She was set to be arraigned on 36 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty, twenty for the horses seized from her farm in Reedy, and sixteen for the horse found dead.
Morgan is currently being held in the Central Regional Jail with bail set at $90,000.
EARLIER:
Maureen Woltmann is a retired veterinarian technician and has four horses of her own.
So what happened less than a half mile from her house she calls a disgrace.
"There were very, very emaciated horses, very thin horses -- eventually I saw dead horses laying on the mountain," Woltmann said.
Twenty-two dead horses were found Saturday by the Roane County Sheriff’s Department in the Seaman Fork area.
"Where it was so hungry, it showed all of its ribs and its back, and I actually got sick to my stomach," an unidentified neighbor said.
"This is an animal that cannot fend for itself -- it's locked behind a fence with hay on the other side not being fed to it," Woltmann said.
Deputies quarantined another 20 horses and put them in the old livestock market in Spencer while they await results of blood tests from the state veterinarian.
"Abuse for a child, an old person, an animal -- it's against the law, it's against nature, it's against God. I'm sorry, it's just not right," Woltmann said.
And the biggest question is why. The sheriff’s department is working on charging the owner.
"I just can't understand why people have animals like that and don't take care of them," the unidentified neighbor said.
Deputies are asking the public to not visit the quarantined horses. But if you’d like to help, donations of hay and grain are needed.
To donate, contact the Roane County Animal Shelter or the sheriff’s department.
(WOWK - Jan 26, 2013) (WSAZ - Jan 21, 2013)
