A Fair Haven, Vt. woman is accused of starving and not properly caring for her horses. She is now facing criminal charges and the horses have been taken from her.
Police say Melynda Kallahan, 38, of Fair Haven, was arrested and charged with aggravated animal cruelty.
She told FOX44 the horses' problems were not her fault. She blamed the neglect on the place that had been boarding the horses.
She says she had recently taken the horses back, kept them in a field and was trying to improve their health.
Police found the three horses in a makeshift pen at a property on Prospect Street over a week ago. Further investigation revealed that Kallahan put the horses on private land without the owner's consent.
The three horses had been starved and were extremely malnourished, police said.
They were all transported to the Rutland Vet Clinic where they were examined.
One horse had to be euthanized and the two others were brought to Spring Hill Horse Rescue in Clarendon including a 20-year old mare named Seneca.
"We figure now she is about 500 pounds so we would like to bring her up to at least 800, 900 pounds," says Brenna Wright, from Spring Hill Horse Rescue.
Wright is now taking care of Seneca and another mare named Happy. Besides weight, Seneca and Happy have other problems including with their hooves.
Horse Rescue's Gina Brown says taking care of horses is expensive. She says in these tough times more people say they don't have the money to properly care for their horses.
"If you are finding that if you can't care for your animals then you know to look down the road instead of just one day saying I can't feed them anymore," says Brown.
As for Seneca, staff are slowly helping her gain weight. They hope one day she will be available to adopt and say she still is a great horse that loves people.
"Animals are just amazing creatures. They forgive," says Wright.
Kallahan is scheduled to be in court at a later date.
For more information about helping Seneca and Happy, visit the Spring Hill Horse Rescue website.
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