STRATTANVILLE, Pa. – A Corsica man is facing animal cruelty charges after 5 severely neglected horses had to be euthanized earlier this month.
Bev Dee of Bright Futures Farm received a call from the Clarion County Sheriff’s office in early May asking for assistance in rescuing 11 horses that had been locked inside a “dark barn and neglected for so long their hooves were over a foot long and curling like elves shoes,” according to Dee.
Dee went to the barn hoping to save all 11 horses, but quickly realized five of them were too long gone to be saved.
“Five were so severely neglected that there was no hope of saving them,” Dee said. “This is the hardest part of what we do. Eleven horses lived in squalor for at least three years, admitted by their previous owner. We found poor quality hay just two feet out of reach of some of them. They had no water.”
Clarion County Sherrif Rex Munsee filed five counts of summary Cruelty to Animals against 65-year-old Ralph E. Smail of Corsica.
The charges were filed by via summons.
The six surviving horses continue to recover in the care of Bright Futures Farm.
To contact Bright Futures Farm to make a donation or to offer help, e-mail the Farm at brightfuturesfarm@gmail.com. Donations, which are tax-deductible, can also be made via PayPal to bdee@brightfuturesfarm.org or mail a check to 238 Old Franklin Pike, Cochranton, Pa. 16314.
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