Animal cruelty charges filed
DAVID COLE/Staff writer | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 11 years AGO
COEUR d'ALENE - Three people with connections to a ranch where several horses were allegedly found neglected have been charged with multiple counts of animal cruelty, Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh confirmed Tuesday.
The Mustang Ranch and Rescue, near Rose Lake along Highway 3, which advertised itself as a nonprofit "rescue" for horses, is no longer operating.
Mustang's operators, Sean J. and Bonny J. Black, each have been charged with nine counts of animal cruelty, a misdemeanor, because of the condition of horses that had been in their care. The charges were filed in November, McHugh said.
The criminal complaint documents filed are not specific about the conduct alleged other than "cruelty," McHugh said.
The Press reported in October the ranch was being investigated by the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office following reports from neighbors about starving horses. Pictures of the horses' condition also circulated in the media.
Kootenai County Lt. Stu Miller said Tuesday the sheriff's office attempted to serve the Blacks in November but they were no longer living in the area.
Since there has been no appearance from them at court, arrest warrants were issued, he said.
"We believe they are out of state," Miller said. Investigators believe that Bonny Black, 38, and Sean Black, 41, are possibly in Missouri.
They would only be arrested on these charges if they are in Idaho, he said.
A woman named Katelynn A. Vanderhoof, 20, of Cataldo, also has been charged with nine counts of cruelty to animals because of the horses' conditions, McHugh said.
"Vanderhoof said she was a 'trainer' for the Blacks' horse 'rescue,'" Miller wrote in an email to The Press. Vanderhoof was arrested on Jan. 7 in Shoshone County on a warrant for the alleged cruelty, he said.
Five of the nine horses were given to the Rough Start Horse Rescue of Ford and Sprague, Wash.
Those horses were described as "very, very thin." According to Rough Start Horse Rescue, veterinarians and Kootenai County animal control officers, the horses scored between 2 and 3 on a body condition scale, with 10 being considered obese.
Other horses also were reportedly given away, and one was euthanized because it was in such poor condition.
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