Animal Control Director Debbie Oberle tells WHMI that the decision to seize the animals comes after months of investigations and repeated attempts by county officials to work with the owner in terms of properly caring for her horses.
"We've been getting ongoing complaints from this address for at least...two years (and) the neglect on the horses is becoming more and more apparent. Today there was no food and there was no water when we arrived here and that's a concern, because horses do obviously require water, food and hay on an ongoing basis and there was none out for the horses at all. The water trough has probably six inches of very dirty water in it."
The horse’s owner, 70-year-old Velva Jean Wainscott, was charged Wednesday with felony animal neglect, but disputes the animals are not being taken care of, including having access to clean water.
"Less than a few inches of water in that tank is over 200 gallons and it's not stagnant."
Wainscott said she fully expects to be vindicated and attributed the seizure to an overly-zealous Animal Control department, telling 7 Action News the horses are fine and believes animal control is just showing off its power by removing the horses.
"They're wrong," says Wainscott.
However, court records indicate Wainscott pleaded guilty in 2003 to a misdemeanor count of allowing animals to be at large as part of a plea agreement. She was initially charged with animal abandonment and cruelty.
A jury trial on the original charges ended with a hung jury. But the next year she was found guilty of violating her probation after authorities said she had failed to seek proper care of a horse with a broken leg.
The horses were loaded onto trailers and moved to the Chase Lake Equine Center in Fowlerville. They’ll receive further evaluation there before being turned over to various animal rescue groups who will continue to rehabilitate the horses until a forfeiture hearing takes place later in the month.
Wainscott, meanwhile, is due back in court next week for an exam conference on the neglect charges.
(WHMI - Nov 9, 2012)
