Animal-cruelty charges filed against Enumclaw woman

An Enumclaw woman who has been blamed for the deaths of more than two dozen farm animals over the course of two months was charged Friday with two counts of first-degree animal cruelty.

If convicted, Karen E. Thomas, 46, would face up to a year in jail, prosecutors said. According to prosecutors, King County Animal Care and Control officers were first called out to Thomas' property in the 23500 block of Southeast 448th Street in November and found a dead horse, a dead sheep, 10 dead chickens and nine emaciated horses. A veterinarian found that the nine starving horses were too sick to save and the animals were put down, according to charging documents.

Numerous other animals — seven horses and cattle, goats, sheep and a llama — were found to be in satisfactory condition and were allowed to remain on Thomas' property, court documents say.

In January, Animal Control officers were called out to the property once again by a neighbor who reported seeing a dead sheep and a dead llama there for several weeks.

Responding officers found the dead animals "lying in plain view in the paddock on the West side" of the barn, according to charging papers.

The animal control officers entered the barn and found two more dead sheep, a dead newborn goat and dead calf, a female goat with afterbirth trailing from her, a live newborn goat and a quarter horse in a stall, charging documents say. In another paddock, according to prosecutors, the officers found four horses and three cattle standing in "manure, mud, urine and water."

"No feed or remnants of feed was observed. The water troughs were empty. The fence boards, posts and construction lumber were heavily chewed on," according to charging papers. The live horses were transported to Save A Forgotten Equine, where a veterinarian examined them and found they were infested with lice, had a fungal condition called "rain rot" and were in need of hoof and dental care.

Asked why animals were left with Thomas after the first visit, Animal Care and Control spokeswoman Christine Lange said, "There are a range of responses given to first-time offenders, including providing access to resources in the community and education for owners who may not know how to properly care for animals."

According to charging documents, Thomas has no previous criminal history.

Thomas, who told investigators she had a degree in equine nutrition, said that she fed the animals 1 1/2 to two bales of hay a day, approximately half the amount the examining vet said should have been fed, prosecutors allege.

In charging Thomas, prosecutors claim she was criminally negligent in her failure to provide food and water to her animals and as a result, they suffered unjustifiable physical pain, emaciation and death.

Thomas' attorney, Mike Kelly, declined to comment on the case. A woman who answered the phone at Thomas' home on Friday also refused to comment.

In 2005, the Legislature enabled prosecutors to file felony charges against people who starved or dehydrated their animals even if they did not intend to inflict suffering or harm on the animal, according to King County prosecutor spokesman Dan Donohoe.

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com