- Maryland, USA -
Police released the mugshot of 76-years-old JERRY LEE HOLLY (pictured below), the man charged with animal cruelty after three of his zebras escaped from his farm in Prince George’s County on August 26, 2021.
The New York Times reports that HOLLY was charged with three counts of animal cruelty on October 19.
The charges come a month after one of the wayward zebras was found dead in an illegal snare trap, and a day after another zebra who did not escape was found deceased inside HOLLY’s enclosure.
HOLLY, a breeder and trader of exotic animals with a history of animal welfare violations, is accused of inflicting “unnecessary suffering or pain on a zebra” and failing to provide the zebras with “nutritious food in sufficient quantity” or give them “proper shelter.”
Lauren Moses, spokesperson for the Maryland Natural Resources Police, in an email to NPR said that the zebra who got caught in the illegal snare trap was discovered on September 16, on a private property in Upper Marlboro.
According to NBC Washington, “The investigating officer for the county's Department of Natural Resources wrote that he believed the zebra “should have been seen or heard while it was dying from being caught in the snare if the caretaker had attended to the zebras in the fenced enclosure.””
The officer added that the zebra most likely died of dehydration “after a few days struggling in the trap.”
The second zebra, found deceased in October, “had been deceased long enough that it had entered the rigor-mortis stage” say official documents.
Each of the animal cruelty counts filed against HOLLY, which are criminal charges, carries a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.
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