LINCOLN COUNTY, KY MARCH 2011

HORSES LEFT UNATTENDED IN LINCOLN COUNTY

People who live along Spice Ridge Road in Lincoln County say nobody has been taking care of 40 to 50 horses for more than a month.

Neighbors describe the animals as malnourished and say that they wander around street. They complain nothing is being done to help. "There ain't nobody who wants to claim them, or take care of them, or feed them, or anything else, just letting them run wherever they want to," Jesse Turner said.

The Lincoln County Sheriff says the horses belong to Walter Smith, who used to own the property. Deputies say they have been in contact with Smith and are investigating the allegations.


LEX18

MERCER COUNTY, KY MARCH 2011

March 5th, 2011

Man charged with felony animal cruelty in Mercer

HARRODSBURG

The leader of a Mercer County horse rescue operation was arrested Thursday on felony animal cruelty charges involving 30 horses.

Richard M. Banks, identified as head of Central Kentucky Equine Rescue, was charged with 30 counts of first-degree animal cruelty after Mercer County Animal Control Officer David Quinn III alerted the sheriff’s office that horses on Banks’ property off of Shakertown Road were poorly cared for.

According to a sheriff’s department press release, the horses were “being malnourished and neglected” and some were living in “dangerous conditions.”

It appeared that several of the animals had not been fed for an extended period of time, the press release stated.

A visit to the property Saturday morning found about 30 horses still on the premises.

The animals were divided into three pens, each with access to a large round bale of hay.

Mercer County Animal Shelter employees had fed the horses.

One mare with a foal appeared especially emaciated. Her hip bone protruded several inches from her body and all of her ribs were visible.

Banks did not answer a knock at his residence at 1626 Shakertown Road on Saturday.

He also has a residence in Stanford, police said. He could not be reached for comment.

Banks was arrested Thursday night and was released Friday from the Boyle County Detention Center after posting a $5,000 cash bond.

First-degree animal cruelty is a Class D felony, punishable by one to five years in prison. Deputy Scott Elder is investigating. More charges and additional arrests are possible. Along with Elder, Sheriff Ernie Kelty and Deputy Sean Brown assisted at the scene.

AMNEWS.com

AMNEWS

WKYT

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MASON COUNTY, KY JANUARY 2010

N.Ky. Man Charged With 30 Counts Of Animal Cruelty

MASON CO., Ky. --

A Northern Kentucky horse owner is facing numerous charges after police say 30 neglected horses were found on his property.

Sheriff Patrick Boggs says George Jones, 63, is charged with 30 counts of cruelty to animals.

Jones is also facing six counts of failure to dispose carcasses.

Neighbors alerted sheriff deputies to Jones' farm located on Key Pike about four miles south of Maysville after seeing the carcasses from the roadway.

Mason County Sheriff Deputies were back out again on Wednesday. Neighbors called after driving by and seeing the bodies of six dead horses in the field. "Mr. Jones tells us he had somebody, a hired hand to take care of them. He says he's been in bad health himself. I don't believe economics is part of the problem here. I believe its just neglect of the animals," said Sheriff Patrick Boggs of Mason County. "There was no water out for the animals, very minimal water,” the Sheriff added. “There was hay on the farm and feed for the horses and donkeys on the farm, but was not made accessible to the animals."

The Sheriff says Jones is cooperating, allowing investigators with the Kentucky Department Of Agriculture onto his property Wednesday.

The farm also houses 150 other horses."We were out today, on the 20th, with the Department of Agriculture and Mr. Jones is taking the proper steps to remedy the situation as far as disposing of the carcasses and feeding the livestock," said Boggs.

The horses will remain on the property unless a judge orders them elsewhere.Jones is due to face a judge for the misdemeanor charges on Monday.

If convicted, he faces a fine and up to a year in jail.

WCPO

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NELSON COUNTY, KY DECEMBER 2009

Rescue team says starving horses were on public official's property

by Gene Kang
Posted on December 16, 2009 at 8:15 PM

A horse rescue team in Nelson County claims a public official had dozens of starved horses on his property for weeks.

And it all started when Harris Horse Rescue emailed WHAS11 a YouTube video of roughly 20 horses in Bloomfield Kentucky, some malnourished and looking very thin.

"They were in horrible condition and with them being that emaciated and visibly being sick it was life-threatening to every horse on this lot," said Charlene Harris, Harris Horse Rescue.

"You don't see it and don't think about it unless those videos got out and saw what was really happening. A lot more people got involved," said Lisa McCullough, who captured the YouTube video.

Problem is, Harris Horse Rescue in Nelson County says the lot at the 3200 block of Wilkerson Road belongs to their County Magistrate, Jerry Hahn.

So, when WHAS11’s Gene Kang drove out to Nelson County and showed up at the Magistrate's lot, he found that all the horses are missing, nowhere to be found.

So where are all the horses?

A shock to Harris who claims they were there just Tuesday night, she says these pictures and video links started pouring into her rescue the past weeks.

Harris tells us the magistrate never returned her phone calls trying to alert him of the dire conditions.

"These horses being as emaciated as they were, they will end up going to slaughter, slaughter-bound to Canada," said Harris.

Hahn was outspoken and exclaims he has nothing to hide.
In fact, he showed us his own horses just down the street from the lot.

Hahn says the starved horses in the YouTube video were from a stockyard and claims he was only keeping them for an associate in Hardin County where they've returned. He says he was trying to nurse the horses back to health after getting them from a sale barn and has since taken them back.

"All I was doing was trying to save the horses lives. That's all I was doing," said Hahn.
"I talked to our county judge and everything I talked to them in Frankfort. I wasn't doing anything wrong."

"It's sickening that anyone can get away with this let alone an elected official. He should've been setting an example for everyone else," said Harris.

The Harris Horse Rescue says officials in Nelson County never took legal action against Magistrate Hahn despite knowing about the situation.



WHAS11

Related You Tube videos:

Video #1

Video #2

Video #3

Magistrate Jerry Hahn is not an unfamiliar name on our blog.
Crescini (case posted previously) starved his horses across the street from the property of Jerry Hahn's. Publically Hahn admitted to taking two of Crescini's emaciated horses into his care, however neither those two nor the remaining Crescini horses were ever heard of again.
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BOYLE COUNTY, KY AUGUST

10 malnourished horses found in Boyle

By Greg Kocher - gkocher1@herald-leader.com

Kentucky State Police are investigating the case of 10 malnourished horses that were found Monday in Boyle County.
The horses were seized and taken to sites inside and outside Boyle County, said Dan Turcea, director of Boyle County Animal Control.

No one had been charged as of Wednesday afternoon, Turcea said.

State police received a tip that the horses were in a barn at 3316 Gentry Lane, north of Danville, Turcea said. "They were in really poor condition," Turcea said. "They were extremely emaciated. They were feces-covered. Their hooves were in terrible condition. Some of them may have skin problems due to their filth."

The horses were in the stalls of a barn. "They did have fans blowing on them. ...And these stalls had obviously not been mucked out, I would say, in months," Turcea said.
The stalls had 18 inches of horse manure in them, Turcea said. The animals had apparently received water.

The horses, ranging in age from 1 to 16 years old, are owned by people in Texas, North Carolina, Boyle County and Bardstown, Turcea said.

"The trooper and I have been in contact with these people," he said.

kentucky.com

09/10/2009 UPDATE

Danville man to be arraigned on animal-cruelty charges:

A Danville man is scheduled to be arraigned later this month on charges that he failed to provide adequate food, water and care for 10 horses.

James T. Lancaster, 65, was charged in late August with 10 counts of second-degree cruelty to animals. The horses were seized Aug. 10 after Kentucky State Police received a tip about starving animals in a barn on Gentry Lane north of Danville.

After examination by veterinarians, the emaciated horses were found to be suffering severe malnutrition, according to court documents. The equine body condition scores of the 10 animals were 1 and 2, with the highest possible score being 10, court records said.

The horses were owned by others but were in Lancaster's care. They were moved elsewhere after being seized by animal control officers.

Lancaster is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 22 in Boyle District Court in Danville. He is free on $2,000 bond.

kentucky.com


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MERCER COUNTY, KY JUNE 2009

Mercer Co. Horse Owner Faces Animal Cruelty Charges

June 22, 2009

A Mercer County man faces cruelty to animal charges after some horses were taken off his property.

Police say concerned neighbors alerted them about the horses, who were located on a farm on Curry Pike in Harrodsburg.

According to a criminal complaint, the horses belong to James "Les" Pease, a local developer who is now charged with cruelty to animals.

In all, 14 horses were seized from the farm and are now in a rescue being nursed back to health.

Pease had a summons to appear in Mercer district court Monday.

His attorney entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.

Pease is due back in court July 28 for a pre-trial hearing.

LEX.18

AssociatedContent

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LARUE COUNTY, KY March 2009

Upton, KY

Saddlebred Farm Jack Ward

This case has been reported to the State Police, however no actions have been taken.

The mares in the right picture are emaciated and pregnant.

Phone calls and e-mails to Kentucky State Police Post 4 have not been replied to.

Update:

It has recently come to our attention, that the owner of the emaciated horses (Jack Ward) is the father of Captain Ward of State Police Post #4.

As of 04/26/2009 horses are still in deplorable conditions. Pictures taken on that date:

Update 07/16/2009:
We checked on the horses and they are currently in good condition.

The pasture has grass and the owner has round bales in storage.

Speak Up For Horses conducted their training program "How To Recognize Horse Neglect And Abuse" in Hodgenville today and Post #4 of the State Police (Captain Ward's ditrict) sent one of their deputies to attend.

We will continue to monitor the situation.

Update August 2009:

The owner of the horses passed away.

Steps are currently being taken to place these horses into new homes.