► A dead horse almost completely decomposed found locked in a stall
► A second horse was locked inside the next stall and was completely emaciated and barely able to stand
WEST VIRGINIA -- A case against a former House of Delegates candidate charged with animal cruelty has been dismissed, and the man accused of starving his horse hopes to get the animal back.
Kanawha Circuit Court Judge Tod Kaufman dismissed the case against Clint Casto, 30, of Charleston for lack of evidence. Casto's trial was scheduled to begin this week.
Casto was arrested June 15 after a humane officer found a dead horse in his Big Chimney barn and another horse that allegedly was starving. He was indicted by a grand jury and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The surviving horse was taken from his property and taken to a Tornado rescue farm where it has regained its health.
Last week, Casto's attorney, Troy Giatras, made a motion that the surviving horse had been taken illegally from his property without a search warrant
This is where the article ends because I don't have a subscription. I would hope the officer argued that the animal was in imminent danger of death and that that superseded needing a warrant. However, since the judge dismissed the charges due to "lack of evidence", he must've disagreed that the horse needed immediate care and thrown out all evidence obtained - including the dead horse and the dying horse.
Clint Casto was not found "not guilty" of animal cruelty.
(Charleston Daily Mail - October 1, 2009)
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