The Daily Inter Lake

Tina Pickton, the Columbia Falls woman charged in the starvation deaths of six horses and severe malnourishment of two more, posted a $20,000 bond and was released Monday afternoon from Flathead County Detention Center.

Pickton, also known as Tina Houston, was arrested Feb. 8 on felony charges of aggravated animal cruelty. Pickton, 32, had leased a pasture off Bayou Road near the Presentine Bar fishing access, where the dead and starving horses were found two days earlier.

She is scheduled to appear March 1 in District Court on the charges.

No additional charges had been filed by Monday afternoon, Deputy County Attorney Tammi Fisher said.

Mike Meehan, Flathead County sheriff, said the severity of the horses' condition, plus the number of horses involved, warranted the felonies.

Sheriff's deputies Russ Papke and Logan Shawback are investigating the case. They responded to the initial report, phoned in by a man who knows Pickton and works for the landowner.

The deputies also called in the local brand inspector, who determined "without question, the cause of death was starvation."

Pickton had insisted that she had been feeding the horses.

But willow branches had been eaten off by the horses, the report said, and ground at the base of trees had been pawed as if the horses were looking for food. Also, no tracks were found to indicate hay had been brought or anyone had come to break the ice off a pasture pond, which appeared to have dried up, according to the report.

A feeder and water trough were fenced off and apparently long-unused, the investigation showed.

Neighbors and others who were interviewed by deputies said they had seen nobody feed or water the horses for a long time.

When asked whether those neighbors could be held responsible in any way. Meehan declined comment.

"It would be hard to speculate on what charges" could be filed, Meehan said, but noted that the two deputies are looking into the possibility of further charges in the case. "I would hate to speculate. For now, [the neighbors] still are considered witnesses."

He explained that evidence would have to indicate the witnesses "pretty much just [had] the knowledge that a crime was being committed," Meehan said.

The two surviving horses were taken for care at LaSalle Equine Clinic. The man who initially reported the starving horses to authorities said Monday that veterinarians at the clinic are unsure whether one of the horses will live.