“On Aug. 6, I was dispatched to 1812 Stanley Valley Rd in reference (to an) animal complaint and to check on the welfare of the animals at this location,” said Kevin Johnson of the Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office.
“Upon my arrival, I was unable to make contact with the owner of the animals. In my observation, I counted approximately 20 horses and/or ponies, goats and various cats and dogs on the property,” Johnson said.
“The property appears to approximately a five-acre lot. Several of the horses or ponies appeared to be in poor health. Also, the animals have no grass for grazing. The property is mostly dirt and weeds,” Johnson reported.
“I also observed no hay or feed in the lots for the animals. I did observe approximately three to four bales of hay under a tarp outside the fence area where the animals were unable to access,” Johnson stated.
Johnson notified the UT Extension office of Hawkins County and returned Aug. 11 with Blake Ramsey of the office to observe the situation.
“Mr. Ramsey’s determination is that four of the horse/ponies are under a BCS (Body Condition Score) of 2. Mr Ramsey also states that the horse/ponies are not getting proper care and nutrition and in his report finds that there is probably cause to believe that the Animal Cruelty Act of the State of Tennessee has been violated,” Johnson said.
Tennessee Code Annotated 39-14-201, “A person commits the crime of cruelty to animals if the person,” among other things, “fails unreasonably to provide necessary food, water, care or shelter for an animal in the person's custody; abandons unreasonably an animal in the person's custody.”
According to the UT Extension’s “Equifacts,” “Most horses should be maintained in a body condition score of 5 or 6. Horses are grazing animals that spend most of their time eating. A good diet is based on plentiful, good quality pasture or hay. Grain or grain mixes can be added in the amount necessary to improve or maintain the horse’s body condition.
UT Extension’s “Equifacts” further states that “the feeding of a palatable, balanced diet
is important to a horse’s health. Poor nutrition makes a horse less able to build immunity and more susceptible to disease. Also, most colic can be traced to feeding errors, such as rapid changes in feed and feeding more than 50 percent of the horse’s diet as concentrate.
“A horse will eat up to about three pounds of total feed per 100 pounds of body weight. A horse should be fed .25 to 1.5 pounds of grain or grain mix per 100 pounds of body weight based on the horse’s age and body condition. Grain can be fed once or twice a day depending on the amount fed.
Hay is fed to make up the rest of the horse’s diet, and a horse should receive at least one percent of its body weight per day.
“Complete horse feeds, if used properly, can replace some or all of a horse’s roughage needs. For example: a 1,000-pound horse in poor body condition will eat 30 pounds of feed per day.”
According to equi-therapy.net, “The general rule is to allow at least one and a half acres of grazing for the first horse and one acre for each horse or pony after that. Provision also needs to be made for every part of the pasture to be rested for at least six weeks, twice a year.”
Karesa Charles, 56, 1812 Stanley Valley Rd, was charged with four counts of animal cruelty.
(Therogersvillereview - Aug 19, 2015)
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