Concepcion Martinez Vasquez, 39, was taken into custody Thursday at the Yolo County animal shelter in Woodland after he arrived there to relinquish his ownership of the living horse and chickens found on his property on County Road 86 near County Road 21A, Chief Animal Services Officer Vicky Fletcher said.
Vasquez remained in Yolo County Jail custody in lieu of $20,000 bail as of Monday afternoon.
Fletcher said authorities were summoned to the Esparto property Thursday morning after a passerby noticed one horse that appeared to be dead and another that was “in pretty bad shape.”
Vazquez agreed to meet with officers on his farm last Thursday, and told them he had arranged for someone else to care for the animals.
However, he was very vague with his answers, and seemed generally uncooperative in providing information about the supposed caretaker, an Animal Services spokesperson said.
Officers also went to Vasquez's property in October 2013 and December 2013 for similar calls -- and they were not able to find Vasquez at the time.
Animal Services officers discovered the horses had neither food nor water, nor did a pen containing a rooster, two hens and several chicks.
One of the hens also had died, Fletcher said.
The living horse was taken to the UC Davis Veterinary Hospital, where an evaluation revealed that its salt and selenium levels “were higher than anything they’d ever seen” — indications of severe dehydration, Fletcher said.
The gelding’s hooves also were “seriously overgrown,” and it had suffered a wire cut to a leg that had gone untreated.
Despite the horse’s poor condition, “it has a good prognosis,” Fletcher said. “We’ll be looking for a home for him.”
Fletcher said the shelter welcomes monetary donations from the community to cover the horse’s care until it is adopted. For more information, call Yolo County Animal Services at 530-668-5287.
(Davis Enterprise - July 8, 2014)
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