SALISBURY, Md. - On Wednesday, day two of the animal cruelty trial against Barbara Pilchard began with her testimony.
Pilchard took the stand to tell her accounts of her horses and the conditions police found them in on March 16, 2018.
Pilchard faces more than 60 charges, including aggravated animal cruelty.
During her testimony, Pilchard said no one could've cared for her horses better than she did. Pilchard explained food and clean water was available for all 96 horses she owned every day.
Pilchard explained that each of her 96 horses had a name and familial group they traveled with around the pasture. The state questioned why police found over 100 horses on her farm on March 16, 2018. Pilchard explained that some had died during a blizzard that week.
The snow during the week of March 16th is why Pilchard says she turned off the running water in each of her barns so the pipes wouldn't freeze and the weather made it difficult to get to the back of the farm.
Pilchard's attorney called into evidence receipts from January 1 to March 16 of last year from Farmers & Planters where Pilchard purchased two tubes of deworming paste and sweet feed for the animals.
Pilchard described that the two tubes of dewormer was being used for a horse she planned to sell in April.
Pilchard says she cared for the horses herself and any horses that were ill could not be helped by a veterinarian. Pilchard says she attempted to save the foal that was found dead by police feet away from her front door that week.
Pilchard described that the foal had been abandoned by the mother in the cold so she dragged the foal on a tarp into her home to try to keep it warm. Ultimately she says the horse died from hypothermia and she took it outside until she could bring it to the compost pile on the back of her farm.
After Pilchard's hour long testimony on Wednesday morning, her attorney requested transcripts from the testimonies given on Tuesday before proceeding to closing arguments. The judge granted that request, ultimately delaying the rest of the trial until April 5th.
The state hopes that the judge will also be ready with a verdict during that time.
