2 horses neglected, in need of medical care Ninety Six, SC (US) Incident Date: Saturday, Dec 31, 2005 County: Greenwood Local Map: available Disposition: Alleged Alleged: James R Hastings

Case ID: 8444 Classification: Neglect / Abandonment Animal: horse View more cases in SC (US) Login to Watch this Case

In a small, fenced area, officials say a 10-year-old male horse and 15-year-old female horse were forced to stand in mud and feces, with hardly any grass or hay for food and a tarp, held up by four posts, for shelter.
 
�When I rode by, I just couldn�t even look at them. They were that bad,� said Jama Duckett, a classifieds consultant with The Index-Journal who first saw the distressed animals in January. �You could see their ribs,� Duckett told co-workers, including Mundy Price, director of communications at the newspaper, who rides and shows horses competitively. �I drove down there and I noticed that the area had no grass, and it didn�t appear that they had any other source of food,� Price said, noting that the horses did not appear to be in good health. �I told (my co-workers) that it was definitely something that needed to be reported.�

Other passersby had similar thoughts, and the Humane Society of Greenwood and Sheriff�s Office Animal Control Officer Marvin Grimm received a number of calls about the horses over the past two months.

According to a sheriff�s office report, in January 2006, Grimm made the first of three visits to the home at 3403 Golf Course Road after receiving a complaint through 911. The report said the horses were kept in an area one-fourth to one-half acre, and the area was muddy with �little dry ground for relief.� Water was provided by a large tub, but no hay was kept inside the fence, the report said, though 20 bales were on hand.

The female horse had an abscess covering the right eye, though the owner told Grimm that the wound occurred before he purchased the horse about four months earlier, the report said.

The report said Grimm gave the owner several requirements, including to provide a minimum of two acres for the horses with adequate shelter, to get the horses out of the mud and to have the eye injury treated. During the next two months, the report said Grimm made other attempts to contact the owner but was not able to reach him.

On March 8, 2006, after being called by a humane society employee, South Carolina Awareness and Rescue for Equines (SCARE) President Jan Carter drove from Lexington to view the horses.

In the time since she has been investigating neglect, this case was one of the �most horrendous� she has seen, she said. Carter said the horse�s wound was so severe that it had �eaten away the eye tissue.� �It leaves a picture in your mind that you just don�t forget,� Carter said. �I can�t think of any excuse for letting that horse stand there in the agony she was in.� Carter said she could not make contact with anyone in the home, so she took digital photos of the horses and called Grimm. She showed him the pictures of the horses� condition.

Based on the deterioration from the initial visit, deputies arrested and charged Jimmy Hastings, 34, of 3403 Golf Course Road, Ninety Six, with ill treatment of animals, warrants said.

Carter said SCARE took possession of the horses, which were taken to Lexington. The mare with the eye wound suffered from extreme malnourishment and was euthanized March 10, 2006. Carter said she is still waiting on test results to learn the cause of the wound.

Named �Angel� by her rescuers, the mare �had one night of good food,� Carter said, �and she loved the attention.� The male horse, also very malnourished, is being rehabilitated on a feeding and vaccination program, Carter said. He was named �Mulligan� in a nod to the Golf Course Road location where the horses were found. In golfing terms, �mulligan� means a second chance.

After going through the court process to determine if the animal can be returned to the owners, something Carter said rarely happens, the horse will be placed �in a loving home,� she said.

�He seems to be a really sweet boy, enjoying the attention and food,� she said of Mulligan. �It takes a while (to rehabilitate) but he�s young, and we�ll do everything we can to give him what he needs.�

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Index Journal - March 16, 2006

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