After 99 horses were found dead on an owner’s property, over 150 other horses were confiscated in North Dakota.
The horses came to the attention of authorities after the nearly 100 dead horses were discovered in Burleigh and Morton counties, North Dakota. The court was petitioned to place the rescued horses into the local sheriff’s department for permanent custody and safety.
The actual counts of horses seized are as follows:
Morton County Sheriff’s Department removed 119 horses and donkeys from the owner’s property just northwest of New Salem after dead animals were found. There were 96 dead animals found, and another three horses died since the horses were removed from the property in late January.
Another three dead horses were found in Burleigh County by the Sheriff’s Department. The department rescued 38 animals at that time in Burleigh County.
Judge Bruce Romanick, South Central District, formally ruled that the sheriff’s department used “probable cause to seize the horses from the owner who lives part-time in New Salem. According to the clerk’s office, no criminal charges have been filed against the owner.
The prosecutors stated that the horses’ owner had not properly cared for the animals, thus leading to their poor health, endangerment and horses’ deaths.
The judge has ruled that officials can now sell and/or give away 157 horses and donkeys from the seizures in Morton and Burleigh Counties.
According to Burleigh County Assistant State Attorney Jeff Ubben, “The horses have to be brand inspected before they can be adopted.” Ubben expects that Burleigh County will be ready to offer the horses for adoption beginning next week.
Morton County Sheriff Dave Shipman said, “Morton County will work with Alison Smith, founder of Triple H Miniature Horse Rescue, to develop a process for adopting the more than 100 horses in Morton County.”
Says Smith, “We want forever homes for these horses.”
Read: Bismarck Tribune, Inforum
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