MT. PERRY, Ohio -- A local farm is under investigation after one of its horses died. Now, their remaining horse has been seized.
NBC 4 reported Sunday that neighbors of a farm in Mt. Perry were concerned about horses on the property and suspected that they were malnourished.
In 2005, Apache was a champion at the Perry County Fair. Now, he lies buries along a pasture fence line.
"What we're looking at, we had a horse that died in the field, possibly from malnutrition. The remaining horse is alive, but under weight," said Officer John Price, of the Perry County Humane Society.
The Perry County Humane Society, along with a volunteer and two sheriff's deputies, seized the remaining live horse named Prize.
Owner Cheri Mills was frantic when she heard what was happening.
"Why are you taking my horse? She is not on the verge of dying," she said.
"Right now, we had probable cause to seize the horse to protect the horse's life," Price said.
"He said the reason she was taken was for vet care. We had vet care four hours before he came and took our horse," Mills said.
Mills said Apache was 26 years old and the reason both of the horses ribs were showing was because of a hard winter. She said that the neighbors fed the horses hay, which caused them to have diarrhea and dehydration.
"That's not going to contribute to the type of weight loss displayed on the horse that died," Price said.
Mills' daughter, Tess, rode Apache in the Perry County Fair before she died in an auto accident in 2007. Now, after losing Apache, Mills said, "Prize was pretty much the last thing we had. Now they've taken her. It doesn't seem right."
Price said the humane society is in the process of obtaining a search warrant to help determine the cause of Apache's death.
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