by Therese Apel

SOURCE:  USA TODAY

CRYSTAL SPRINGS, Miss. — The owner of a herd more than 150 horses that were found allegedly malnourished and neglected, some dead, over the weekend is still on probation from previous animal-related criminal charges.

Jerry Earls, 59, was convicted of larceny of livestock in November 2012, according to the Copiah County Circuit Clerk’s office. He was indicted on two counts: one for stealing a bull, and one for stealing 20 cows and 21 calves. An order consolidated the two charges, and he pleaded guilty to grand larceny and paid $25,000 in restitution.

Earls was convicted on Nov. 13, 2012 and was released on probation on Dec. 5, 2012. His probation lasts through November 2015, according to the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

The couple who says they discovered the malnourished, wounded and dead horses on a Crystal Springs farm in Copiah County Saturday describe a nightmare that began when they simply went to look at some land they wanted to buy.

Scott and Alisha Armstrong, who own horses and land in Richland, were looking for a place to expand and heard about the land in Crystal Springs. When they went out to see it, they first saw about 40 horses on the upper 40 acres of the land, Scott Armstrong said.

“There were horses with missing eyes. Some were walking on three legs, and some were messed up so badly that they couldn’t walk. A lot of them had cuts, and there was pus coming out,” he said. “There were a lot of baby horses out there, and we could smell something dead, but we couldn’t find it at first.”

The dead smell, Scott Armstrong said, ended up being what he counted as more than 20 dead horses on the property.

“The smell… this was something that you see and hear in horror movies. This is a nightmare,” said Alisha Armstrong.

Some were dragged into piles, showing that someone knew about their death and had made no effort to bury them. Others were dead in the creek, which was the water supply for all the live horses.

Copiah County Sheriff Harold Jones said he and his deputies were out on the land all day Sunday and Monday. He said he told Earls to take care of the dead ones.

“Yesterday I made him bury the horses,” Jones said.

Jones said in the time that he was on the land with the Board of Animal Health and a local veterinarian, they determined that the animals still left on the land were doing alright.

“The doctors think these horses are okay. There was one that needed a little medical attention, but the rest of them are just old,” he said. “If the Board of Animal Health is satisfied and the vet here is satisfied, then I’m satisfied.”

Lydia Sattler, Mississippi State Director of the Humane Society of the United States, said the situation raises red flags.

“Having that many deceased animals, and horses with various injuries going untreated, when you combine that with his criminal history, I think we have to take a really hard look at this case,” she said. “I think it would be hard not to find something in violation of state statute.”

Dr. Jim Watson of the Board of Animal Health said at this point he’s not aware of any stolen horses in the group, but that part of the board’s job is the daunting task of determining where the horses originally came from.

“It’s hard because if they don’t have a brand or marking or tag, or a very distinctive mark, a lot of horses look alike,” he said, adding that if someone thinks one of the horses might be theirs, they should contact the Mississippi Department of Agriculture Livestock Theft Division.

On Saturday one horse was stuck in a concrete trough. Scott Armstrong said the walls were covered in blood from where it had tried to get out. While they were there, the Armstrongs tried to find a way to free it, but they couldn’t help without the right equipment. He said the horse has since died.

Scott Armstrong took photos of the horses, alive and dead, and called the property owner, who he said was as upset as he was. The photos of the horses and updates on the situation have been posted on a Facebook page called Justice for Copiah County Horses.

Apparently neighbors turned a blind eye, though one neighbor had made a call two months ago. Armstrong said one man he knows called authorities about this same group of horses two years ago.

“This has been going on a long time,” he said.

Alisha Armstrong said when they found the horrific conditions, she went to talk to a woman who lived nearby.

“My first question was, ‘Do you know there’s a smell?’ She told me, ‘We know what’s going on over there; we just don’t want to get involved,'” Alisha said.

As for the numbers, Scott said the Armstrongs lost count at 179. But on Sunday, many of the horses had been moved overnight. One neighbor said they had been loaded on a truck to go to Forney, Texas.

Jones said he asked the owner of the horses if he had moved any of them, and he admitted to moving “30 or 40” to some land in Utica. Deputies with Hinds County were checking on those horses on Monday, Jones said.

Jones said when he got there after the horses had been moved, he counted about 45 that he could see. He said there were at least 10 that were buried, and probably a few more out of the line of sight.

Hinds County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Othor Cain confirmed that the horses are in Hinds County under quarantine, and that the Board of Animal Health has taken over the investigation, with Hinds County monitoring through their animal control division. It’s unclear why Earls moved the horses to Utica, Cain said.

Alisha Armstrong said she just wants to see justice done for the horses.

“I won’t stop until every horse has been accounted for and taken care of,” she said.

Earls’ probation does not have any terms regarding livestock, but it does require that he “avoid injurious or vicious habits.”

A number listed to Jerry Earls and his ex-wife Tori Earls is out of service.

Apel also reports for The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger.