Arrests made in horse & pony neglect

WHITLEY COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) - A Whitley County couple faces charges for neglecting animals for the second time in six years.

Authorities arrested James and Cindy Mullins around 9:15 a.m. Wednesday for the neglect of 13 neglected horses and ponies.

Chief Deputy Prosecutor D.J. Sigler told NewsChannel 15 that if found guilty, it is the prosecution's goal to make sure the Mullinses never own horses again.

"These are clearly people [who] shouldn't have the care and custody of any kind of animal," he said.

The Whitley County Prosecutor charged the man and woman with one class D felony count each of Neglect of a Vertebrate Animal.

The neglected animals were removed from the Mullins’ property at 8351 W. 200 South on August 4.

The Health Department had received complaints about the animals’ condition. Officials obtained a search warrant and went to the Mullins' property where they found the animals in poor health. Scott Wagner, the Environmental Health Specialist, stated that on a scale of zero to five being the healthiest, the horses were a one.

The horses and ponies were left with only rain water to drink and no food. A few empty bags of dog food were found nearby, but it is not confirmed that the horses had eaten it.

Some animals were standing in a foot of mud, unable to move. Horses had resorted to chewing bark eight feet up a tree. One pony had even started nursing off a horse for nutrition.

The Mullinses were convicted in the spring of 2005 each with Abandonment or Neglect of an Animal.

The Whitley County Health Department said eight horses and ponies were taken from the Mullins’ property in 2004.

A veterinarian determined the animals to be malnourished; one with a ruptured eye and many others with critical hoof and weight problems.

Sigler said there is nothing that can be one constitutionally to prevent the Mullins from owning animals but that the community should be on high alert of any animal neglect.

"Right thinking and animal loving people everywhere ought to be aware of what's going on around them," Sigler said. "If there is an animal in distress there are legal avenues and prosecutional avenues for that."

The horses and ponies are being cared for at two rescue sites, Shadarobah Horse Rescue in Fort Wayne and the United State Equine Rescue League located in Huntington. 

NewsChannel 15 spoke with representatives of both rescues on Wednesday.  They reported the animals were eating, drinking and their spirits were improving.  The rehabilitators said it would still be at least a week before they could be confident of all the animals' survival.