Workers this afternoon had the grim duty of burying some of the almost one dozen horses found dead on a 400 acre property near Weatherford. Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler says, "The horses appeared to have been I'm gonna say without water for the better part of a week. Also there wasn't any visible hay and feed out there."
Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler says a TXdot worker driving in 4500 block of FM 730 yesterday spotted a horse struggling to get up and called his office. He says even veteran animal control officers were affected. Sheriff Fowler says, "It was pretty tragic. A couple dropped after they arrived out there."
The horses are owned by longtime breeder Joe Landers, who didn't want to be interviewed on camera today. He told me they are very, very sorry and it was an unfortunate mistake.
Landers told me a well on the property malfuntioned, probably because of the heat, leaving the horses without water. Landers says he has an 8 year employee whose job it is to be on site every other day to take care of the horses. That man reports being there on Monday. Landers says it is a probability that employee is one of these men we saw hand delivering water to other horses today. Landers says the employee has taken care of a thousand horses on the property flawlessly in the past.
Equine veterinarian Fairfield Bain of Equine Sports Medicine & Surgery says, "It's really sad." He says a horse can die of dehydration in about 48 hours in these hot conditions and needs about 8-12 gallons of water a day. Bain says, "The horse has a really, really large intestinal track so they will use a lot of their reserves, the liquids that are in their intestinal tracks for a period of time and that may be a day or two at most."
Sheriff Fowler says hopefully tomorrow, he will turn over his investigation to the Parker County Attorney, who will decide whether to prosecute. That person could face 11 counts of animal cruelty.
Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler says a TXdot worker driving in 4500 block of FM 730 yesterday spotted a horse struggling to get up and called his office. He says even veteran animal control officers were affected. Sheriff Fowler says, "It was pretty tragic. A couple dropped after they arrived out there."
The horses are owned by longtime breeder Joe Landers, who didn't want to be interviewed on camera today. He told me they are very, very sorry and it was an unfortunate mistake.
Landers told me a well on the property malfuntioned, probably because of the heat, leaving the horses without water. Landers says he has an 8 year employee whose job it is to be on site every other day to take care of the horses. That man reports being there on Monday. Landers says it is a probability that employee is one of these men we saw hand delivering water to other horses today. Landers says the employee has taken care of a thousand horses on the property flawlessly in the past.
Equine veterinarian Fairfield Bain of Equine Sports Medicine & Surgery says, "It's really sad." He says a horse can die of dehydration in about 48 hours in these hot conditions and needs about 8-12 gallons of water a day. Bain says, "The horse has a really, really large intestinal track so they will use a lot of their reserves, the liquids that are in their intestinal tracks for a period of time and that may be a day or two at most."
Sheriff Fowler says hopefully tomorrow, he will turn over his investigation to the Parker County Attorney, who will decide whether to prosecute. That person could face 11 counts of animal cruelty.
