Horse neglect - 15 seized Canfield, OH (US) Incident Date: Thursday, Oct 26, 2006 County: Mahoning Local Map: available Disposition: Alleged Alleged: Thomas Skelton

Case ID: 10161 Classification: Neglect / Abandonment Animal: horse View more cases in OH (US) Login to Watch this Case

A man facing 13 charges of animal cruelty after 15 horses were removed from his township property has pleaded innocent.

An attorney for Thomas Skelton, 5156 S. Raccoon Road, filed a written plea with Mahoning County Court along with a motion for an order to force the state to make the horses available to the defense for physical examinations. The court granted the motion.

Skelton was to have an arraignment in county court in Canfield on Nov 22, but the plea and the motion were filed Nov 17.

If the case goes to trial, he will be tried in the county court rather than in the court of common pleas because the charges are misdemeanors. The case is set for a pretrial hearing at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 20.

The Mahoning County Sheriff's Department removed the horses from Skelton's property Oct. 26. Thirteen of them are his horses, and two of them were boarded with him, said Mahoning County Detective David Benigas.

Benigas was not available to say whether charges were ever filed over the boarder horses.

A veterinarian involved in the case, Suzanne Wilcox, has said the horses were kept in unsafe and squalid conditions, were malnourished and their grooming was neglected. They are in foster care, where they are doing well.

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References

Vindy.Com - Nov 23, 2006

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