Horse neglect
Austin, MN (US)Incident Date: Monday, Mar 31, 2008
County: Mower
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: James Alan Arens
A 52-year-old Rose Creek man is facing criminal charges for allegedly not providing necessary food and water to two horses on his property in rural Austin.
James Alan Arens was charged last week in Mower District Court with two misdemeanor counts of overworking or mistreating animals. One count is for a palomino horse and the other for an appaloosa.
Arens has been summoned to appear May 5 in court.
On March 31, Judge Donald E. Rysavy, acting on a request from prosecutors, canceled a continuance for dismissal related to misdemeanor animal-neglect charge filed against Arens in February 2006 for an incident the prior month, records show.
In July, prosecutors agreed to continue the charge toward dismissal for nine months and had Arens pay a $100 fine, court documents show.
According to the new criminal complaint, a deputy received a report March 17 from a resident near Arens' property in the 56000 block of 205th Street in rural Austin. The neighbor was concerned about the welfare of two horses left at the property throughout winter.
In fall, the horses looked well but now are skinny and poor, the neighbor told the deputy. The resident said the horses were in the woods all winter and had no shelter.
As part of an investigation by the sheriff's department and Mower County Humane Society, a veterinarian went to the property March 19 to check the horses and submitted a report March 28 saying the horses weren't adequately fed or watered.
Two days before the veterinarian's report, a deputy spoke with Arens, who said he gave the horses away last fall to people he doesn't know in Glenville, Minn. He told the deputy the horses were gone during winter.
Arens said several weeks earlier he found the horses had been returned to the fenced area of his property, and he began feeding and watering them, the complaint says. Arens described himself as an animal lover and said he gave the horses away because he no longer could care for them, the complaint says. References
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