 Horse neglect
Houston, TX (US)Date: Nov 2002
County: Harris
Local Map: available
Disposition: Dismissed
Person of Interest: Michael Eddings
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Washington County recouped a portion of the money it has spent on the care of dozens of horses it seized almost two years ago. An auction the fairgrounds generated a total of $20,775 as the 38 horses were sold.
The highest price paid for one of the horses was $1,050.
The horses were seized in November 2002 after reports they were neglected and starving.
They were taken from the ranch of Houston attorney Michael Eddings, who was subsequently charged with cruelty to animals.
During a trial last July, however, a jury could not agree on a verdict.
In civil proceedings, a deal was finally reached with Eddings, who agreed to relinquish ownership of the horses to the county, turning over registration papers.
County officials delayed an auction until they could obtain registration papers on as many of the horses as possible, hoping they would be more valuable to bidders.
Washington County Judge Dorothy Morgan said she had hoped the sale would bring in more money. The county spent more than $150,000 on care for the horses.
"I was a little disappointed that we didn't get more for the horses," Morgan said this morning. "at the same time, they're going to have good homes now."
Morgan said county officials moved as quickly as they could to take care of the horse situation.
"Legally, that was the only thing that we could do," she said. "We followed all the rules and regulations. That's the law, and this is how it ended up.
"I can tell you this. We as a commissioners court never once wanted it to get to this point, to get this expensive. But we had to go by the law, we had to go by the judicial process.
"And the judicial process doesn't always turn out the way we want or move as quickly as we might want it to." Neighborhood MapFor more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.
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