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Press Release
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Lancaster, PA- David Carper, a driver for his father, Frank Carper,Cranbury, NJ was fined $600.00 plus court costs for transporting 3 horses into PA without the required Coggins Test for Equine Infectious Anemia.
Mr. Carper was cited by the PA State Police on April 5, 1999 in New Holland, PA for Motor Vehicle & Agriculture Code violations. In addition, his tractor trailer was put out of service due to equipment violations.
Mr. Carper was found guilty by District Magistrate Carl Good when he failed to appear for his hearing in May 1999. Mr. Carper appealed his convictions on the Agriculture Code violations, i.e.; Coggins Tests. Lancaster County Assistant District Attorney Brian Chudzik prosecuted the case in Lancaster County Court on September 20, 1999. Mr. Carper withdrew his appeal and was fined $600.00 plus court costs.
David Carper, and the company he drives for, Frank Carper & Sons, was convicted in Essex County, NY in April 1994 of the illegal transport of horses and fined $11,100 by Schroon Town Justice Jean Strothenke . The Carper's have yet to pay the fine in a case that became known as the "Horse Popsicle Case" after Essex County ADA Debra Whitson, now with the NY Attorney General's Office referred to the frost covered horses as horse popsicles.
The PA Dept. of Agriculture, PDA, issued a permit to the Carpers to deal and haul domestic animals in PA, even after being made aware of their refusal to pay their fine to Essex County, NY by ADA Whitson. This most recent conviction is grounds for revocation of that permit.
New Holland, PA -Another NJ horse dealer was arrested by summons on 12 misdemeanor charges for allegedly transporting horses into PA without the required Coggins Tests on June 7, 1999. The PA State Police, stopped the dealer in New Holland, Lancaster County. The dealer is also facing other Agriculture Code violations. A preliminary hearing is upcoming in New Holland, PA.
The Coggins Test is used to detect Equine Infectious Anemia, EIA. There is no cure or vaccine for EIA, which is similar to HIV in people. Currently there is an EIA outbreak in PA, with 23 horses positive and horses on 47 farms in several PA counties under quarantine. 20 of the 21 horses in this EIA outbreak have been traced to the same Wayne County, PA horse dealer. First reports from the PA Department of Agriculture was that this dealer was not licensed to deal horses in PA, as required by PA law. Further investigation revealed that the dealer is in fact licensed. Some of the horses in this EIA outbreak have been traced back to the sale in New Holland, PA. Horses in several surrounding states have been put under quarantine due to the PA outbreak. Unlike surrounding states, PA law does not require a negative Coggins Test prior to change of ownership.
In recent months the PA State Police in Lancaster County, PA have stepped up the enforcement of the PA Domestic Act, requiring horses from out of state to have the required health papers, including a Coggins Test and the licensing of dealers and haulers of domestic animals.
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EIA Outbreak in PA |