Watch CBS News

Authorities Say Michigan Woman Neglected Horses

TRAVERSE CITY (AP) - A northwestern Lower Peninsula woman has been charged with neglect after authorities said several horses on her property were starved.

The 86th District Court in Traverse City said Danelle Round, 39, was arraigned Tuesday and returns to court Jan. 26. The Traverse City Record-Eagle reported she is charged with abandoning or being cruel to animals.

The court said Wednesday morning that she didn't have a lawyer on record. There wasn't a working telephone listing under her name. Following the charge, Round was free on a personal recognizance bond.

Authorities said two malnourished horses had to be euthanized after authorities and a veterinarian inspected Round's property in Grand Traverse County's Fife Lake Township, and five others were taken away to receive care.

"They are in incredibly poor condition," said Tanja Molby, a Suttons Bay-based veterinarian who is helping to care for some of the surviving horses.

Investigators went to the property roughly 18 miles southeast of Traverse City following a complaint from a neighbor. According to police reports, Round had been cited in the past by county animal control officers.

A sheriff's deputy found the horses that ended up being euthanized on icy ground with bloody hooves, visible ribs and clumps of hair missing, and Round told investigators a neighbor had poisoned them, the newspaper said.

Nancy Hubbard, of Horse North Rescue in Kingsley, ended up with three of the surviving horses. The organization takes in, cares for and attempts to find foster homes for horses such as those found on Round's property.

Molby, the veterinarian, said she hopes that the horses can be nursed back to full health.

"The temptation is to get meat on them as fast as possible, but that's almost as dangerous as starving them," she said. "It's a long and tedious process."

© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.