A couple from Georgia is now facing a total of 252 charges after the 2024 discovery of a bus filled with dozens of neglected animals along a road in Adams County, according to court records filed on Tuesday.
Shawn Hirschbine, 51, and his girlfriend, Deanna Huff, 64, both of of Woodbine, Georgia, have now been charged by the Eastern Adams Regional Police Department as a result of the discovery police said they made inside the pair’s bus on June 15, 2024, according to court records filed on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025.
An animal cage is seen near a bus on the side of the road along Hanover Street after Adams County SPCA officials removed more than 30 animals from horrific conditions inside, Monday, June 17, 2024, in Oxford Township.
Huff has 129 charges filed against her, six more than the 123 against Hirschbine in the case.
Felony charges against Huff include eight counts of aggravated animal cruelty, eight counts of criminal conspiracy of animal cruelty, and one count of carrying firearms without a license.
Previously reported: School bus of horrors: Police find bus packed with neglected animals near New Oxford
Misdemeanor charges filed against Huff include seven counts of animal cruelty, seven counts of criminal conspiracy of animal cruelty, 23 counts of neglecting to provide food or water to animals, 23 counts of criminal conspiracy to neglect to provide food or water to animals, 23 counts of neglecting to provide vet care to animals, and 23 counts of criminal conspiracy to neglect providing vet care to animals.
Hirschbine is facing 123 charges in the case, including one felony count of aggravated animal cruelty, eight felony counts of criminal conspiracy of animal cruelty, one felony count of prohibited possession of a firearm, and one felony count of carrying firearms without a license.
In a photo provided by the Adams County SPCA, deplorable conditions are seen inside a school bus where the SPCA would rescue over 30 animals..
In misdemeanors, Hirschbine faces eight counts of criminal conspiracy of animal cruelty, eight counts of animal cruelty, 23 counts of criminal conspiracy of neglecting animals, 42 counts of neglecting animals, 23 counts of criminal conspiracy to neglect vet care, and 23 counts of neglecting vet care.
Hirschbine and Huff are both still awaiting arraignment on the charges, which was not yet scheduled, according to court records viewed on Tuesday afternoon.
Further documents, including the criminal complaint, were not immediately available at the time of publication.
A bus and a trailer are seen on the side of the road along Hanover Street after Adams County SPCA officials removed more than 30 animals from horrific conditions inside, Monday, June 17, 2024, in Oxford Township.
Hirschbine remains in custody in West Virginia awaiting trial on eight felony counts of displaying obscene content to a minor in Raleigh County, which was alleged to have involved texting a minor a video of a man engaged in a sexual act with a horse.
In that case, Hirschbine was held on $250,000 bail, records show.
In a photo provided by the Adams County SPCA, deplorable conditions are seen inside a school bus where the SPCA would rescue over 30 animals..
A routine call uncovers a nightmare
The countless charges brought against Hirschbine and Huff came after a passing motorist called police around 8:38 p.m. on Saturday, June 15, 2024, to report a disabled bus along Hanover Street in Oxford Township.
What would have been a routine call for local officers became a horrific discovery, as officers would find dozens of animals in deplorable conditions inside of the bus and a makeshift trailer pulled behind it.
Filth covers the windows of a bus on the side of the road along Hanover Street after Adams County SPCA officials removed more than 30 animals from horrific conditions inside, Monday, June 17, 2024, in Oxford Township.
Hirschbine, who was wanted on a warrant related to the West Virginia case, was taken into custody after the discovery.
“To say that this was a horrible situation is an understatement,” said a release from the Adams County SPCA at the time. Photos of the inside of the bus and trailer showed deplorable conditions, with filth covering the animals and the contents of the bus.
The animals inside included over 30 birds consisting of chickens, roosters, ducks and turkeys, as well as four dogs, one bull, and one pony, the SPCA said.
In a photo provided by the Adams County SPCA, deplorable conditions are seen inside a school bus where the SPCA would rescue over 30 animals.
Huff, who had not been charged or named by police until the Jan. 7, 2025 charges were filed, was not taken into custody at the time.
Several days after the discovery, on the morning of June 27, 2024, social media posts shared images of individuals, clad in what appeared to be garbage bags, driving the bus away from the scene on Hanover Street.
The birds were being fed to the dogs, the SPCA said in the release. The bull and pony were allegedly being used for bestiality purposes in “another state,” per the SPCA.
In a photo provided by the Adams County SPCA, deplorable conditions are seen inside a trailer where the SPCA rescued a bull and horse.
In the wake of the horrific discovery, the animals were rescued by the Adams County SPCA, which provided them with medical care, including for various injuries, such as a duck that could not walk on one foot.
Several of the 36 animals found in Hirschbine’s bus and trailer near New Oxford did not survive, the Adams County SPCA said, and had to be euthanized due to their conditions.
All three of the German shepherds found in the bus showed signs of trauma to their vulvas, the SPCA said at the time.
“We believe that the ones that passed are now free and are no longer suffering physically or mentally,” the SPCA said in a June release. “We had to make some very hard choices.”
In the days that followed the rescue, several employees broke out with a rash of itchy blisters, the SPCA said, and received treatment. The SPCA was later able to determine that the blisters had come from scabies, a rare but treatable disease caused by burrowing mites.
Blue, the four-year-old pony found in deplorable conditions in the makeshift trailer, is seen in his new home after being adopted.
Over the months that followed, the SPCA shared releases as the rescued animals became cleared for adoption, and then were adopted.
Those adoptions included, Blue, the four-year-old pony, Rudy, the bull, Bramble, a lion-head bunny, Rosie, a two-year-old dog, five Pekin ducks, and several more.
In the release about Blue, the SPCA shared that the pony was “doing great with his new family,” and was living with other horses while getting plenty of love and attention.
This article originally appeared on Hanover Evening Sun: Man and woman facing charges in Oxford Township animal cruelty case