WOODBURN, Ore. (AP) -- The Marion County sheriff's office says it has rescued nine neglected horses from a muddy field in Woodburn, Ore.
Neighbors called in late December to report the horses' plight, saying they were eating wooden fencing to survive.
Deputy Pete Marcellais was able to identify three owners who said they were raising the horse for rodeos. One man acknowledged feeding the animals only straw.
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After a preliminary exam by veterinarian Dr. Barbara Kahl, the animals were seized Sunday. They now have shelter and are being fed special diets.
Sheriff's spokesman Don Thomson says Kahl reported Tuesday that the horses are all suffering from severe malnutrition as well as dehydration, hoof abscesses and skin sores.
Deputies arrested and cited Eduardo Cruz-Arvizu, 26, Oswaldo Cibrian, 24 and Jose Rubio Dela Cruz, 42, all of Woodburn. They were charged with 9 counts of Animal Neglect and each face fines up to $45,000 and possibly some jail time. Deputies say the three told them they were raising the horses to be used in a Mexican Rodeo.
KGW has learned that Mexican Rodeo’s have come under fire the past few years for using horses in an event called horse tripping. It’s an event where cowboys rope a horses two front feet, tripping them to the ground. The U.S. Humane Society has condemned the event and wants it stopped. It is not known whether the Woodburn horses were specifically being raised to be used in this event.
"It appalls me that you would take a horse as sweet as these and use them in that sort of function,” veterinarian Dr. Barbara Kahl said.
She is caring for the horses at the shelter. "If we hadn’t have taken the one filly, which is in the worst shape, she would have been dead by Monday,” Kahl said.
"Oregon has not seen so many abused and neglected horses before and it’s a growing, difficult problem for the state right now. Most of the horse shelters are completely full because of horses in this same neglected condition, the economy is getting everybody and this is the end result”
A court date is scheduled Feb. 7.
