Severe horse neglect
Thurston County, WA (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Feb 28, 1995
County: Thurston
Disposition: Convicted
Case Images: 1 files available
Defendants/Suspects:
» Wayne Nichols
» Rebecca Nichols
Wayne Nichols, 67, and Rebecca "Bunny" Nichols, 61, were ordered at the time not to possess any horses other than those agreed to by a county prosecutor, and to allow them to be inspected periodically. The horses had been confiscated more than a year earlier and later were sold at auction, in part to cover a private group's costs of care that topped $34,000.
But a year or so after agreeing to the deal, officials say, the couple moved out of the area. They next came to the attention of authorities in Deschutes County late last month, when a hay dealer seeking payment went to the Nichols property off Moffitt Road and saw dozens of horses in poor health. He then snapped photos and brought them to the sheriff's office.
On Dec. 5, the couple were booked on 128 counts each of first-degree animal cruelty, and a major effort was begun to care for the animals – and to raise funds to cover that cost (see earlier http://bend.com/ story, http://my.bend.com/news/ar_view.php?ar_id=7206).
Recently, while preparing to seek a search warrant for the couple's Millican Valley property, Deschutes County sheriff's investigators ran a check of the state Law Enforcement Data System, which turned up a 1973 arrest in Chehalis County, Wash., for cruelty to animals and allowing animals to run large.
But the 1994-95 Washington state case apparently didn't come to light at the time, because the couple had entered what's known as an "Alford plea," not admitting to the underlying facts, but acknowledging they probably would lose at trial – a procedure legally seen as a guilty plea.
Local officers became aware of the Thurston County case in almost accidental fashion last week, shortly before a Deschutes County grand jury convened Friday to begin hearing evidence in the matter and decide on a formal indictment.
A Medford woman who became aware of the couple's arrest contacted Mary Ware of Hooved Animal Rescue of Thurston County (http://www.har-otc.com/), who was involved in the previous case and passed on information about it officials in Bend. References« WA State Animal Cruelty Map
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