People in Bastrop pleading for investigation into malnourished horse
BASTROP, Texas - Hundreds of people in Bastrop called for action after a woman found an emaciated horse on ranch land in the County Sunday.
Members of the community have reached out to the Bastrop County Sheriff and the ASPCA, but, so far, the animals have not been removed from the property.
FOX 7 Austin’s attempts to reach out to the property owner were unsuccessful.
Robyn Katz said her friend was passing through Bastrop on FM 969 when she saw something that made her pull off the road.
“She observed that horse to be laying down. She wasn't sure if it was alive or dead, but she realized it was alive, but it could barely lift its head or move,” Katz said.
The woman, who does not want to be identified, says she stopped to give the animal water and took pictures hoping to get other people involved.
“The horse is emaciated, you can count every rib, see the hip bones, it did not look to be in clearly good physical condition,” said Katz.
The horse passed away within the hour.
Katz, a Comal County Assistant District Attorney, as well as hundreds of people in Bastrop want to help prevent this from happening again to the dozens of other animal on the property. They called the sheriff’s office to report the case.
“A horse does not get like that overnight. A horse does not get like that because it's old and turned out.
A horse gets like that because it's being starved and not getting proper medical care,” Katz said.
Katz has worked on animal cruelty cases in Comal County before. She suggests the Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office handles this quickly before other animals on the property suffer the same fate.
“I'm absolutely concerned and the sheriff's office out there, if they're impartial and if they don't have any conflicts of interest, should obtain all vet records from every single animal that is on that property, records for transport for hay and feed that has supposedly been delivered to that property, talk to a vet if there has been a vet who has seen all these animals and get the vets perspective and diagnosis,” said Katz.
When FOX 7 Austin visited the pasture Monday, there were still several animals with ribs and other bones visible.
“I think the entire community is shocked and outraged because it seems like still nothing is being done out there. Something should've been done [Sunday] those animals should've been removed [Sunday],” Katz said.
Bastrop County Sheriff Maurice Cook responded to our requests for comment with this statement
Monday: