Animal Control Officer Wayne Thomas confirmed he began an investigation about a sick horse at 101 Holland Road, Jonesborough, this week after the Washington County/Johnson City Animal Shelter received a call about the animal.
Thomas said he went to the location Monday and found the 7-year-old sorrel stud down and unable to get up. He said the horse was in a corral with no shade. He ordered the owner, Jeremy Quillen, to put up a tarp to shade the horse.
“The horse is down and the vet is going out there today,” Thomas said on Monday. He met the vet, Dr. Alex Dulaney, at the field late on Monday and Dulaney administered fluids and nutrients to the horse, Thomas said.
When Thomas checked on the horse Tuesday morning, he found it had died.
“I went out there at 9 this morning. It didn’t make it,” he said.
Quillen, 30, who lives on the property, now faces an animal cruelty charge for not taking proper care of the animal. Thomas said he will likely file the arrest warrant by today.
“When you take a animal, regardless if it’s healthy or a little poorly, it’s your responsibility from day one,” Thomas said.
He said Quillen told him the horse was not in good shape when he took it, but Thomas disputed that information.
“I was out there 30 or 45 days ago. The horse was tied to a tree and he said he was trimming it’s hooves,” Thomas said, adding that the horse was, at that time, thin, but up and moving around.
Thomas said Holland Road is in the same area where three people were charged in July with animal cruelty involving five starving horses. Four horses were removed from the property and the fifth horse had to be euthanized in that case.
Those horses were located on Gregg Hollow Road and the case against the three — Kimberly Ann Lebron, David F. Hillard Sr. and Arbutus Daisy Smith Hilliard — is set for a hearing Aug. 26.
In addition to these two cases, a third case involved four counts of animal cruelty against Jimmie Crump Carmichael (aka James Carmichael).
He pleaded guilty to one count of animal cruelty in April and was fined $25 plus court costs, sentenced to 11 months 29 days of probation and was ordered to complete 20 hours of community service at a nonprofit organization. He is also prohibited from owning any large animals for one year.
In that case, three burros starved to death and a horse had to be put down because it was in such poor condition. Two other horses and a burro were seized from the property.
[He starves three animals to death and the fourth was in such poor condition it had to be put to sleep. And all he gets is a year of unsupervised probation. Why not one year for each count of cruelty? Oh, but don't forget he's got to pay that whopping $25 fine!]
Quillen has not been charged in his case, but Thomas indicated he will file the warrant this week.
(Johnson City Press - Aug 6, 2013)
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