A Lothian man faces animal abuse charges after authorities say they found a dead beagle puppy and guinea fowl chick and an emaciated horse among dozens of neglected animals on a farm in South Anne Arundel County.

Enoch Charles Harvey, 70, is charged with 44 counts of animal cruelty, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Because it’s a criminal summons, Harvey remains free. He does not have an attorney listed in court records, and a voicemail left with a phone number associated with him in online records was not returned.

Filed Friday, the charges come nearly a year after Anne Arundel County authorities searched the farm where he lives on West Bay Front Road as part of an investigation that began when an anonymous caller reported animal neglect there.

Investigators described the disturbing conditions in which animals were kept in charging documents for Harvey.

Six beagles and four puppies were spread across two excrement-soaked shelters that resembled “rabbit hutches.” Two horses and four cows walked a pasture in which a broken-down vehicle sat surrounded by shattered glass and metal shards. Three cages, each with “a thick layer of feces,” housed 12 guinea fowl, 12 chicks and eight chickens.

The charging documents allege Harvey emerged from the woods and yelled at police, animal control officers, veterinarians and kennel staff who searched the farm Aug. 15, 2024.

“Mr. Harvey was heard protesting officers taking his chickens and guinea fowl,” investigators wrote. “Officers heard Mr. Harvey say that he doesn’t get to the farm every day to take care of the dogs and that he does what he can when he does get to the property, in regard to giving them food and water.”

Authorities said the dog shelters had food bowls covered with mold and feces and water bowls that contained “greenish colored” liquid. Several of the dogs found with the dead puppy had feces stuck to their coats, “and all of them smelled like urine.”

When the dogs were evaluated, investigators wrote, all of them “appeared dirty, dehydrated and slightly thin.”

There was no food source in the pasture other than the grass, according to charging documents. A 13-year-old gray horse named Pacco was “severely underweight,” its ribs, hip bones and withers clearly visible.

Authorities didn’t specify the condition of the other animals in the field.

Officers found food and water bowls in the birdcages, but they were “covered in feces” or had “dirty water with various contaminants floating.”

Authorities confiscated the dead puppy and chick, along with nine dogs, one horse and all the birds.