Wausau Daily Herald

BABCOCK, Wis. — Nearly three months after an emaciated horse found by the side of the road died from starvation, prosecutors have yet to file charges against the horse's owner.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Zell, who has been assigned the case, said he has not had time to decide whether to file charges because of a heavy workload that dictates priorities.

"Allowing a horse to slowly starve to death, as Roy had been, is by definition cruel and inhumane," Dr. Gary Johnson, a veterinarian with Corriente Veterinary Service, wrote in a report submitted Oct. 12 to the Wood County (Wis.) District Attorney's Office.

Members of a horse rescue group are worried that prosecutors may think the case is too difficult to charge, said Karen Bayerl, director of Midwest Horse Welfare Foundation. She and co-director Scott Bayerl want Roy's former owner charged soon to ensure the safety of a second horse in the owner's care.

Wood County Humane Officer Nanci Olson said the second horse was in fine shape and had access to good bales of hay when she saw it in late September, so she had no reason to remove that horse from the owner.

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Roy's condition came to light when a woman found the horse during the early morning hours of Sept. 26, wandering on State Highway 80, according to documents obtained through an open records request to Olson. The woman walked the horse almost 2 miles to a home belonging to a friend and they contacted Wood County emergency dispatchers.

Roy's owner picked him up, but when Olson went to check on the horse, she found Roy and another horse standing nearly knee deep in manure and mud, according to her reports. Roy was emaciated and had rain rot, a type of infection, covering the body and face, the reports said.

There was a water tank and feed bin, which held a little grain. There also was a large, round bale of hay that was black with mold. The owner told Olson she had been feeding the horses the moldy hay, according to the reports. Olson reported she saw about two weeks' worth of good hay in a nearby shelter.

The horse's owner agreed to voluntarily give up Roy, and the Bayerls picked him up the same day. The owner said she couldn't ride Roy anyway, according to the report. USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin has withheld the horse owner's name because the owner has not been charged with a crime and has not been reached for comment on this story.

In consultation with the veterinarian, a treatment program was created for Roy. According to a Facebook post from the Bayerls, Roy was happy.

But days later, on Oct. 2, the Bayerls found Roy was down.

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"There was no getting him back up," said Scott Bayerl.

The couple tried everything, but the horse's organs already were shut down upon arrival at the Midwest Horse Welfare Foundation, Scott Bayerl said. They couple called the veterinarian.

When he first saw Roy, Johnson scored the horse's body a one on a scale of one to 10, according to the reports. If the scale went any lower, he would have given Roy that score, according to the report.

"A horse cannot get any skinnier than this and still be standing," Johnson said in the report. "Roy was one of the most severely emaciated horses that I have encountered in my career."

Roy had no muscle left and was too weak and undernourished to undergo sedation for dental work, according to the report. Roy was lame in the back leg, but the doctor said he couldn't determine the cause because the horse didn't have enough muscle.

A report on Roy's blood work given to Olson showed no disease that would have caused the horse to lose weight in such a way, the report said.

"It is horrendous that someone could let an animal literally starve to death like this. ... He is very close to death," Karen Bayerl told Olson on Sept. 28, according to the report.

The couple had no choice but to have the horse euthanized when Roy went down, according to the report. Roy was euthanized Oct. 2.

Olson filed a request for criminal charges, including a felony charge of mistreating an animal causing death, with the Wood County District Attorney's Office on Oct. 12.

Zell, the assistant district attorney, said he had not made a charging decision yet Thursday because he hasn't had time to study the reports.

Zell said he could not discuss the specifics of Roy's case or any open case but said he sympathizes with the people who care about the horse.

"This case and every other case are important and we do our best to get to them as soon as possible, even though it hasn't got a deadline," Zell said.

In the meantime, Scott and Karen Bayerl worry about the other horse still under the care of Roy's owner. The reports state the horse had a cough and Olson directed the owner to seek veterinary care and have the veterinarian send Olson a report. Olson had not received any information about the second horse when she filed her request for charges Oct. 12.

Karen Madden reports for The (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) Daily Tribune. Follow Madden on Twitter: @KMadden715