“This must be horse month,” Wells said. “I have a horse abuse call I am getting ready to investigate, and I just got a call from a woman who said she has a horse she can’t take care of.” Wells said the woman told her the horse was 21 years old and didn’t have any teeth. Wells said she told the woman she would get the horse moved to a rescue facility. “I’m not going to let the horse starve to death,” Wells said.

Another case of alleged neglect of four horses in this area may be a case that has slipped through the cracks.

Out of utter frustration, a Tift County resident and horse lover called The Tifton Gazette anonymously recently to see if someone could help save four horses that were on the verge of starving to death.

“I can’t get anybody to do anything because they are livestock,” she pleaded. “They are so malnourished they are going to die if something isn’t done.”

The caller said the horses were on Owen-Medford Road and were just on the county line between Tift and Cook counties. She said she lived nearby and saw the horses every day. She said someone had reported the situation to animal control in Cook County over a month ago.

“They’re not going to make it much longer,” she said, “Since there has already been a report made, we’re pretty much helpless.”

The caller said many of the neighbors in the area are upset and concerned about the horses’ welfare.

“There used to be five horses, now there are just four,” she said. “I don’t know if the fifth horse died or was sold.”

The woman said she has two horses of her own. “My horses know they (the four malnourished horses) are in distress and call to them,” she said.

Wells said she was familiar with the case, but would check out the situation, although no one was sure if the horses were located in Tift or Cook.

Wells called the equine inspector with the Department of Agriculture who works the territory that includes Tift County and he was not available. She then called the investigator who works the Cook County territory, Steve Shaddix.

Wells learned Shaddix had been out to the location Aug. 24 and had written citations and told the owners what they needed to do.

Wells got Shaddix to meet her at the location Thursday afternoon, Sept. 13.

“It didn’t look like anything had been done,” Wells said. “The horses didn’t have any water or grass. There was absolutely no grass, it was just dirt. They were in the front yard of a mobile home. They had some hay but no feed. They didn’t have any shade or shelter either.”

Wells said one of the horses was in especially bad condition.