More than 250 charges filed against couple found on school bus full of abandoned and sexually abused animals

A Georgia man and woman were charged with more than 250 crimes Tuesday after Police said they neglected and sexually abused a school bus full of animals. that broke down in Adams County last summer, according to an affidavit.

Shawn Hirschbine, 51, and Deanna Huff, 64both of Woodbine, Georgia, were driving the bus in Oxford Township on June 15, 2024, when the bus became disabled near Hanover and Red Hill Roads just before 8:30 p.m.

Inside the bus, registered in the name of Hirschbine, and an accompanying trailer, were at least 16 chickens, 10 ducks, four dogs, two turkeys, a pony and a bull. Responding officers said the crowded bus had food and bedding piled on the seats.

“There was feces everywhere. The smell was horrible,” said Eastern Adams Police Chief Francis Staab. he told Fox 43 News.

The police arrived and determined that Hirschbine had an active arrest warrant in West Virginia for sending videos of him performing sex acts on a pony and a bull to underage girls. He was arrested without incident and taken to the Adams County Jail.

Police in Pennsylvania and West Virginia confirmed they are in possession of the videos, but were only able to identify Hirschbine as the actor based on the interior of the trailer and other physical characteristics.

“None of the pictures or videos I have show his face,” the West Virginia detective said. Nikki Pinardo said. But “what is seen in the background is consistent with the closed wooden trailer that carried the horse and bull (in Adams County).”

Pinardo said text messages show Hirschbine is likely Charging people money to be inside the trailer while performing sexual acts with the animals.according to the affidavit. He also tracked Hirschbine’s location through his cell phone, showing that he had been to Georgia, New York, Kentucky, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

A text message conversation between Hirschbine and a 15-year-old girl included videos of him performing sex acts with animals, Pinardo said.

“It was him talking on TextNow to my juvenile victim, and he said it was him (in the video) and the things he did, and he was leading her into bestial-type sexual conversations,” Pinardo said.

Hirschbine’s fingerprint revealed that he talks primarily about his work as a male escort, with no mentions of bestiality.

Both the bus and the trailer had Hirschbine’s phone number and “24 Hr. tire + shows” written in black marker on the side.

Police said the phone number was linked to multiple pornographic websites, which sometimes advertised Hirschbine’s male escort services with his photograph, according to the affidavit.

Huff, Hirschbine’s girlfriend, stayed on the bus until the next day to wait for a member of the Adams County SPCA to contact her and take the animals.

When Abby Avery, former human rights officer and current executive director of the Adams County SPCA, arrived at the bus, she said the animals were deprived of food, water and veterinary care.

As the animals were being taken off the bus, Huff told police he did not believe the animals were in danger. He also told investigators that the phone number on the side of the bus and trailer was to advertise “petting zoo” shows for children to get on the bus and meet the animals.

However, Huff denied any knowledge that the phone number was associated with pornographic websites or that Hirschbine had sex with animals. He would later change his story and tell investigators that Hirschbine uses the bus for “roadside tire service.”

When police asked Hirschbine about the phone number, he said he had nothing to say, according to the affidavit.

Additional veterinary care revealed that the pony, bull and three dogs had been “sexually traumatized.” Veterinarians noted that the pony and bull did not move at all while being sampled for human DNA with sexual abuse testing kits, unusual behavior for any animal.

According to Avery, three of the German shepherd dogs had enlarged vulvas, suggesting that they have been exposed to more frequent sexual stimulation than the biological “heat cycles” that would be normal for dogs their age.

“It’s a very unusual case, there’s no doubt about it,” Avery said. “I mean, I’ve seen people living in worse conditions. “I have seen animals in worse conditions… but never sexual trauma like this in animals.”

Three of the four dogs had to be euthanized due to aggression issues stemming from abuse. A duck, a turkey and a chicken also died due to malnutrition, police said.

All of the animals recovered from the bus showed signs of abandonment, such as dehydration and malnutrition. Police received lab results from the animal testing swabs in September 2024, but no human DNA was found.

A loaded handgun was also found inside the bus, which Huff said came from her late husband.

The bus was originally going to be scrapped, but police said two scrap yards in the area refused to accept it due to the associated health risks.

Avery said Huff told him the couple obtained the animals primarily as waste from owners who had posted on online sites looking to get rid of them.

“She said…he (Hirschbine) was on Facebook Marketplace and anyone who had free animals would just pick them up. And this is exactly why you don’t rehome your animals on social media,” Avery added. “Because you don’t know who gets them.”

Hirschbine and Huff They are still awaiting dates for their preliminary hearings. In total, 252 charges were filed against the couple, including aggravated cruelty to animals, cruelty to animals, neglect of animals – sustenance/water, neglect of animals – veterinary care, prohibited possession of a firearm and firearms. fire that they cannot carry without a license.

In August 2022, Hirschbine and Huff were arrested in Orchard Park, New York, near Buffalo.after the same vehicles were found with a slightly different menagerie of animals. Hirschbine has called Western New York home for much of his life, according to public records.

In that case, according to court records, Hirschbine was convicted of confining an animal in a vehicle, neglecting a seized animal and torturing or injuring animals by failing to provide sustenance. He received a suspended sentence and was ordered to pay $1,735 in fines and costs.

In the wake of that arrest, Hirschbine filed a lawsuit in federal court against the city of Orchard Park, seeking damages for injuries he claims occurred when police officers took him to the ground during that arrest.

Staff Writer Carlos Thompson contributed to this report.