INDIANA -- Animal cruelty charges could be filed in connection with two separate cases of starving animals in LaPorte County, including a miniature horse and her baby.
The latest case surfaced Monday when authorities were called to the 5000 block of N. 150 East where three horses, a miniature horse and her baby, were all discovered as very thin.
LaPorte County Animal Control director Jane Bernard said one of the horses, after evaluated by a state veterinarian, was given a score of 1.8 on a scale of 1 to 9 with 1 being near death.
The other animals were rated a bit higher but still had a skeletal like appearance, she said.
''Obviously, they weren't being fed regularly,'' said Bernard.
There were also three goats on the property, but they were in much better shape judged by the veterinarian as having ''adequate weight,'' Bernard said.
Bernard said all of the animals, even the goats, were removed the property and placed into foster care where they are being nursed back to good health.
Accordng to a LaPorte County Animal Control report, there were two large rubber water tanks next to a fence on the property and both were completely dry with hay debris at the bottom of one of the tanks.
The report also shows there was just one round bale of hay on the property and it was in an area where only the goats had access to it.
The owner, Nancy Larson, told investigators she pulls sections of hay off the round bale to give to the horses.
According to the report, the hay did not appear of good quality, though, and Larson explained it was from a different provider she obtained after her original hay supplier dropped her as a customer.
Larson said she also feeds the animals grain once a day, but investigators noted they were shown just two bags of grain and each sack was nearly empty.
The stalls inside a barn were also thick with manure and contained no bedding, the report shows.
Investigators say Larson may have lacked finances to properly care for the animals because of her claims that she lives ''pay check to pay check'' and had been working a lot of hours.
According to court documents, Larson was charged with animal neglect in 2011 but several months later the case was dismissed.
Bernard said two other horses on the property during the 2011 investigation have since died.
The findings of the investigation have been presented to prosecutors to decide whether to again pursue charges against Larson, but no formal charges as of Thursday afternoon had been filed.
Authorities on December 6 went to the 10000 block of W 300 North near Michigan City where a llama laying next to the road for at least three days was found to be very thin, and later died.
There were many other llamas along with chickens, peacocks and donkeys on the property but all of those animals were of proper weight, said Bernard.
The owners, Bajnam and Murat Hadzovic, reside full-time in Chicago and later removed all of their animals and put them up for sale.
Unlike the most the recent case, though, plenty of hay was kept on their property and investigators are still considering whether to turn that case over to prosecutors, said Bernard.
(WSBT - Dec 18, 2014)
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