As concerned citizens within the North Carolina Equine Community we see a growing number of neglected and abused horses in this and surrounding areas. We have enclosed the details of the most heinous acts of abuse we have ever seen. Our plea is for you to investigate the authorities in charge, who have neglected to take reasonable action, to prevent the inhumane treatment of animals. The most recent act of outrageous animal abuse was that of Annie Elizabeth Stein of Newton, NC. Investigators discovered the rotting carcasses of two horses and the skeletal remains of at least four others in a pasture at 1628 N.C. 10 in Newton. The woman leasing the land, Annie Elizabeth Stein, 43, of Newton was arrested and charged with cruelty to animals Tuesday. Her three remaining horses were taken from the property and are being nursed back to health at area farms. Michael Poovey works as a caretaker for an adjoining property and spotted a 24-year-old Arabian gelding lying in the field on Feb. 10. There were three other horses in the pasture and the animals had no food, water or shelter and the weather was bitterly cold. When he took a closer look at the animal and saw that it was dead he called the police. The horse had been dead for several days, according to police reports. "I could count every bone in that animal. It looked like it was starved," Poovey said. "A healthy animal can survive the cold without any problem. This animal was just too undernourished and starved to survive the cold." The horse was lying in a frozen barren field. Its fur was matted and its ribs and spine were showing through its thin hide. The horse was still in the middle of the pasture three weeks after it was discovered even though Newton police have ordered Stein to bury or remove the remains. Poovey pointed out that several trees that surround the bare pasture were missing their bark up to eight feet off the ground. He said he'd seen the horses gnawing on the bark because they had no other available food. "If she (Stein) couldn't afford to feed the animals she should have told me and I would have fed them," he said. "When I realized something was wrong it was too late." Newton animal control officers went to the pasture the day the call came in and checked on the three remaining animals. They all looked underfed but one looked severely malnourished, said Sgt. Steve Boyd of the Newton Police Department. Police arrived at 4 p.m. and by 4:30 they'd loaded the horses onto a trailer and taken them to area farms to recover and regain their strength. The horses were examined by a veterinarian and police waited for his findings before they took out a warrant for Stein's arrest. During their subsequent investigation, officers found a second dead horse. It was just outside an electric fence behind a hill on the far side of the pasture. Its carcass was partially covered by a blue tarp, hay and small tree limbs. The black horse under the tarp died before the horse found in the middle of the field. Police say Stein admits knowing about both horses and said they died of natural causes. She told them the horses had colic. When officers went back to the pasture Monday, they found the skeletal remains of four more horses. One of the piles of bones was partially covered by a blue tarp. Officers say Stein denies any knowledge of the horse skeletons. Stein was charged with intentionally starving an animal in the case of the first dead horse spotted in the field. A criminal summons has been issued for her to appear in court on animal cruelty for the most severely malnourished and feeble horse removed from the pasture. "We do not have any plans to charge her with the additional remains we found," Boyd said. "We're not going to go back and do autopsies on the remains." He said the charges are misdemeanors and the bond was $500 unsecured. "They can only be felonies if you can prove malicious intent and we can't." Stein told police some of the horses she had were rescue horses that she'd taken in to care for. "We have been dealing with this woman for quite some time," said Boyd. He said a variety of horse-related complaints have been made against her in the past two years. She's been warned and her behavior has been monitored. There is similar case in Alexander County where animal control was called out to investigate a situation of a starving horse. Since they never responded this also resulted in the death of the animal. Tragedies like this and the case of Annie Stein’s horses could be prevented if animal control would do their job. We as a community are outraged the way things are being handled by animal control and the police department. We would like this investigated further to prevent any future horrific abuse and neglect of animals in our counties. There are people and organizations that are willing to help protect and rehabilitate abused animals. However it the responsibility of animal control to initiate legal procedures to remove the animals from their abusive owners. Below is a list of the horses we could remember and account for, and only one charge and a misdemeanor?

Lucky-Dead-on news video

Knight-dead-witnessed

Missy-unsure

Bo-Dead-witnessed

Rocky-unsure

Morocco-was told by Annie that he was given back. Poovey saw him being buried

Lucky-Dead-on news video

Dipper-dead-witnessed

Ladybug-removed by owner

Araby-seized

Doc-removed by owner

ET-Dead

Cherokee-dead-witnessed

Whiskey-removed by owner

Scarlette-dead-witnessed

Swift-removed by owner

Bosley-seized

Dawson-unsure

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