Courtesy PhotoHorses from an animal abandonment and cruelty case in Alpena County feed at their new home. The horses were among the 185 animals confiscated from the property on Taylor Hawks Road.
ALPENA — The living and health conditions of more than 180 farm animals, rescued during an animal cruelty and abandonment case in Alpena, were enough to bring Alpena County Animal Control Officer Michelle Reid to tears.
News of the case will likely upset the Alpena County Board of Commissioners, too. Not only because of the abuse of the animals but also the costs that they will incur while the case plays out through the legal system.
Thanks to Reid, her staff, volunteers, and local partners, the animals are now being cared for and brought back to health.
The property owner, 41-year-old Kristy Bartlett, was arrested and charged with abandoning and animal cruelty of the animals from a property on Taylor Hawks Road in Alpena County.
The graves of dead animals were also located on the property, although Reid didn’t specify how many deceased animals were found since the case is still under investigation.
Among the rescued animals, Reid said there were 14 horses, 17 goats, seven dogs, four sheep, and more than one hundred poultry birds.
Reid said the animals were being raised on a one-acre parcel of property, which isn’t very large for the number of animals there. Reid said the state government doesn’t have a law that dictates how many animals can be on a property that small.
When the case was uncovered, Reid said many mobilized to the scene to remove the animals and find them a new place to live. She said the animals are distributed among several locations, each of which deals with a specific species, and they are working their way back into good health.
“Logistically, with the sheer number of animals in this case, it was a nightmare,” she said.
Reid said help removing and caring for the animals extended beyond Alpena County.
She said animal control employees from Otsego County assisted her team and a local livestock hauler helped load and transport the large and small animals from the scene to their temporary new homes.
The animals are held as evidence in the criminal case and can remain at their new homes for many months as the case moves through the court system. The longer they need to remain in the care of others, and as veterinarian, medicine, and foot bills stack up, the more costly it is for the county. Reid said the amount of overtime hours and the investigation before and after the raid also added significant costs to the county’s budget.
Reid said the number of animal hoarding, abandonment, and abuse cases is increasing because people are better at reporting them. But, she said she suspects there are still other cases in Alpena County and other nearby counties. Reid said some cases may have been reported to local law enforcement in Northeast Michigan, but not acted upon yet because of the cost to address them.
“A lot of municipalities hesitate to pursue these cases because of the fiscal liability,” she said.
Often, Reid said, local action could be taken sooner to help avoid a more serious situation down the road. She said some of the more severe animal hoarding and abuse cases could be prevented with earlier intervention.
“It is important we address these types of situations before they spiral out of control,” she said. “Situations like this don’t get better over time. They only become worse.”
Reid didn’t want to elaborate on the conditions the animals were living in because of the ongoing investigation, but she said the conditions the animals were forced to live in and their health had a direct impact on her emotionally. Seeing the animals in such poor shape and how they were forced to live also motivated her to help them, she said.
Reid said many of the animals are already seeing improved health.
“It is gut-wrenching and I definitely had my moments when I broke down,” Reid said. “This is tough, but if we all quit when the job gets tough, then who would be there to help them? I know there are happy days down the road for these animals and that is what keeps me focused.”
On July 30, Reid was made aware of the treatment of the animals from a tip that included photographic evidence. She secured a search warrant for the property where the animals were found.
Bartlett was arrested and charged with abandonment and cruelty to 25 animals or more, which is a felony, and two misdemeanor charges of unlawful burial of a dead animal. She was released from the Alpena County Jail on a personal recognizance bond.
This is the second large animal neglect case reported in the last 10 days.
A 56-year-old Hawks man was arraigned last week in Montmorency County’s 88th District Court following an animal cruelty investigation conducted by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
The man pleaded not guilty to one felony of failing to provide animals with adequate care, punishable of up to seven years in prison and/or up to $10,000 in fines and community service, one misdemeanor of animal cruelty, punishable of up to 93 days in jail with up to $1,000 in fines and up to 200 hours of community service, and two misdemeanors for improper burial of dead animals, each punishable by up to 90 days in jail and up to $500 in fines.
The officers involved in that case seized 75 animals and were able to relocate them to adequate facilities for proper care, including 14 geese, 14 sheep, eight chickens and piglets, seven pigs and horses, four dogs and mini cows, three turtles, two goats and cats, and one turkey and rabbit.
Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 or sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss_alpenanews.com.
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