Jurors Left With Images On Videotape
State rests case after showing condition of horses as Animal Control worked

BY JOHN PATTERSON
SALISBURY POST

The state rested its case against a Salisbury woman charged with neglecting her herd of horses, but not before it left those in the tiny district courtroom Friday afternoon with a saddening, yet powerful, set of images.

Ann Frye, an animal control officer with the Salisbury Police Department, showed the court a videotape of how Carolyn Nance's horses looked when Rowan County Animal Control officers and volunteers seized 16 of the malnourished animals in December.

The pictures that flashed across the television screen will no doubt stick in many people's minds. Images like the grossly protruding ribs and hip bones, a muddy pasture lacking grass, the jagged edges of a tough, plastic tub gnawed and chewed by the starving horses and a pine tree stripped of its bark because, as Frye testified, there was simply nothing else for the horses to eat.

But perhaps most difficult to bear for those sitting in on Nance's trial was the final picture that flashed across the television screen Friday afternoon. In those closing seconds of the video, a sorrel mare named Star - bony, emaciated and so weak she couldn't stand - looks up with an expression that can only be interpreted as anguish. Infested with an abnormal amount of parasitic worms and hundreds of pounds below her normal weight, Star was close to death when the video was shot.

While Star was likely in the worst condition of any of the horses seized from Nance's leased pasture on Dec. 21 and 23, a number of witnesses testified Friday that all of the horses taken were malnourished and needed help.

Dr. James Gardner, the veterinarian who was called to the pasture by Animal Control, testified that he didn't think there was any question that all 16 of the horses seized were neglected.

On his first trip to the pasture, located on Old Mocksville Road, Gardner's attention was immediately focused on Star. When he arrived, the mare was extremely thin, debilitated and weak, Gardner testified.

''I was called there to euthanize her because she was down,'' Gardner said. ''But she was up when I got there, so we decided not to put her down. We really felt like Star might die. ... I feel like there's no question that she would have died if we hadn't done something. It was definitely an emergency situation.''

Gardner said he also saw ''eight or nine'' other horses that day. All of them were underweight, their hair coats extremely rough and many of them had a potbellied look, a condition that stems from not eating enough.

Using a ''body scoring'' scale that ranks horses from 1 to 9 (with 1 considered poorly thin and 9 considered obese), Gardner said that at least half of the horses he saw that day would have scored a 1 or 2. And, he testified, none of the horses he saw would have been ranked over a 4.

Though other veterinarians have said a 5 on the scale could be considered normal weight, Gardner said he truly believed most horses should be around a 7 on the scale to be considered healthy and of normal weight.

Gardner also testified that at least three of the horses were ''crawling with worms.'' Gardner, using a test that can determine the number of parasitic worm eggs per gram of manure, found dismaying results.

''I wouldn't usually worry if we found 100 eggs per gram, but we'd usually de-worm a horse if it had 300 or so eggs per gram of manure,'' Gardner said. ''I tested three of these horses ... two of them had about 1,500 eggs per gram and the other had 3,700 eggs per gram of manure.''

Gardner said of the thousands of horses he's tested for worms, he's only seen a few with 3,700 worm eggs per gram of manure.

''That's incredibly high,'' he said. ''That much parasitic activity in a horse could definitely kill it.''

On cross examination, defense attorney James Davis basically sent Gardner back to veterinarian's school, quizzing him on a host of technical terms and conditions. Davis was looking to put on the record the possibility that the horses' weakened state could have been caused by any number of factors.

Gardner was polled about everything from intestinal cancer to horses that ''suck air'' while they eat. But he testified that the conditions raised by Davis could have at most been contributing factors. Gardner stuck to his opinion that Nance's horses were malnourished and neglected, not the victims of some unknown condition.

Frye, the last witness to take the stand for the state, said she was surprised the horses were still able to stand on her first trip to the pasture.

''Something needed to be done immediately,'' Frye said. ''I saw three horses chewing on the metal fencing. They had chewed trees ... anything they could eat. There was no food whatsoever. The water was not clean. It was murky and there were leaves in the bottom of it.''

Frye, who pointed out the pine tree that had fallen into the horses' pasture, said most horses won't touch pine unless they're starving to death.

Robin Cook, an officer with Animal Control, said she saw four bags of feed at the barn on the leased property. However, she testified, the horses were still extremely thin and she felt like they needed to be moved.

''If we hadn't gotten them out of there with the cold front that was approaching, with the sleet and freezing rain that was coming, we probably would have lost them,'' Cook said.

Cook and Frye were also witnesses to Nance's alleged attempt to run down Theodore Gelvin with her Jeep. Gelvin is a humane society volunteer who was at the pasture that day to help take the horses to the Rowan County Fairgrounds. Nance's alleged actions landed her two charges - assault with a deadly weapon and communicating threats - in addition to her 16 counts of cruelty to animals.

''She backed up like she was getting a better bead on us,'' Frye said. ''When it was all over, Ted (Gelvin) was between the fence and the Jeep. I thought she really wanted to hit us.''

The trial has no doubt been a roller coaster ride for all involved. On Wednesd ay, Judge Ted Blanton ruled that Animal Control's search of Nance's pasture and the subsequent seizure of her horses was unlawful, effectively killing the state's case.

But upon returning to the case on Friday after an extended recess, Blanton changed his mind and sided with the state's contention that Animal Control had a right to both go on the property and take the horses. Despite his ruling, Blanton on several occasions indicated that he was not happy with the process Animal Control officers took.

Assistant District Attorney Cynthia Barnhill also called a ''surprise'' witness Friday in an attempt to raise questions about Nance's character. Kevin Kirkpatrick lives beside Nance's leased property and his mother, Joyce, called in the original complaint about the horses to Animal Control. Kirkpatrick testified that he heard Nance ask people at her pasture ''how much would it cost for you to testify in court.''

Kirkpatrick said Nance came to the pasture Thursday morning - the day the trial was in recess. While there, she also asked people ''if everybody hated me,'' Kirkpatrick testified.

During cross examination by James Davis, Kirkpatrick said Barnhill told him ''they (the state) had a weak case the way it was going and they needed me to testify.'' But under additional questioning from Barnhill, Kirkpatrick said he was told to tell the truth and nothing else.

Kirkpatrick said in his opinion the horses were underweight and that they needed medical attention. Also, Kirkpatrick testified that he hadn't seen Nance at the pasture as much recently.

''I used to see her a lot in the morning and the evening,'' Kirkpatrick said. ''But I haven't seen her as much in the last four months.''

The defense is scheduled to begin presenting evidence Monday around 10:30 a.m. The trial will move, for the third time, into a different courtroom - the old courtroom on the third floor of the Rowan County Justice Center.