Six Horses Seized from SC Farm

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Six horses described as emaciated were taken from a farm Friday after Charleston County sheriff's deputies and a veterinarian inspected their health and living conditions.

The horses at 3288 Plow Ground Road were taken into emergency protective custody. The conditions at the farm for 24 horses that remain there will be monitored on a daily basis, the sheriff's office reported.

The name of the owner was not released Friday because there was confusion about the deed to the property, said Lt. Jack Scarborough. The sheriff's office did not provide information about whether anyone would be charged in the case.

Armed with a search warrant, officials entered the Kennerleigh Farm shortly after noon. The search warrant was requested after investigators entered the property Friday morning to do a welfare check on the horses in response to a complaint about their living conditions.

During the welfare check, veterinarian Justin Miller of Shambley Equine Clinic in Summerville said he saw a lack of water, poor nutrition and overt signs of intestinal parasites on six horses of concern. He said he could see the horses' ribs and spines.

The sheriff's office received a call at 9:40 a.m. from a representative of the Livestock and Equine Awareness and Rescue Network suggesting that some horses at the farm were being neglected, Scarborough said.

Scarborough said the property owner, who owns 22 of the 30 horses on the farm, was cooperative. The remaining eight horses are boarders that seemed to be OK during the welfare check of the property, Miller said.

Boarders...THIS is why you always check up on your horses. ALWAYS. How could you keep your horses in a barn where all the others were starving??

LEARN will care for the four horses in the worst condition at its facility in Meggett. The other two horses will be placed in foster care, Steed said.

She accompanied authorities on the property to inspect the horses' living conditions.

"Emaciated. That's the only way you can put it," Steed said.

One horse trough had 4 inches of water. The others were dry. Two dead birds floated in a garbage can.