CLARION CO., Pa. (EYT) – The neglected animals that lived at an abandoned Clarion County farm have new homes.
(Pictured above: Freshcorn farm.)
Clarion-based State Police Trooper Graf said both horses are at the Tionesta 4-H Equine Rescue, and the pigs and hogs are at area farms.
On Monday, August 28, Trooper Graf said that it didn’t take long for the animals to be relocated after he investigated a complaint by a neighbor earlier this month about the living conditions and health of the animals at the Camp Coffman Road property owned by 29-year-old Emmett Andrew Freshcorn, of Cranberry.
“They hadn’t been fed or watered in some time,” Trooper Graf explained. “They weren’t sick, but they were in dire need of water and food.”
“When I put water down for them, the piglets went crazy. The horses drank heavily when I gave them water, too.”
Both horses – a 6-year-old female and a 20-year-old male – had been at a Corsica farm where they were mistreated. A Corsica man, Leonard Hughes, was convicted and served time for those offenses.
Freshcorn faces more than two dozen animal cruelty charges for allegedly failing to provide food and water to animals at the farm.
Online court documents indicate that he was charged via a certified summons on August 21.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, September 19, in District Judge Amy Long Turk’s office.
According to a criminal complaint, the investigation began on August 9 after police received a complaint from a neighbor regarding “poor living conditions and poor overall health” of two horses and approximately 25 pigs located at a farm along Camp Coffman Road in Ashland Township, Clarion County.
On August 9, Trooper Graf went to the farm but found no one there, and it appeared as if no one had been at the farm for an extended period, according to the criminal complaint.
Upon looking inside the nearby dilapidated barn, Trooper Graf observed approximately 10 piglets that did not have food or water, the complaint continues.
“I opened two hay chutes and discovered five large pigs and seven piglets with no food or water,” states Trooper Graf.
“Seeing someone sent all of the pigs into a panic looking for food and or water.”
Trooper Graf then walked to the rear of the barn and found two horses with their ribs and spines “protruding sharply through their fur.”
Both horses were lethargic and wheezing, according to Trooper Graf.
Neither horse had food or water, and their stalls were “covered in muck that was feet thick,” the complaint indicates.
Later that day, Trooper Graf made contact with Freshcorn.
According to the complaint, Frescorn told Trooper Graf that he obtained the horses from a farm in Corsica where they had been mistreated.
Freshcorn explained that he had been in Pittsburgh for approximately 60 days and was paying someone $200.00 per month to care for them.
Freshcorn said he wanted to come back to Clarion County to help the horses but was unable to return due to “other engagements.”
Trooper Graf said Freshcorn has pending drug charges in Nebraska.
According to a published article on 1011now.com, Freshcorn was stopped for a traffic violation on Interstate 80 in Lancaster County, Nebraska. A brick of heroin, a bag of marijuana, hash oil, and 10 hits of LSD were found in his vehicle.
For more Clarion County news, visit http://www.exploreclarion.com.
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