Queen Anne’s County State’s Attorney Lance Richardson has informed The Equiery that he has now filed a total of 134 charges of animal cruelty (for criminal neglect) against Marsha Parkinson, owner of Canterbury Stables in Centreville, Maryland and owner of the 134 Polish Arabian horses impounded on April 29, 2011.
The case was scheduled to be heard in September, but was rescheduled to December 8 after Parkinson’s original attorney stepped off the case. At that point, there were only 67 charges filed. The State’s Attorney has repeatedly made offers to discuss a plea arrangement, but told The Equiery, “It’s difficult to negotiate a plea with her when she doesn’t have an attorney.”
As a result, Parkinson now faces one misdemeanor count of animal neglect for every horse on the farm, and reportedly has a new attorney. If convicted, Parkinson could face up to 90 days in jail for each count and a fine of up to $1,000 for each count.
Parkinson has not returned calls from The Equiery.
Click here to read The Equiery’s other news posts on the Canterbury case.
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Learn about the 40 year wild roller coaster ride of the Arabian Horse market.
If you missed it in our August 2011 issue, you can read the article, in full, on our archives:
The Arabian Gold Rush: The Rise and Fall of the Arab Market
The Maryland Hay Bank has been established by The Gentle Giants Draft Horse Rescue charity to assist private horse owners who are experiencing a financial hardship or a personal crisis with free hay for their horses for thirty (30) days. The Maryland Hay Bank is donation driven, and hay is provided at absolutely no cost to qualified recipients.
What a sad situation for those horses, I am glad they do not have to endure it anymore. That owner does needs to face up to the reality that they did not care for these horses as they should.
Re: Polish Arabian Seizure. It makes me SO angry that, basically, NOTHING will happen to Marsha Parkinson for her cruelty to horses. When is Maryland Legislature going to start getting serious about appropriate punishment in animal cruelty cases? Ms. Parkinson will barely get a smack on the wrist and told not to do it again! Lawmakers really NEED to start “throwing the book” at offenders in these kinds of cases. The law NEEDS to be MUCH, MUCH tougher! Whether it is horse, dog, cat, or any other type animals, the best way to punish people is to hit’em hard where it hurts: their wallets. Personally, on a case-by-case basis, I think the minimum time in jail should be a year – with NO chance of “early release” for good behavior. They should be REQUIRED to stay in jail for a year – minimum – with no bond allowed. Minimum fine should be $2,000 (non-refundable) per each animal in each case. The money obtained by the fines should be the criminals “donation” towards animal rescue/cruelty cases. Make no mistake: Animal Cruelty is a CRIMINAL OFFENSE – and needs seriously harsher punishments. Remember, animals feel pain just as much as humans do. I very strongly feel that as stewards of the Earth & her animals, it is up to each of US to become wholly involved. Sincerely yours, Robin Sheridan
I recently got one of the horses, i named him Jasper, and he is SOOOOO awsome. hes a 1 1/2 and the best behaved smartest horse i have ever had. I LOVE him so much. 😀
To Robin Sheridan.. the evidence was the seizure was based on false informatio. None of the horses were in danger. The charges were COMPLETELY unfounded. The butchered an innocent woman and slandered her maliciously. You should follow the case more closely, especially today. 2/27/12
Barbara,
I have been reading the articles too, and where do you get your information that the charges against Ms. Parkinson are completely unfounded?
Did all these people lie? Lie about the baby horses with the mouth sores? The delapidated conditions of the farm? The euthanization of some of the horses? That the horses were starving and dirty? These were all lies. You know this. On what factual bases and proof do you know this?
This case greatly upsets me and I would be releaved if it were untrue. Thank you.
Barbara do you have any facts to back up your allegations, because there are MANY pictures out there of horses who look horrific.
How was it unfounded Barbara? Have you seen photos of those horses? There bone racks, some only a 1 on the BM scale. My horse was a 3 and had no hair on his back from rain rot and had worms and had just been all-round neglected. The seizure of the horses was not unfounded, they just did not go about it the proper way and made some mistakes and that’s what cost them the case, but they did have a case if not for that.
Destinee..obviously you have been seriously misinformed. As for the “BCS” scale by definition a BCS 3horse still has reserves of body fat. Below a three the horse’s nonfat tissue is know to break down , jeopordizing its basic energy needs. This only can be determinec by blood analysis, in this case none of those horses had blood analysis done on the property , so they didnt have proper proof. The pictures shown have little to say. Yes, some of them were ribbing and most of which were elderly brood mares. The people who took place in the seizure and used Dr. Henneke’s scale were not trained properly on accurracy for which it is used. As for the rest of your allegations , the team conductec the seizure very poorly, causing undued stress on many of the horses. I see these horses every day they are beautiful , all in great shape and happy with their herd. So rest assured Marsha andher horses are in good hands