starvinghorses

CARROL COPELAND • TIMES RECORD

This is heartbreaking.

Four of the five horses seized from Jerry Don Hattabaugh are seen Monday morning. The Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society seized a total of seven horses after finding six dead horses and 29 starving horses in a pasture near Waldron last week. Austin, Texas-based Bluebonnet, a two-state agency, covers Arkansas and Texas.

The Scott County Sheriff’s Office and a humane society seized five horses from a pasture near Waldron on Monday, following a complaint of starving and dead horses.

The owner may face cruelty to animal charges.

Scott County Sheriff’s Deputy Keith VanRavensway said the Greenwood representative of the Blue Bonnet Equine Humane Society called the Sheriff’s Office about a complaint that several horses belonging to Jerry Don Hattabaugh of Waldron were in bad shape.

VanRavensway said he and humane society representatives checked on the horses last week. They counted five or six dead horses and 29 living horses.

A Greenwood veterinarian pointed out three horses that needed to be removed immediately for treatment. But they were able to load only two of the horses; the third had lain down and they couldn’t get it up, the deputy said.

The horses had no access to food or water, and the pasture area was denuded, he said.

Carcasses on the property were apparently weeks and months old, Scott County Sheriff Cody Carpenter said.

The owner may face cruelty to animal charges?

There’s more here.

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