On April 7, Tippecanoe County animal control officer April Keck responded to a citizen complaint to find the horses — which had begun eating tree bark in a failed bid to find nourishment — in the backyard of James Fitzsimons.
Five months later, Fitzsimons has been charged with two counts, both Class A misdemeanors punishable by imprisonment of not more than one year and a fine of not more than $5,000.
The charges, filed late last week in Superior Court 5, allege Fitzsimons did "recklessly, knowingly or intentionally abandon or neglect a vertebrate animal in his custody."
Because the incident occurred prior to July 1, the charges are filed under Indiana's previous criminal code.
A message left for Fitzsimons Monday has not yet been returned.
According to Keck's police report, Fitzsimons "stated the reason the horses were thin is that he had a very hard time finding hay to feed them over the long, harsh winter."
The charges come as relief to Jamie Showers, facility manager at Indiana Horse Rescue Central. It's Showers who cared for the horse until August when the horse was adopted.
Showers said Little Bit was the worse case she'd seen.
"That she was still standing that skinny, she most certainly wasn't far behind her partner" in death, Showers said. "Little Bit had the advantage of age on her side. If she was 15 years older she may not have been as successful in recovery as she was."
Last month the horse was adopted by a new Indiana-based owner, Showers said. Privacy reasons prevent Showers from identifying the horse's new owners.
"Her job is going to consist of giving rides to children for two hours a week, so it's a very laid back and no pressure schedule for her," Showers said. "She's just doing wonderfully. Her new adopters just adore her."
That's a stark contrast to months ago when Little Bit came to Showers weighing a scant 784 pounds with her bones protruding. Showers placed the horse's ideal weight around 1,100 pounds.
At that time, the six-year-old quarterhorse ranked a 1 or "poor" on the Henneke horse body scaling system, the lowest rating on the system used to gauge a horse's physical health.
Showers said the punishment for animal cruelty remains too lax, equating it with a "slap on the wrist."
Under the former criminal code, Fitzsimons' charges could have been bumped up to Class D felonies — with a possible sentence of imprisonment between six months and three years and a fine less than $10,000 — if he had a prior unrelated conviction under that chapter of Indiana Code.
Fitzsimons has no such prior conviction.
The new criminal code that came into effect July 1 brought little change to the animal cruelty statute: The charge is still a Class A misdemeanor, able to be amplified to a Level 6 felony, with the same sentencing possibilities as a Class D felony, if the person has a prior, unrelated conviction.
"That's kind of laughable," Showers said. "When it comes to people who are being found with dead animals on the premises and no charges being filed or people dragging their feet to file charges, people are getting the impression they can get away with it."
An initial hearing in this case has been scheduled for Monday.
(Journal and Courier - Sept 22, 2014)
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