Animal Abuse: 39 dead horses found on two farms - Shawver's Crossing, WV

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Case ID: 17407

Classification: Hoarding

Animal: horse

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39 dead horses found on two farms
Shawver's Crossing, WV (US)

Incident Date: Wednesday, Feb 9, 2011
County: Greenbrier

Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Alleged
Case Images: 1 files available

Alleged: Grady Whitlock

Case Updates: 2 update(s) available

Responding to an anonymous tip Wednesday, law enforcement officers discovered numerous dead horses at a Greenbrier County farm.

Standing at the Shawver's Crossing site along U.S. 60 early Thursday morning, Sheriff James Childers said, "This is pitiful. This is awful."

As of 3:30 p.m., officers working with a veterinarian Childers called in had identified 28 dead animals, Childers said.

"There's no evidence of feed anywhere on the farm that we've been yet," Childers said. "The vet's opinion is the animals died for lack of food."

All of the animals were found on a 300-acre farm, which the sheriff said is owned by Grady Whitlock of Raleigh County.

"I called (Whitlock) this morning and told him he'd better (come to the farm)," Childers said Thursday afternoon.

When Whitlock arrived on the scene, officers took the 83-year-old man into custody. Childers said he is charged with at least 28 counts of animal cruelty, one for each dead horse found thus far.

Whitlock was arraigned before Greenbrier County Magistrate Doug Beard and released on a $2,500 personal recognizance bond on the misdemeanor charges.

Childers said Whitlock's best guess was that there were between 85 and 100 horses on the Shawver's Crossing farm. The sheriff said animal control officers were having difficulty arriving at a count of living horses, given the size of the farm.

"We seized the farm and the property," Childers said following Whitlock's arrest. "Now, we're making sure we make arrangements to feed the animals that are still alive. These animals are so hungry they're licking our vehicles to get the salt."

"We might bring four-wheelers out here to help get food to them," he said. "One of the saddest things is that a lot of the ones we've found alive are pregnant."

This is not the first time complaints have been made about conditions at Whitlock's Shawver's Crossing farm. In January 2006, The Register-Herald reported animal control officers were investigating a situation involving 60 miniature horses that were allegedly being neglected at the farm. Many of those animals were also pregnant at the time.

Whitlock denied owning those horses.

That incident was resolved when the unidentified owner of the animals was pressured under threat of legal action to move them out of the marshy area where they had been kept.

Childers said Thursday the horses now at the Shawver's Crossing farm are not miniatures. He said he understands that the miniatures are now kept on a farm Whitlock owns in Lewisburg.

"I've heard there are some dead horses at his Lewisburg farm, too, but I haven't had time to check that out in person," Childers said, adding that he had dispatched two deputies to that farm late Thursday afternoon.

The sheriff said he had also received a report that at least five dead horses have been found at yet another farm Whitlock owns in Mercer County.

Childers said he does not anticipate filing charges against anyone else in connection with the animal deaths at the Shawver's Crossing property.

Case Updates

A civil action that removed 180 animals from the custody of Grady Whitlock will continue, despite Whitlock's death last week, according to Greenbrier Prosecutor Patrick I. Via.

Horses and cattle, allegedly neglected, were discovered on two Greenbrier County farms in early February when law enforcement officers investigated reports of dead horses on Whitlock's farm near Crawley.

At that farm, investigators discovered 32 deceased horses and approximately 80 other horses in reportedly poor condition.

Three days later, the county's humane officer found four dead horses and two dead cows on another Whitlock-owned farm near Lewisburg. More than 100 head of cattle and horses in poor condition were found there.

Whitlock was briefly taken into custody and charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty.

Only days later, Greenbrier Circuit Judge Joseph C. Pomponio Jr. granted the humane officer's request for temporary custody of the neglected animals.

Whitlock, a longtime Beckley businessman, died suddenly April 7, at the age of 83.

"The criminal cases, obviously, are done, with (Whitlock's) being deceased," the prosecutor said Thursday morning.

"The civil forfeiture case will proceed," Via said. "Mr. Whitlock's estate administrator will become a party to the proceedings in his place."

Via explained, "This happens in civil cases from time to time.

"The estate administrator or executor stands in the shoes of the deceased."

Meanwhile, the animals in question remain on the farms where they were found but are now in the custody of the animal control officer, Sheriff's Cpl. Todd Williams.

"The order the court entered is still in force and effect," Via noted.

"Our guys are feeding the horses and cows and bringing in veterinarians as needed."

The prosecutor said he expects a further hearing in the civil case to be scheduled soon.

Source: dailymail.com - Apr 15, 2011
Update posted on Apr 15, 2011 - 6:44PM

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After many horses were found dead Wednesday in Greenbrier County, police have hit a standstill because the state will not allow them back on the property.

Greenbrier County Sheriff Jim Childers says the total dead has now been brought up to 39 from two farms. The horses were originally found due to an anonymous tip Wednesday on 83-year-old Grady Whitlock's 300-acre farm in Greenbrier County. Whitlock is also said to own many other farms that span county lines, and it is unknown how many others have died along with exactly how many other farms he owns.

The Whitlock family is said to have gotten into the miniature horse business in the late 1950s. Childers says Whitlock's father advertised his horses in the Sears Roebuck Catalogue and also sold them to punch mines where the horses would go into the mines with a sleigh to bring the coal out.

Now, police have hit a frustrating situation. The state veterinarian will not allow them on the property unless they can prove there is a disease.

"After the warrant was served and we removed the dead animals, we were ordered by law to leave the property," Childers said. "It's a done deal and it may not seem right, but that's the law."

Police were hoping the state would give them the right to quarantine the property and to allow them to have access all weekend to figure out what to do about the malnourished horses. But in order to get a quarantine, they are required to prove a disease is present.

"So now, we're scratching our heads thinking what else can we do to make this better," he said. "I don't understand how the state vet under emergency circumstances can't do something. If you have horses that have to walk over dead horses to get water �" I mean I don't know whether a disease is present or not, but you can't tell me that with 39 dead horses all over the place and in the streams that there isn't a disease somewhere."

The matter is still dire, he said. He doesn't know how many more horses have died since they were ordered off the property, and he is also concerned about the living horses, especially the pregnant ones.

"When they have the baby, I've seen coyotes dragging them out to the woods and eating them," he said. "Yet we can't get back on the property and neither can our vet."

Whitlock was arrested and charged with the misdemeanor charge of two counts of animal cruelty.

Childers says he wants to change that misdemeanor status to a felony.

"We are trying to get a process going to get a court order to allow us back on the property," he said. "We also called our senator, Ron Miller, and told him about the situation."

Childers explained that animal neglect is a misdemeanor but torture is a felony. What he hopes Miller can accomplish is to bring this matter up to the Legislature to make these offenses felonies.

"My understanding is that Monday or Tuesday the Legislature will take this matter up," he said. "It won't take care of this case, but it will certainly help in the future."

The No. 1 goal right now is to make sure Whitlock doesn't own animals in the future, Childers said.

"I feel that is my sworn duty because unless people see what's going on, they just don't know," Childers said. "When you see the trailer coming down the road with the dead horses and their legs dangling in the air, you just, I don't know. There was one horse out there and his leg looked like a 5-gallon bucket."

There have been efforts to feed the horses. Police have moved salt blocks out on the farm, and the Agricultural Commission has donated money to buy feed. Also, community support has been great, Childers added.

"We've had people from all over to bring hay, but now they can't get on the property to get it to them," he said. "I hope Whitlock doesn't know what he's doing, but when he tells people to bury them, he has to know what he's doing."

Source: register-herald.com - Feb 13, 2011
Update posted on Feb 13, 2011 - 1:30PM

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39 dead horses found on two farmsShawver's Crossing, WV (US)

Case Updates

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39 dead horses found on two farms
Shawver's Crossing, WV (US)