The horses were boarded at Hopewell Farm near Lexington while the property was awaiting auction, and were in such poor condition that two of them had to be put down.
The pair were charged with cruelty to animals in the second degree, and are each held in the Woodford County jail on $7,000 bond.
Animal Control officers had received complaints about 24 malnourished horses at Hopewell and upon investigation, found horses standing in filthy stalls.
The 77-year-old Murty brothers claim that the horses’ condition was due to the presence of a toxic weed called creeping buttercup, according to an LEX 18 report. Wayne Murty admitted the horses were shut in dirty stalls, but said they were fed hay and grain and restricted to keep them away from the toxic plant.
The brothers moved their remaining horses to a Bourbon County farm after news of the investigation broke.
According to a report published in The Horse by the University of Kentucky’s College of Agriculture, most varieties of buttercup are poisonous to horses but are not very palatable and aren’t usually eaten.
Hopewell Farm, former home to 1998 Horse of the Year Skip Away, was auctioned in three tracts on July 16. Rick Trontz, former owner of the farm, said he agreed to lease the property to the Murty brothers this spring, just before PNC Bank took over the operation.
(Paulick Report - July 26, 2013)
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