Woman Faces Animal Cruelty Charges After Starving Horses Found on Her Property

Zachary Stieber
By Zachary Stieber
May 31, 2019US News
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Woman Faces Animal Cruelty Charges After Starving Horses Found on Her Property
A police car in a file photo. (Mira Oberman/AFP/Getty Images)

An Oklahoma woman was slated to be charged with felony animal cruelty charges after officials found starving horses and donkeys on her property in Choctaw.

Warning: Story contains graphic pictures.

“These are some of the worst we have probably seen,” Natalee Cross with Blaze’s Tribute Equine Rescue told KFOR. “There’s not hardly anything left of them. They’ve been starved greatly. That’s suffering. That’s just not right.”

The animals were close to dead, so low in weight that ribs were clearly visible. Several could barely stand. Some were missing eyes.

A neighbor called the police after seeing a starving horse that later died. More than 24 animals were found, including horses and donkeys.

The animals were taken to the equine rescue to recover.

Police told KFOR that Irma Kendrick, the owner of the animals, was going to be charged with 24 counts of felony animal cruelty.

According to court documents, she told officers that she was “on an extremely fixed income” and “continues to breed and bring in additional horses.”

She declined to comment on the case.

Following the horses and donkeys arriving at the rescue, it asked supporters for donations.

“It’s been a rough week! We have 23 new rescues to our facility,” Blaze’s said in a Facebook post.

“We understand it’s a devastating time in Oklahoma for many with the floods and Tornados. Trust me, I wouldn’t be reaching out to you, if we didn’t need the extra assistance. Any Donations great or small would be very appreciated during this time. Adding these 23 horses to our program, puts us around 180 horses in our care.”

136 Dogs Found at Home

Animal control officers removed some 136 dogs from a California house this week after responding to an anonymous tip.

The residents of the house allowed the officers to enter and inspect the animals. The officers declared the house uninhabitable.

“There was very little furniture inside of that residence, and there was dog excrement, urine all over, inside, on the floor,” Sgt. Phil McMullin of the Orange Police Department told NBC. “It appeared to be unlivable. The smell was unbearable for me. I’m surprised how people can live in that situation.”

The two residents were cited for misdemeanor animal cruelty. Additional charges are possible.

“It was a mess. It was uninhabitable, We suspect that they are in every single room inside the house,” the sergeant added to KABC.

Removing the dogs took hours, the broadcaster reported.

“It’s all hands on deck. We have staff here right now making sure that every single dog is properly cared for, comfortably housed, and then we’re going to be monitoring them,” said Mike Kaviani from Orange County Animal Care.

The residents were later identified by neighbors as Jo and Ed Reitkopp. Lisa Paul, a neighbor who bought a dog from them in 2010, said that the house was clean when she saw it.

“We went in and she brought all the dogs out in this little plastic container, and we played with all of them,” Paul recalled. “The house was clean, it smelled good. We thought we were buying it from a lady who breeds Shih Tzus.”

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