Junior and Karen Gobble were charged May 13 with 14 counts of cruelty to animals after Sullivan County Animal Shelter Officer Phil Lane investigated a report of horse abuse and found the animals starved and neglected.
Six horses - including a newborn colt - had already died from the neglect, Lane said.
Two more colts were born after officials seized the surviving 14 horses and took them to a safe pasture. Lane said one horse became ill and had to be euthanized. Last month, the Gobbles had a trial in Bristol General Sessions Court on the 14 counts. They were found guilty of 11 counts, and on Tuesday Judge Klyne Lauderback handed down 11-month, 29-day sentences on each count.
Three of those sentences were ordered to run consecutively for an effective three-year sentence, but they were all suspended except for 60 days.
The relatively little jail time, Lane said, is due to Tennessee's animal cruelty laws. Case Updates| Posted on Mar 9, 2003 - 2:02PM | | The Bluff City couple was found guilty of beating a small herd of horses and will serve 60 days in jail, a judge ruled. |
References | The Knoxville News Sentinel | | animaladvocacy.net | | Times-News | | Washington County Humane Society |  | WATE-TV |
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