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Case ID: 18475
Classification: Neglect / Abandonment
Animal: horse
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8 malnourished horses seized
Douglasville, GA (US)

Incident Date: Tuesday, Aug 23, 2011
County: Douglas

Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Stephen Alston

A Douglas County man is behind bars accused of neglecting his horses to the point where they nearly starved.

Douglas County Chief Deputy Stan Copeland says it was a pretty rough sight Tuesday night at Stephen Alston's small ranch on 5187 Hwy. 166.

But Copeland says the 29-year old Alston's property just isn't big enough to support eight horses.

"They had lost a lot of weight," Copeland said. "They looked pretty bad. It could have been a matter of just a couple of days or weeks at the most and they wouldn't be with us."

Brawn says the conditions - though not the worst he's ever seen - were dangerous.

There is no fence, to keeping the horses away from busy Highway 166. To make up for that, Brawn says some of the horses were tied to a tree with rope, while others were left in a 12-foot-by-12-foot shed, for hours at a time.

"It was about the same length as the horses so they could only back up and move forward a little bit. And they certainly could not lay down. Even at night, it was pretty warm in that shed," Brawn said.

Plus, a Douglas County Sheriff's deputy wrote in his arrest report, that there was no food or water for the horses.

Alston told deputies he couldn't afford to feed the horses and had considered turning them loose.

Alston's girlfriend also lives in the house. She didn't want to go on camera, but she did tell me that he is an animal trainer, and that he rehabilitates dogs. She says when they moved to Georgia about a month ago from Philadelphia, he fell in love with the horses in the area and traded to get some. The sick horses were sick when he got them, she says, and he was working to make them better.

Alston is jailed on $4,000 bond, charged with animal cruelty. Copeland said the eight horses are spread out now from Haralson County to Paulding County. He expects all will survive.

References

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