Shortly after 5 p.m. Friday, Mount Carmel animal control officer Scott Abshire and MCPD Officer Kathy Painter responded to Bailey’s property at 1212 Hammond Ave. on a complaint by neighbors of a dead horse on the property.
Immediately upon their arrival, Painter and Absher were able to detect the odor of a deceased animal, and followed that smell to a horse that apparently had been dead for about a month.
They also found four additional horses, which were described as being in “terrible shape.”
Abshire told the Times-News Sunday that although the barn’s loft was stocked with hay, the four surviving horses appeared starved and had eaten all the grass off the ground. The only available water was in a trough that contained rain water from the night before.
The four also had rain rot on their coats, appeared to have worms, and their hooves were in “terrible condition.”
MCPD Chief Mike Campbell told the Times-News Sunday that Bailey, 64, indicated he’d given the responsibility of caring for the horses to a grandson who apparently had abandoned that duty a long time ago without telling Bailey.
“Henry’s grandson was supposed to be taking care of the horses, and apparently he’d lied to his grandfather,” Campbell said. “He wasn’t taking care of anything, but that’s no excuse. They’re still Henry’s horses and Henry’s responsibility. Instead of assuming everything was being taken care of, he should have double checked. It came to a horse tragically dying and four more being rescued because of the condition they were in.
“They hadn’t had any feed, no hay, nothing for — we don’t know exactly how long. We think the dead horse had been there about a month, and they had eaten up all the grass off the ground, but I don’t know exactly how long they hadn’t been fed.”
The horses were rescued by Mustang Alley in Greeneville.
Bailey reportedly agreed to donate the hay in the barn to Mustang Alley.
Aside from citing Bailey on five counts of animal cruelty, Mount Carmel also revoked all permits allowing him to keep horses, cows or chickens on his property.
Bailey is scheduled to appear in Hawkins County Sessions Court on the charges April 22.
Abshire said Bailey has been reported in the past for animal neglect as well.
“It’s happened before and the animal control officer before actually went up there and took care of the horses and brought them back,” Abshire said. “The last statement he (Bailey) gave me was pleading with me to let him keep the horses so he could get them better and try to take them to the auction to get some money.”
Bailey served on the Mount Carmel BMA 1998-2006, and was a longtime member of the planning commission, serving as chairman until earlier this year when he was replaced by newly elected mayor Larry Frost.
(Timesnews - April 14th, 2013)
