First on 13: Horses seized from Black Forest home improving in health
The 10 surviving horses seized from a Black Forest home Monday are improving in health.
The horses were taken from owner Sherry Brunzell after a neighbor discovered 14 rotting horse carcasses in their barn Friday. The survivors appeared malnourished and neglected.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office asked KRDO not to disclose the location of the surviving horses for safety reasons. The equine facility they were taken to is specifically designed for horses involved in law enforcement cases.
“Obviously the Sheriff’s Office doesn’t own facilities to care for animals like this so we have this facility to take them to so they can get the care they need,” said Sgt. Greg White.
The horses are free-fed grass and water and their stalls are cleaned on a daily basis. When they arrived at the facility, a veterinarian evaluated each one and recorded height and weight measurements. The numbers will help staff members keep track of how they’re doing, but it will also be used as evidence. Brunzell faces charges of animal cruelty.
“The hooves, in this particular case, anything like that is going to be evidence,” said White.
Because the horses are evidence, if the equine facility staff wants to do further treatment, they have to ask the Sheriff’s Office, which then must ask a judge to approve it.
“They’re not our property. They’re still the property of the owner,” said White. “So anything that needs to be done to the animals has to go through us and we actually have to go in front of a judge and get a judge to approve us worming them, giving them any sort of vaccination, basically anything we introduce to the horse has to be approved by a judge.”
White said the biggest criticism the Sheriff’s Office has received is from people wondering why the horses weren’t seized immediately. On Monday, deputies took a veterinarian to examine the horses Monday and the vet determined the horses should be seized.
“We do these cases all the time. We know exactly what it takes to make a successful prosecution and ensure the ongoing safety of the animals. If we make a mistake in our process in any way, I hate to say this, but the horses go back to the owner on a technicality,” said White. “It takes time. We have to gather evidence. We have to gather photographs. We have to get a vet out there to do an examination. If we had gone out there Friday night and we’re doing this in the dark, and we’re trying to take pictures by flashlight and we’re trying to examine horses by flashlight, mistakes are going to be made.”
White also said that the Sheriff’s Office Mounted Unit looked at the horses and determined that while the conditions were not good, the horses were not in immediate danger.
The horses will remain at the facility until a judge determines whether they can be returned to the owner. Brunzell’s first court appearance is on Dec. 31.
