(July 2017) Florida: Another 'rescue' found to be abusing animals. This time it's Angel King, owner of Kings Cover Horse Rescue, who's been charged with 7 counts of animal cruelty.

FLORIDA -- Seven starving horses resembling walking skeletons have been rescued and their owner is in custody, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday.

The horses’ tails and hip bones jutted out in angular directions and, having used up their fat, their bodies had begun eating their muscle for fuel. Some could not stand up on hooves grown soft from decay.

Deputies arrested Angel King, 46, of Eustis, on Monday on seven counts of animal cruelty for the horses’ malnourished condition, sheriff’s Sgt. Jim Vachon said.

“She was claiming to be a horse rescue for horses that couldn’t be cared for any more,” he said.

Since June 1, there have been three allegations of animal cruelty at “Kings Cove Horse Rescue” on Huff Road in Eustis, a rural area 35 miles northwest of Orlando, Vachon said.

Agriculture deputies trained in assessing livestock visited the property Wednesday based on an anonymous tip, according to an arrest warrant.

They ordered King to comply with a health-improvement plan for the horses, but after two days took them into custody after King failed to follow their instructions.

“You could see their ribs. I’ve never seen her take care of them all,” said resident Cheyenne Stephenson.

She said months went by as the horses became more emaciated.

Teresa Meixner, owner of Howey Horse Haven Rescue in Howey-in-the-Hills, said the first 10 days will be critical for the horses.

“They’re not used to having any food … you have to feed them very, very slowly or else you’re shocking their system” and they could die, she said.

Meixner said it’s possible some might not make it.

“It’s hard to say what God’s got planned for them,” she said. She’s had recovering horses fall, be too weak to rise and pass away.

The horses were rated on the Henneke horse body condition scoring system, which rates a healthy horse at 9 and a very emaciated horse at 1.

Two horses rated a zero, starved to the point where their skin is stretched over their bone structure, according to an affidavit of probable cause. One had a score of 1 and the rest rated a 2.

The affidavit said the “starvation over time is a repeated infliction of unnecessary pain and/or suffering.”

A veterinarian’s exam found that the condition of the horses “is not attributed to age nor to obvious illness but to being deprived adequate food and nutrition.”

In the past four years, Meixner has rehabilitated nearly 60 horses “and that’s just us,” she said, adding that it takes more work than caring for dogs or cats.

“They need hoof care, they gotta be dewormed all the time — horses graze 18 hours a day,” she said. “It doesn’t take them very long to start dropping weight like that.”

Vachon said calls about skinny horses “aren’t terribly common” but do occur and spiked during the economic recession when ranchers couldn’t afford their care.

Two skinny horses, 15-year-old thoroughbreds, were taken to a Clermont rescue ranch in 2014, after animal-control complaints about their previous owner that dated back to 2009.

“I think a lot of times you think it’s just ignorance on the owner’s part,” Meixner said.

King is being held in the Lake County Jail on $35,000 bond.

ARREST INFO:
Name: ANGEL KING
Booking Number: 17005190
Booking on: 7/17/2017
County: Lake
Date of Birth: 06/25/1971
Gender: Female
Race: White
Charges
Violation Code: 828.12-2
Violation Description: ANIMAL CRUELTY
Bond Amount: $5,000.00
Violation Code: 828.12-2
Violation Description: ANIMAL CRUELTY
Bond Amount: $5,000.00
Violation Code: 828.12-2
Violation Description: ANIMAL CRUELTY
Bond Amount: $5,000.00
Violation Code: 828.12-2
Violation Description: ANIMAL CRUELTY
Bond Amount: $5,000.00
Violation Code: 828.12-2
Violation Description: ANIMAL CRUELTY
Bond Amount: $5,000.00
Violation Code: 828.12-2
Violation Description: ANIMAL CRUELTY
Bond Amount: $5,000.00
Violation Code: 828.12-2
Violation Description: ANIMAL CRUELTY
Bond Amount: $5,000.00


"The owner of KingsCove Horse Rescue in Eustis Florida has been rescuing horses for over 18 years out of her own pocket, working closely with Lake County Animal Control to save horses needing homes. Angel currently has 21 head of horses (soon to be 23), 8 goats, 6 chickens, 5 cats, 3 dogs, a squirrel and a sugar glider.  She has had over 140 horses come through the rescue and go to new homes."  - Jaimie Goodrich

(Orlando Sentinel - July 18, 2017)