured. I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but if a horse is “adjusting” to living out and having difficulty a caretaker “adjusts” feed and care accordingly so there is no decline in condition.
I am not, unfortunately, but it sounds like it’s going well!
Just got home. I was not able to read any of the press from yesterday but it was surprising to me since I didn’t really feel like there was a particularly strong defense today. I was one of the later witnesses, so I only saw 2 others testify. For my portion, I stated my involvement with poofy and with transporting ruby and finch off the property, and my conversation with Byrd that night where she asked me “What are people going to say?” - Not really my main concern that night with two skeleton horses to load up. I told the court that with adequate feed and veterinary care, Poofy came into beautiful condition, went to a horse show and took care of my young son, and sadly with his new vigor, broke one of the bones in his feet which had holes in them from years of disease while bucking and farting in the field. I got choked up and needed a tissue and a moment when handed pictures of poofy, looking at me like any horse would look at a caretaker who had never done them wrong, with all his bones sticking out. The defense attorney only played my facebook reel of loading up ruby and asked if it was me, and I could identify which horse it was and what day it was. It took a minute to load and I must say when I was waiting to see what video he was about to question me about, I almost barfed wondering what on earth it was about to be.
The next two witnesses were a vet and an owner- the vet testified to her exams of three horses and the defense asked her questions suggesting their condition could be attributed to bad teeth or old age, but I didn’t think it was particularly pushy or effective. The owner described her involvement with Byrd and noted that when the horses were dropped off in 2019 the shipper called her to express concern. The defense produced all their text messages and asked her if they were hers, she said yes, and then asked if she had any problems with Byrd up until this incident, and she said no because she had no idea her horse was in that condition. Kind of a duh moment and I didn’t think particularly persuasive.
The defense attorney finished with a motion to strike all charges for horses with a BCS over a 2, suggesting that those would be just thin horses coming out of winter but that they were not harmed, and that the law requires intent. The judge asked him to clarify (because it does not require intent, from my understanding) and reminded him of one vet’s testimony that she had previously told Byrd her feeding practices were unacceptable and suggested it would be hard to say there was a lack of intention given that piece of information. Prosecutor responded by noting that body condition does not in itself determine lack of adequate food, and noted Scarlett who was only there 3 months and went from a 6 to a 1.5/2 - he suggested if someone took a horse with a BCS 5 and put it in a barren field and a week later it had a BCS of 4, that would constitute a lack of adequate nutrition and that the commonwealth should not be prevented from addressing animal cruelty before it reaches the point of near death. He also noted if the legislators wanted to make a certain BCS illegal, they would have written the law that way. He got a little wordy there and the judge interrupted and said basically he agreed and had no intent to create some kind of legal precedent about what body condition score constitutes inadequate nutrition and he would continue to hear each case individually. He overruled the motion and said all 13 counts carry to the defense tomorrow.
I think the judge is very sharp. I had concerns about the new commonwealth attorney who had comparatively less recent criminal trial experience, but he has worked very hard on this case and I think is doing a good job. I think Byrd’s attorney probably had more skill at one point at building up intensity slowly enough that no one noticed until he had what he wanted, but he didn’t seem to be getting much of anywhere with that today.
I will say the one thing I thought was out of bounds was apparently one of Byrd’s friends had access to a picture of one witness’s treasured senior pony on the day he was put down and brought it up to ask her if she was happy with his condition while she was on the stand. If someone had done that to me I would have puked. Seriously. There’s a big difference between one old horse that looks like hell who is being fed and treated well, just declining and the absolute horror show at her farm. Period.
BTW, to those following, I just picked up on one of the news stories that this is a bench trial; which means, both sides make their case in front of the judge and the judge ultimately decides.
Not a jury trial, where the jury decides guilt or innocence.
I can see the defense wanting a bench trial, because a couple of animal lovers on the jury would sway the verdict.
However, this judge seems like he’s not buying what the defense is selling, and the judge is the ultimate decision maker.
Guilty on 5 of 13 counts. I don’t think that has anything to do with her proving her innocence, just the information not being always organized in a way that gave the non horsey judge what he needed to convict.
Poof wasn’t one of them. I cried in the parking lot. I had hoped it would be the last thing I could do for him, but I know he probably cared more that the real last thing I did was request the vet block his feet so he could go on his last walk in no pain. Really it would have been for me, not him, but it still stings.
At the end of the day, she is now a convicted animal abuser and the punishments on the table are about the same for 5 counts as 13.
I was struck by Byrd’s testimony. She knew so much about horse care and stated each horse there was being fed a bale of alfalfa and 6 quarts of grain a day, and described their individual personalities perfectly. As she talked about each horse I would believe she loved and cared for them if I hadn’t touched their bones through their skin. Her defense was heavy that this is her system and it’s worked for 25 years and the prosecutor noted that it hasn’t worked for many who didn’t survive to be listed in the charges.
Sentencing is in late May. I’ll keep yall updated.
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It’s sad to read this. It makes me wonder what sort of mental health disorder takes over in these instances. Not that I’m making excuses for her, I’m just noting the pattern often seen in these situations. Many of these abuse cases involve knowledgeable animal lovers. It’s like they lose the ability to see the reality they have created.
I’m sorry she wasn’t found guilty for Poofy. But you did not fail him in any way. How anyone could have seen what shape he was in, how he blossomed when once again receiving good care from you and still not think that was neglect/abuse is beyond me. Poofy is watching from across the bridge and would tell you to not feel bad over something beyond your control. ((((HUGS))))
Up to 1000 fine and 1 month in jail per charge. I think she will get all her time suspended and a fine, hopefully they find a way to keep her from owning horses again
Wow. What a disappointing wow.
I certainly wish the punishment was more severe. Perhaps public humiliation is present.
I assume her boarding business was shut down because of this?
I’m more worried about her creeping back up in the VA H/J world…
Give it a year and she will be back to judging and competing.
No she still has three clients two of whom testified on her behalf.
Oh, that is crazy.
I would prefer she not be able to have any control over the care of any animal.
Judging a hunter show is not going to hurt anyone, but being able to have a boarding barn gives her the opportunity to starve more horses and lie about it (no way were they getting a bale of any hay every day).
As light as the potential sentences feel, my one hope here is that any future horse owners looking for a retirement home for their horse who do their due diligence and research will find all of these news reports and multiple forum topics and will hopefully be able to avoid another outcome like this.
I hope any future new clients appreciate how difficult it is to be convicted of animal cruelty. Especially with “old horses” whom it’s easier to make excuses for poor doing. People don’t just get socked with 5 counts of animal cruelty for no reason.
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