Horses may have starved to death on Edmonton farm
Updated Sun. Mar. 9 2008 9:44 PM ET
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080309/horses_alberta_080309/20080309?hub=TopStories

CTV.ca News Staff

At least 29 horses have been found dead, possibly killed by starvation, on a ranch northeast of Edmonton.
The SPCA seized more than 100 others and has taken them to a nearby feedlot to recover.
The horses are all expensive Arabians, which witnesses say were found on the Hinz-Schleuter Arabian farm in deplorable condition. The farm is located in Andrew, Alta., about 100 kilometres from Edmonton.
The horses have been taken to an auction house in Clyde.
Some had damaged coats, cracked hooves and many were underweight.
"You can see that they have no meat on them," Donna Belerive, a horse owner, told CTV News. "No fat around their ribs, their hip bones are sticking out, their coats are rough."
Const. Ken Dean of the Alberta SPCA said some of the horses that had lost weight were young.
"There was yearlings on the property that ... were in very poor body condition," he said.
Neighbours allege the horses had been neglected for years and some filed complaints against the owner with the SPCA.
The owner, Axel Hinz-Schleuter, refused to speak with CTV News when contacted on Sunday and the gate to the property was locked.
No charges have been filed against him and none of the allegations have been proven in court.
Some of his neighbours told CTV that the SPCA should have looked into the allegations sooner.
"We had bald eagles coming up from the river to eat dead horses. I hate to think that it's taken that long that they couldn't have built the case quicker," said neighbour Olivia Chasse, who had called the SPCA more than two years ago.
"It was too painful to drive down the road and see the horses in the shape that they were in."
The SPCA admits it had received several complaints about the farm dating back years, but said it lacked evidence.
"Until all the evidence is in and we have all our lab results back and all our professional evidence assessed, we'll make that decision then," Dean said.
Local horse enthusiasts, who have said that they would be willing to buy some of the surviving equines, said there was no reason the horses should have starved.
"If you can't take care of them, (then) sell them, auction them. You can't just leave them on your property, not feed them," said horse owner Wendy Mako.
In August 2005, the SPCA fined the owner, Hinz-Schleuter, $1,000 after repeated warnings to take better care of his animals.
With a report by CTV Edmonton's Scott Roberts

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