Horses found severely underweight
Muskogee, OK (US)Incident Date: Saturday, Jul 8, 2006
County: Muskogee
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged:
» Al Matthews
» Barbara Maruca
A rodeo promoter and his mother have been unfairly accused of cruelty and neglect of six horses that were taken from them at a miniature rodeo last weekend, their attorney said.
Al Matthews, who is a calf roper and horse lover himself, said Paul Guinn and his mother, Barbara Maruca were trying to save the horses from slaughter, not abuse them.
Muskogee Police animal control officers confiscated the animals from the Muskogee Round-Up Club arena on the night of July 8. Guinn had rented the arena for the youth rodeo.
Muskogee Police Capt. Stephanie Foster said officers had received an anonymous tip that the horses were malnourished.
"The horses were extremely skinny and dehydrated," Foster said.
Matthews said he agrees the horses were extremely underweight.
Guinn had purchased seven horses about seven days before at a horse auction at the Mid-America Stockyards in Bristow, Matthews said.
Horse auctions normally are divided in two sections: One with horses that are to be taken to slaughter, the other for horses being sold for riding. All of the horses Guinn bought were from the slaughter portion of the auction, Matthews said.
Guinn paid $394.68 for all of the horses. They averaged 437 pounds each. A healthy horse generally weighs 1,000 to 1,300 pounds, Matthews said.
Guinn bought the horses with hopes of fattening them and hopefully someday being able to use them for bucking stock, Matthews said.
His client had no intention of using them for that purpose right away, Matthews said.
"He didn't even know they would be able to make it to his place," he said.
Guinn took the horses to a lot on South York, where he started feeding them hay and feed, Matthews said. The horses were a little wild and in bad need of being treated for worms but Guinn did not have a chute to put them in.
He decided to take them to the rodeo grounds and treat them in the chutes there, Matthews said. He had already treated them once and was going to treat them again on Sunday, before taking them back to the lot.
They had hay, feed and water while at the rodeo grounds, Matthews said.
Guinn had already made arrangements for other bucking horses for the rodeo and knew the horses he just bought weren't strong enough for that kind of activity, Matthews said.
Guinn and Maruca have been cited in Municipal Court for animal abuse/neglect and will appear on those charges when a date is set, Matthews said.
Meanwhile, the bill for the city keeping the horses had already reached a total of $800 by Thursday - more than twice as much as Guinn had paid for them. Matthews said he will advise his clients next week on whether they should try to claim the horses. References |
