The man charged in the case, 60-year-old Fred Iven Hoffman, was convicted of animal cruelty against the same two horses last year.
He appeared Monday on the new charges in Yellowstone County Justice Court.
“The stallion in this matter is in extremely poor health and likely to need to be euthanized,” Deputy Yellowstone County Attorney Ingrid Rosenquist said during the hearing.
Justice of the Peace David A. Carter followed the prosecutor’s recommendation and allowed Hoffman to remain free without bond because he appeared on the charges as ordered — but ordered him not to have any contact with the two horses or the property where they are being cared for.
On Dec. 6, a Yellowstone County sheriff’s deputy found the horses locked in a 10-by-15-foot area in a barn on property at the 2400 block of Goodman Road, according to charging documents.
The horses, both of which appeared to be severely neglected, were standing in feces and didn’t have any drinking water.
“The deputy observed that the stallion was emaciated, with what appeared to be an infected penis sheath and a hoof that was so overgrown that it curled up like an elf’s shoe,” an affidavit signed by Rosenquist states.
The deputy also reported that the mare was lethargic and appeared to have an abscessed tooth.
The deputy let the horses out of the barn and into a pasture, where they made their way to a septic field. The horses appeared to have previously dug out a small area in the mud to allow water to collect.
The property owner, who called authorities asking to have the matter investigated, said she had agreed in 2013 to let Hoffman keep the horses on her property for $50 a month, but that he had abandoned the animals and not removed them by Dec. 1 as she requested, according to prosecutors.
A veterinarian inspected the horses on Dec. 9 and noted that the stallion was severely emaciated, lethargic, weak and depressed, court records say.
“He further noted that the stallion’s penis was unable to retract into its sheath and the prognosis was poor to guarded if treated immediately but in this case the chronic nature of the issue makes it unlikely the penis can be saved,” the documents say.
At the time of the evaluation, amputation was not an option, the records continue, because of the stallion’s emaciated condition.
The mare likely had an infected mouth and was at a high risk for starvation, the veterinarian reported.
Prior to the hearing Monday, Rosenquist said she did not have an update on the horses’ conditions.
“The horses are being cared for by the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s office at the property where they were found,” she said in court.
While a deputy was at the property caring for the horses, Hoffman showed up. He admitted the horses were his and that they were in poor health, records say, and said that he had tried to give them away without success.
In court, Rosenquist argued that Hoffman not be allowed to have any contact with the two horses, partly because he was convicted of animal cruelty against the same two animals last year.
In that case, she said, Hoffman was initially given a deferred sentence, but the sentence was revoked because he disobeyed a court order to give up the two horses.
The prosecutor said that Hoffman was again ordered by a judge to sell or place the two horses.
“That did not happen,” she said, adding that the horses are in “worse health then they were the first time around.”
Carter followed the prosecutor’s request to bar Hoffman from having any contact with the horses and appointed the public defender’s office to represent him.
Hoffman is scheduled to enter pleas to the charges in Yellowstone County District Court on Dec. 22.
The four counts of felony cruelty to animals against Hoffman each carry a maximum sentence of two years jail and a $2,500 fine.
(Ravalli Republic - Dec 16, 2014)
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