The discovery of a dozen dead horses in Black Forest Friday has prompted a criminal investigation by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, but there has been no legal recourse to remove the remaining living horses on the property, sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Greg White said Sunday.
At least 12 horses were found dead, covered with tarps, by a woman renting part of the property on the 5400 block of Burgess Road, off Milam Road.
Another 10 remained alive, the sheriff’s office said.
The cause of the horses’ death, White said, has not been determined and it wasn’t clear if the sheriff’s office would order necropsies for each of the dead animals. According to the legal definition of animal cruelty, the sheriff’s office has no ground to seize the surviving horses, White said.
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