WA woman charged with cruelty in horse abuse case

A Carnation woman who runs a horse-breeding and boarding business was charged Wednesday with three counts of felony first-degree animal cruelty after animal control officers said they found four dead horses, an emaciated foal on the brink of death and nine other horses without food or drinkable water on her property.

Jean Marie Elledge, 56, faces a maximum year in jail if convicted. Arraignment was set for March 5.

King County animal control officers went to Elledge's property after they were contacted a week ago by officials in Snohomish County, who are investigating the alleged abuses of horses on property she owns in Monroe.

Animal control officers who visited the Carnation property with a veterinarian found the youngest horse dehydrated and near death, according to the charging documents. A search of the property then revealed nine other emaciated horses, four dead horses located around the property, and a lack of grass and drinkable water, according to charging documents.

Five horses belonging to others seemed in good condition and were left, the documents said.

Local horse advocates say that mistreatment of horses in the rural areas of King, Pierce and Snohomish counties has been on the rise in recent months, spurred in part by rising hay costs.

Elledge told a sheriff's deputy that she had been having financial problems, according to charging papers.

Over the past two months in King County alone, animal control officers have removed horses from at least three properties, including Elledge's Carnation ranch, a Renton property where one horse died and 15 were seized three weeks ago and a Covington property where starving livestock were found, said Al Dams, acting director of King County Animal Care and Control.

___

Information from: The Seattle Times, http://www.seattletimes.com