Alexander Goode's 11 starving horses seized; charges filed

NORTH CAROLINA -- Charges were filed on Wednesday against a Scotland County man after 11 malnourished horses were seized last week from his farm east of Gibson.

Alexander Goode, 49, of 13581 Windy Hill Farm Road is facing 11 counts of cruelty to animals, a misdemeanor. He was placed in the Scotland County Detention Center under a $5,000 bond.

According to Brian Lowry, the Scotland County Health Department’s environmental health program coordinator, animal control received a complaint on April 24 about Goode’s horses. A search warrant was issued by magistrate John Blue and executed later that day.

According to the search warrant, animal control officer Marc Brown reported that the horses had not been properly fed in some time and one was “down on the ground.”

Officers found that the horses’ enclosure had very little to no grass, no hay was available, and the animals’ water troughs, though full, were green with algae.

Per the warrant, the horses “appeared to be starving to death,” with much of their bone structure visible due to lack of muscle and fat. The horses’ winter coats had not begun to shed, and they were developing a skin fungus called rain rot.

“They were all very, very malnourished and we could tell that they had been suffering for some time,” Lowry said. “Hopefully with a proper diet and with proper care they should be able to be rehabbed.”

The 11 horses seized included one pregnant mare, one six-month-old foal, and three stallions. Three of the horses were being kept on a horse trailer without food or water available.

The horses were removed to several foster homes in the county, according to Lowry.

“Since we have no way to care for horses at the county, we have several people out in the community to help us in a situation like this,” he said. “Those we release the horses to, they’re well-equipped to take care of horses like this.”

Goode, who is well known for riding his horses into town and sometimes disrupting traffic, has been charged with cruelty to animals before, including once in September 2013 while he was living on Leisure Road.

In October of that year, a neighbor complained to the county Board of Commissioners about the condition of the horses on Goode’s Leisure Road property.

Goode is scheduled to appear in court on May 20.

(Laurinburg Exchange - May 1, 2015)