Case Details

Horse neglect - over 100 horses emaciated at horse "rescue" Riverside, CA (US) Incident Date: Wednesday, Oct 30, 2002 County: Riverside Disposition: Alleged Alleged: » James Joseph Hardie » Deborah Loren Hardie

Case ID: 1348 Classification: Neglect / Abandonment Animal: horse View more cases in CA (US) Login to Watch this Case

A couple who rescued and boarded horses were arrested for investigation of animal neglect and cruelty after 18 of the animals were euthanized and dozens of others were found in poor conditions.

James Joseph Hardie and Deborah Loren Hardie were being held in the Riverside County jail on $25,000 bail each.  The couple is accused of failing to provide proper food, water and shelter to the horses at their facility, California Horse Protection, and stealing another horse sent to the facility to be boarded.

"It was sad; these people were in way over their head on this operation," said David H.K. Huff, a Riverside County deputy counsel who helped the county seize the remaining animals. "The way some of the horses' hides were pulled over their bones made them look like concentration camp victims."

The investigation into the couple's business began last year after county animal control officials received a complaint.

"I saw over a hundred horses in various stages of starvation and dehydration. I saw eight horses in need of veterinary care due to apparent injuries," Riverside County Animal Control Officer Tisha Snyder said in court papers filed on Oct. 30. "I saw one horse that was lying down in a stall in its own urine and feces that was unable to stand."

Animal control officers served a search warrant on the business near San Jacinto in October, when a veterinarian was forced to euthanize 10 horses suffering from neglect. Animal control ordered 69 other horses, three burros and one mule impounded after examinations "for fear of further neglect."

In a separate arrest warrant application, Riverside County Sheriff's Deputy Judith Edwards alleged that a boarded horse named "Gala" is missing from the ranch. Edwards wrote that Deborah Hardie "admitted she and (her husband) adopted the horse out to another family without obtaining any bill of sale."

Huff said eight other horses were later euthanized and five were auctioned by the state Department of Food and Agriculture.

References

The Sacramento Bee

« CA State Animal Cruelty Map

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