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A 65-year-old Fort McMurray man has been charged with causing injury to animals after three horses were found dead and 82 others were found distressed and in poor health on two northern Alberta properties earlier this month.

On Feb. 3, the RCMP’s livestock investigations unit and the Alberta Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals visited a property in the Wandering River area, about 200 kilometres north of Edmonton, to do an inspection, according to a previous court order.

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There they found three horse carcasses and 52 horses in poor condition. Two horses and two donkeys were confined to corrals where there was not enough food or water, the RCMP said in a news release.

After visiting a second property that day, they found 20 more horses in distress.

Two days later, police returned to the properties with a search warrant. A veterinarian determined all of the horses were in distress. Once police completed their searches, 82 horses and two donkeys were seized and relocated to a facility for examination and treatment, police said.

Gary Herbert Sparshu has been arrested and charged with one count of cruelty to animals, two counts of causing an animal to be in distress and two counts of failing to provide proper care to an animal. He is also facing two counts of disobeying court orders, which required him to reduce the number of horses he owns to 60, and provide the ASPCA with a list of properties where horses were being kept.

Sparshu has a criminal record dating back to 1995 for charges relating to animals. In 1996, he was fined $5,000 for causing an animal to be in distress. In 2014, he was fined $3,500 after pleading guilty to the same offence.

He has been remanded in custody and will appear in provincial court in Boyle on Tuesday.

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