Animal neglect complaint leads to cruelty charges

Animal cruelty charges are planned for a local couple living in Whitley County after animal control officials discovered two horses, whose ribs were plainly visible, tied up to a straight pipe, and a donkey tied up with four feet of leeway.
Whitley County Animal Control Officer Steve Schwartz and representatives from the Knox-Whitley Animal Shelter and the Whitley County Attorney’s Office went to a residence on Highway 11 near the Knox-Whitley County line Thursday afternoon, and discovered the horses and other animals in poor health.
“They were very, very, very, very poor. I’d say that if I hadn’t gotten them, then in another few days they would have been laying on the ground,” Schwartz said of the horses noting that this was one of the worst cases of horse cruelty he has come across.
Schwartz said he received a complaint from animal shelter officials a day earlier that a horse and other animals were dead in addition to cruelty to animals, but that he found no evidence of any dead animals outside the residence.
Schwartz cited Sherry T. Rhodes, 51, of 2561 Highway 11 with eight counts of cruelty to animals Thursday afternoon noting that the horses, donkey, and many of the five dogs were tied up primarily in the hot sun with access to water. Some of the animals were tied up only having three-foot long ropes, and had no hay or grass to eat.
The donkey had no access to water, and the horses couldn’t reach water that was put out for them, Schwartz noted.
She was also cited for five counts of not having dog licenses and for five counts of failing to have the dogs vaccinated . Additional charges include permitting abandonment of a refrigerator with the door still attached, not obtaining an on-site sewage disposal permit, and for having a straight pipe running from a trailer.
“I’m going to say it was a sewer pipe until I have access to the house to run a dye test. It is some type of wash water system of sewer pipe,” he added.
Schwartz said Friday afternoon that he planned to cite Rhodes husband, Larry, with identical charges. Additional charges might be filed against a third person.
All eight animals were seized by county officials, and are expected to live. The dogs were taken to the animal shelter. The other animals were taken to an undisclosed location, since the shelter isn’t equipped to handle horses.
“A vet checked them, and they are starting to feed them slowly back on grain, hay, and water to get them back where they should be,” he added. “They were tied up on dirt with no water, no salt block, no shade, no feed. The way I look at it they didn’t care. I intend to see that they don’t get the animals back. There is no need for them to have animals and abuse them that way.”
Rabbits, pigs, and hogs were left at the residence since officials didn’t have any way of transporting or keeping at the time, Schwartz noted.
Schwartz said he spoke with Sherry Rhodes Thursday afternoon, who told him she “had no knowledge of them being there really.”
Schwartz said he learned Friday that Larry Rhodes hadn’t been at the residence in two days, and Sherry Rhodes told him that she never went down to where the animals were kept.