SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Eight malnourished and neglected horses have been removed from a muddy Salem, Ore., field where six other horses were found dead.
Marion County sheriff’s officers initially responded last Friday to a report of a horse down in the 50-acre field. Deputy Skip Lumley found an old, malnourished horse mired in mud. That horse was euthanized at the recommendation of a veterinarian.
Deputies were finally able to reach an out-of-state woman who said she was renting the property and owned some of the horses. She agreed to surrender her horses if they were taken by horse rescue organizations. Marion County sheriff’s spokesman Don Thomson said that’s what happened Thursday.
A veterinarian says the horses are suffering from malnutrition, skin disease, foot diseases and parasites.
Thomson says deputies are working to identify those responsible for the care of the animals.
