AR-News: (IN - US) 8 horses from cruelty case may go to auction

[Snugglezzz at aol.com]

Associated Press
June 2, 2004
 

RENSSELAER, Ind. -- Officials might sell the eight surviving horses belonging to a woman charged with animal cruelty after authorities removed seven dead animals from her farm.

Jasper Circuit Court Judge E. Duane Daugherty ordered Deborah Turoci to post a $10,000 surety bond to provide for the animals' care.

If Turoci does not comply with the May 21 order within 20 days, the sheriff's department can consult the state veterinarian and determine what to do with the surviving horses.

That could include selling them at auction, Prosecutor Michael O'Neall said.

The horses have been in the care of the sheriff's department, which has placed them on area farms. Feeding and caring for the animals for the last six weeks has cost about $5,200, O'Neall said.

The final fate of the horses will be determined once the case is resolved, he said.

Turoci's trial on charges of cruelty to animals and failure to dispose of dead animals is scheduled for June 29. If convicted, she could face from six months to three years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The Associated Press could not reach Turoci for comment because there was no phone number listed in her name.

Turoci, 52, was arrested Feb. 27 after officials found 15 dead or severely malnourished horses on her farm near Wheatfield.

Seven of the horses were dead, and county highway workers had to use heavy machinery to remove the carcasses because some were frozen to the ground, authorities said.

Police searched Turoci's farm about 60 miles north of Lafayette after receiving complaints from neighbors.

Officials had ordered Turoci to bury or remove six dead horses a week earlier and to properly care for the others. But authorities said Turoci made no effort to dispose of the dead animals and allowed a 7-month-old colt to die without euthanasia.

Some of the dead horses had been left unburied for months, and police said one of Turoci's five dogs had apparently eaten part of one of the horse carcasses.

State law requires that a dead animal be disposed of within 24 hours.

Veterinarians from the State Board of Health have inspected the farm at least four times since 1992 because of complaints of poor feeding and care, said Terry Risner, chief deputy of the Jasper County Sheriff's Department.