December 29, 2007
Brandon Haught
Public Information Office

26 NEGLECTED HORSES SEIZED FROM FARM NEAR DELAND 

The Volusia County Sheriff's Office supervised the seizure of 26 neglected horses from a farm near DeLand Saturday. Deputies discovered the underfed animals on Wednesday when they went to 1782 Mercers Fernery Road due to a neighbor claiming that someone at the address was abusing a horse. The abuse complaint was unfounded, but while deputies were on scene they noticed that the horses stabled there were undernourished.

 

Deputies spoke with the horses' owner, John Donahue, who said that he had fallen on hard financial times and was having trouble feeding and caring for the animals on his own. Over the course of the next few days, deputies continued to investigate while checking in every day to make sure Donahue was feeding the horses. But the condition of the horses and their environment prompted the Sheriff's Office to step in on Saturday and remove the animal from the property. The Sheriff's Office now has legal custody of the animals with assistance from the Horse Protection Association of Florida and the Florida Department of Agriculture.

 

Donahue, 71, currently does not face criminal charges, but the Sheriff's Office's investigation is still active. 

 

(Video from the Saturday horse seizure can be viewed here.)