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Broken Arrow Animal Control responds to malnutrition complaints as residents step in to feed horses

Posted at 5:08 PM, Oct 03, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-03 20:08:29-04

BROKEN ARROW, Okla. -- Broken Arrow Animal Control responded to multiple complaints at a lot off Kenosha Street on Tuesday.

Lisa Garcia and her husband moved to the area last year. In that time they noticed a nearby pasture grow from two horses to nine.

During that time, Garcia feared malnutrition was becoming a problem. When she saw ribs sticking out, the former horse owner stepped in to help.

"They were sticking their necks through the barbed wire fence trying to reach the grass on the other side because there basically isn't any here for them to get a hold of," Garcia said.

On Monday the Garcias purchased more than 150 pounds of feed. Then, they reached out to animal control.

"They had fresh water. Somebody has been feeding them bagged food too, because there was like 15, 20 empty bags inside the storage shed," officer James Marshall said.

Garcia said this likely happened overnight.

"When we came this morning we noticed that somebody had come between when we were here last night and this morning. There are fresh tractor tracks and now there's a big pile of hay over there," she said.

Veterinarians and officers have visited the intersection of Kenosha and Oneta on multiple occasions to see if the horses were having their needs met.

"If there's not ample food at all times then the grass tends to get low and quite bare," veterinarian Mark Bremer said.

Now animal control is reaching out to the owners. They said this is not the first time they've reached out to them.

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