The Alpena News reports on the horrific plight of a number of abandoned animals in Alpena, MIchigan. Here's the beginning of that story.
![An emaciated white horse that has little flesh or muscle and has been starving for some time. An emaciated white horse that has little flesh or muscle and has been starving for some time.](https://s.equimed.com/images/504/220/0/0.jpg)
An emaciated white horse that has little flesh or muscle and has been starving for some time.
Among the rescued animals were 14 horses, 17 goats, seven dogs, four sheep, and more than one hundred poultry birds.
© 2017 by Miheo
The living and health conditions of more than 180 farm animals, rescued during an animal cruelty and abandonment case in Alpena, were enough to bring Alpena County Animal Control Officer Michelle Reid to tears.
News of the case will likely upset the Alpena County Board of Commissioners, too. Not only because of the abuse of the animals but also the costs that they will incur while the case plays out through the legal system.
Thanks to Reid, her staff, volunteers, and local partners, the animals are now being cared for and brought back to health.
The property owner, 41-year-old Kristy Bartlett, was arrested and charged with abandoning and animal cruelty of the animals from a property on Taylor Hawks Road in Alpena County.
The graves of dead animals were also located on the property, although Reid didn’t specify how many deceased animals were found since the case is still under investigation.
Among the rescued animals, Reid said there were 14 horses, 17 goats, seven dogs, four sheep, and more than one hundred poultry birds.
Reid said the animals were being raised on a one-acre parcel of property, which isn’t very large for the number of animals there. Reid said the state government doesn’t have a law that dictates how many animals can be on a property that small.
Read the rest of the story HERE
Article by Steve Schulwitz - News Staff Writer