Dayle Kountz, owner of Kountz Arena, was charged Monday with aggravated animal cruelty and a second offense of cruelty to animals.
Prosecutor Erin Murphy provided an alternative felony to the aggravated animal cruelty charge, but Kountz can only be convicted of two total counts.
According to charging documents filed by the Gallatin County Attorney’s Office:
On the morning of March 28, the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to the Kountz Arena, at 4490 Stucky Road, for a report of animal cruelty.
An anonymous caller had said that a horse was missing a foot, lying in its own feces and suffering in a small stall.
A deputy arrived at the arena, which was hosting a horse show, and found the elderly stallion on the northwest portion of the property.
The horse was standing but missing the lower part of its left front leg.
A deputy contacted Kountz, who owned the horse named Young Doc Bar. Kountz told the deputy that the animal was 22 or 23 years old and he was going to get some semen from the horse and then put him down.
Kountz said that Young Doc Bar was injured around Christmas 2014 when he got his foot caught between panels and “hurt the foot real bad.”
Kountz said he cared for the horse, but the foot was so damaged that it fell off. Kountz said the injury was healed.
Kountz went on to say that he had spent a lot of money keeping the horse alive and wanted to get some semen out of him. He said he called a doctor about the initial injury and got information on how to treat it, but the horse was never taken to a veterinarian.
Dr. Gary Cook from All West Veterinary Clinic responded to the arena that day to examine Young Doc Bar and a young calf, which was in the same area as the horse and appeared to be in very poor health. Cook recommended that both animals be euthanized.
When a deputy told Kountz that the animals needed to be put down, Kountz argued that the calf was fine. When the deputy said that’s not what the vet thought, Kountz said he would shoot both the calf and Young Doc Bar when he returned home from out of town.
The deputy requested that Kountz provide proof that both animals were euthanized and Kountz agreed to send a picture. The deputy closed the case with a warning.
However, a number of witnesses who were at the Kountz Arena on the day of the horse show came forward and provided photographs and information to the sheriff’s office for further investigation.
Pictures given to detectives showed Young Doc Bar’s foot still attached, but with a severe laceration. One of the pictures also showed an injury to the back of the horse’s right leg.
One woman who provided photos said that she had used the Kountz Arena for riding in the winter months and boarded her horse there but later removed her horse due to inadequate care and watering.
The woman said she had offered to take Young Doc Bar from Kountz and care for him, but she said Kountz refused.
Another woman who was at the March 28 horse show at the arena said in addition to the foot injury, she saw a number of open sores on Young Doc Bar.
The woman said when the deputy arrived at the arena, two Kountz workers showed up and started cleaning the stall and putting a wrap on the horse’s stump.
The two workers then put a halter on the horse and used their feet to kick him and urge him to get up. The woman video taped Young Doc Bar being led out of the building and loaded into a horse trailer.
A woman who had worked at the Kountz Arena a couple of times told investigators she had to clean up Young Doc Bar’s stall. She called the stall “disgusting” and said the horse was standing in feces and urine. She also said the horse was holding its injured leg off the ground and that the leg had swollen up to about three times its normal size.
The woman said she never saw the horse’s wound bandaged in any way and never saw a vet work on the animal. The woman added that she was hired to work with a 3-year-old horse, but the horses feet were so bad that he had problems walking. The woman said she quit due to the conditions.
Cook, who examined the animals, told investigators that Young Doc Bar’s hoof was gone from his left foot and the bottom of the leg was a mass of tissue that felt moist. Cook said if the injury would have been reported sooner, he could have helped the animal considerably, or humanely euthanized him.
The calf appeared to almost be having seizures, which could have been from an injury or a toxin, Cook said. The calf was comatose when Cook saw him and Cook said he told Kountz the calf needed to be euthanized.
Amy Morgan of Summit Horsemanship and Show Management, which was holding the show in the Kountz Arena on March 28, said she received a message from Kountz during the show.
“I have a horse that lost a foot back with my horses and someone took a picture and put it on Facebook. I blocked that area off, they shouldn’t have been back there. Announce for people to stay the hell out of there,” the text said.
Investigators contacted Dr. Ted Vlahos, who operates Rocky Mountain Equine Hospital, to review the case. Based on photos, Vlahos concluded that Young Doc Bar’s foot had fallen off weeks prior to March 28.
Vlahos said the case was “clearly” animal cruelty.
“Nothing could be more obvious and serious as a horse that loses its limb,” Vlahos said. “The failure to provide medical care from a licensed veterinarian in the case of catastrophic failure of the limb as in this case clearly represents inhumane and cruel treatment of the horse.”
On March 31, a sheriff’s lieutenant contacted Kountz to inform him of the ongoing investigation. He sent photos of the horse and calf being euthanized, but he said he had spoken to an attorney who advised him not to make any statements.
Kountz was convicted of misdemeanor cruelty to animals in Gallatin County in 1999.
According to the Kountz Arena website, the property includes an outdoor and an indoor arena. The business also boards horses.
(Bozeman Daily Chronicle - May 19, 2015)
Earlier:
Animal abuse case at Kountz Arena sent to County Attorney
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