A Pendleton County farmer is facing charges of animal cruelty after corpses of 49 horses were found in his Kentucky farm, USA Today reported.
Larry Browning was charged with 15 counts of animal cruelty and 49 counts of failure to dispose of a carcass after authorities found 15 starving horses and 49 dead corpses which had been left to rot on his property.
"They've charged me with abuse of horses, which is not true," Larry Browning said. "There was hay at that ridge at the time. Every neighbor will vouch for I feed my horses good. I don't know why you wouldn't feed them, because if you don't, you don't get anything for them."
About 29 horses, with access to water, remained on Browning's farm on Tuesday.
"Browning claims they always do and the 15 emaciated horses taken away Monday were dumped there by others. They're not his," Local 12 reported.
He believes that a zealous, new animal control officer is harassing him.
"People drop off a lot of thin horses there," he said. "I took in some horses from the animal humane society called Speak Up For Horses in '11 and ever since then, people think I'm a drop-off. They've dropped off horse after horse here, but they don't have anything else to do for them."
In 2011, control officers had gone to the Browning Farm on another report of possible abuse, Pendleton County judge-executive Henry Bertram confirmed. But no charges had been filed.
"I think it was 10 horses we ended up euthanizing out there," he said. "Actually, because of what he explained to us that time, we didn't feel we had a case that we could get against and again, we wanted to take care of the horses."
Claiming that people should be thankful instead of accusing him, Browning said that he's constantly working on getting the thin horses be healthy again, USA Today reported.
"I don't know how I could be cruel, when all I do is feed them," Browning said. "Never been cruel when all I do is feed them. Never been mean to an animal in my life, and the better you take care of them, the more you get for them."
Larry browning will be arraigned on the charges April 15th.
