Wicomico Co. animal cruelty trial postponed

WICOMICO COUNTY, Md. – A trial put on hold. A Wicomico County horse farm owner charged with 56 counts of animal cruelty learned that she’ll have to wait a week until the court makes a decision on her case.

But that wasn’t before she gave her side to the story.

“No one could have done a better job.” That’s what 74-year-old Barbara Pilchard said on the stand several times while testifying in her trial Wednesday morning.

Pilchard believes she did nothing wrong and says that she did nothing but care for her 96 horses. According to her, the only reason some of her horses died last winter and others were found to be emaciated and malnourished was due to bad weather.

She claims the blizzard, cold temperatures, and rain caused a few horses to die from hypothermia and that the cold, muddy conditions in her field made it impossible for her to get back to the barn to feed them hay.

But she said she always had hay and feed out for them on her back porch.

Testimony that the state was quick to challenge reiterating the fact that veterinarians who surveyed her farm and evaluated her horses, said there wasn’t enough shelter or running water. And that 14 of her horses were all found to be malnourished, riddled with parasites and in need of veterinary care.

Her response, ‘that was a crock’ saying there was no need for a vet because she could do it all on her own. She said in the winter it’s normal for horses to lose weight and gain it back in the spring, but that she never intended for any of her horses to not be fed.

During the trial Wednesday, the defense asked for a full copy of the transcript which the judge ended up granting. That’s why closings and hopefully a verdict won’t happen until next week.