The trial of two men accused of animal cruelty to nearly 150 farm animals was adjourned on Friday, with a Magistrate hearing a grim account of what a leading vet witnessed on the property.

Co-accused Antoine Sealy, 32, from Smith's Parish and Glen Patrick Richardson, 43, from Devonshire, are jointly charged with ten counts of animal cruelty, with Sealy further charged with destruction of evidence, between the dates of January 1, and May 29, this year.

During Friday's session Dr. Stefan Whalther, a veterinarian at the Endsmeet Animal Hospital, told Magistrate Will Francis that when he inspected the farm on May 30, it was in a "deplorable" condition.

Dr. Whalther said when he went to inspect the animals he found malnourished goats, underweight chickens, broken glass around the area and a pile of faeces and urine under the cages of the rabbits and chickens.

And in his expert opinion, he said that for the animals and the farm to be in that kind of condition, they had to have been neglected for "several weeks".

"If an owner gets up in the morning and sees a goat that looks like what I saw, he would have to say it couldn't have gotten like that over night," he said. "It would take weeks for them to look like that. They hadn't received the proper nourishment. If your responsible for animals, you should be providing the proper food and nutrition. In this case I believe that the animals were suffering from lack of inadequate care."

Dr. Whalther went on to explain that he saw dead and decaying chickens in the open farm area and in the coop and noted that the stench of piled urine and faeces was overwhelming.

He said both posed a serious health threat to the existing animals, exposing them to bacteria and disease.

Dr. Whalther's testimony supported that of what Charles Whited, an animal inspector with the S.P.C.A.

In earlier testimony, under questioning from Crown council Juan Wolffe, lead investigating officer W.p.c. Yvonne Ricca said that after the farm was seized by the S.P.C.A., on May 30, Sealy trespassed on the property and killed eight of the rabbits.

Asked by W. p.c. Ricca at the Police Station if he killed the rabbits, he admitted to the slaughtering, but would not say why.

The case was adjourned by Mr. Francis and will be continued on December 6.

Lawyer Paul Harshaw is representing the accused men.