Woodbine Couple Charged With 100+ Counts Each Of Animal Cruelty After Authorities Seize 54 Animals In Their Home
WOODBINE, MD. (WJZ) — A Woodbine couple has been charged with over 100 counts each of animal cruelty after finding 54 animals living in poor conditions inside their home.
Glenn Andrew Hopple, 58, and Candace Elizabeth Berry, 66, both of the 16400 block of Frederick Road, were charged with failing to provide sufficient food, shelter, space and veterinary care to the animals and causing unnecessary pain and suffering.
"The animals did not have adequate food, they did not have adequate space, really they were very unsanitary conditions," Howard County Police Spokesperson Sherry Llewellyn said.
Howard County Animal Control and Adoption Center officers seized the animals on September 21, including 50 dogs, three turtles and a parrot after getting a tip from a concerned citizen about unsanitary conditions in a puppy mill being run out of the couple's basement.
Animal control also seized eight miniature horses and a donkey suffering from malnutrition in August.
Many of the seized animals have already received veterinary evaluations and care and are available to be adopted now- some have even been adopted already.
A number of young puppies and their mothers are not yet ready.
They added that one "seriously ill" puppy did not survive.
"Hair loss, skin loss, loaded with flees," Howard County Animal Control said. "A lot of them had tumors and that kind of thing that had not been addressed."
The farm animals seized in August were taken to the Days End Horse Farm.
Each of the 100+ counts could carry up to a $1,000 fine and 90 days in jail.
Melinda Sales, who drives by the home often, said she's shocked about the allegations of animals being kept in such inhumane conditions.
"That's not right," Sales said. "How would they feel if they were cramped in one area or something and not getting help."
A list of adoptable animals, as well as information on how to make a donation, is available on the center's website.
