FAYETTE COUNTY, KY NOVEMBER 2015

Lexington horse owner convicted of animal mistreatment     11/11/2015

 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) –
Local horse owner and trainer, Francis Lee McKinney was prosecuted by the Fayette County Attorney’s Office, according to Lexington-Fayette Animal Care & Control.

The shelter says Mckinney was convicted Friday on four counts of miscare and mistreatment of animals.

A statement by Lexington Fayette Animal Care & Control says the charges were filed after four of Mckinney’s horses were found in poor condition in March.

Animal Control says three horses were found on March 11 and were underweight and in need of veterinary care. The fourth horse was found suffering and unable to stand on March 30th.

McKinney was convicted on all charges and taken into custody. She was sentenced to 30 days in jail and has to pay a fine of $2,000.

Animal Control officials say they have been investigating McKinney for more than a decade. Officials say two of horses from Friday’s conviction were apart of a previous investigation.

In February 2011, three horses were taken away from her property for ‘lack of care.’ Animal Control held the horses for 11 months before the case was resolved and McKinney was allowed to regain custody.

WTVQ

SCOTT COUNTY, KY APRIL 2015

Scott Co. Animal Control Forced To Rescue Horses Second Time From Same Home

Posted: Apr 20, 2015 4:44 PM EDT        
Updated: Apr 20, 2015 6:25 PM EDT            

                                                                   

Animal Control Officers in Scott County are angered after they rescued some horses for a second time. After horses that they rescued and nursed back to health 14-years-ago were returned to the family they had been rescued from once before.



Scott County Animal Control officers say that two horses under the county's care are the luckier ones.
Officers seized them from a home on Double Culvert Road. Their owner, Jackie Lamn, now faces three charges of animal cruelty. A report states that the horses were extremely thing and malnourished.

"They weren't fed, what it comes down to, they weren't taken care of,” says Nathan Mullikin.

A third horse, a stallion had to be euthanized.
A vet said that was the only humane thing to do. "We couldn't get him to stand up he was so weak,” says Mullikin.
Dunny, the euthanized horse, had been seized once before back in 2001 along with the other two horses when Lamb's son Jackson was found guilty on two counts of cruelty to animals.

In 2003, prosecutors asked the judge not to give the horses back to their owner, but she did anyway.
Prosecutors argued that putting them back in Jackson Lamb's hand would have been placing them in danger. A judge ordered them returned immediately.

"We had nursed them back to health and they looked great when they left here. When we and the vet picked them up last week. It was terrible...skin covering bones,” says Mullikin.

Jackie Lamb refused to make a comment to LEX 18.

LEX18

FAYETTE COUNTY, KY MARCH 2015

Lexington woman faces charges after horse found dead on farm
Updated: Fri 11:22 PM, Mar 13, 2015

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT)
When animal control officers arrived Wednesday at Lee McKinney's farm on Parkers Mill Road for a complaint, it was not their first time there.

What officers found there now leaves McKinney facing animal neglect charges - again.
"That's why we're here. That's our job," said Officer Timothy Brown with Lexington-Fayette Animal Care and Control. "We're here to be the voice for the animals that can't have that voice for them."
Animal control officers found a horse that had died, and several others that were malnourished, Brown said.

 

Brown said McKinney now faces charges for not providing "proper care" for her animals, in violation of the city's ordinance pertaining to the treatment of animals.
According to Brown - and those who know McKinney - this is not the first time she has faced these charges.

"We don't know if she has the proper means to take care of the animals, or if it's just neglect on her part for the animals," Brown said.

The matter is still under further investigation, Brown said. McKinney could face up to a $500 fine or a year in prison for each charge.

Regardless, Brown says this case serves as a reminder that if you are having trouble taking care of your animals, give them a call.

"There's plenty of ways we can go about trying to help the community in a particular situation," he said. "But even if not that, try your hardest to take care of your animals. If you know that you're going to get them, be sure that you can take care of them."

WKYT

HARRISON COUNTY, KY FEBRUARY 2015

Harrison Co. Horses Seized In Animal Neglect Investigation
Feb 26, 2015 6:16 PM EST

                                               

An animal neglect investigation is underway after neighbors called authorities when four Harrison County horses wandered outside their fence.

When investigators made their way to the farm, they ended up seizing every animal on the property. Officers say the other animals on the Hendricks Lane farm were living with no shelter food or water. Two of the horses required immediate medical attention due to malnourishment.

The owner, who asked that her name be withheld, said the entire incident was a misunderstanding. She says that the icy weather made it difficult to get to her animals but she was still caring for them.
"These horses are my children I do have a child in college, but these animals are just my children,” says the owner.

The owner tells LEX 18 that she was on her way to bring the animals food and water when she wrecked her truck.

With video:
LEX18