WAGGAMAN, La. -- Jefferson Parish animal control officers are investigating a severe case of animal malnutrition in Waggaman.
They responded when people who live nearby, noticed four horses were emaciated.
But the owner says she is doing what it takes to get her horses healthy, so she won't lose them.
Pictures and concerned e-mail messages came into the newsroom about starving horses in Waggaman. When we went to investigate, neighbors stopped to tell us how upset they were.
'That's just not right. I don't know if they have shade, much shade there and, I mean, they are horses and horses do live on pastures and everything, but you do not want to see them, not that thin. That's way thin,' said Roberta Culpepper, who lives near the thin horses.
'I think it's been several months since the horses have been there,' said another concerned neighbor who was driving by and did not want to be identified.
Others told us by phone they threw hay and carrots to the horses, but the next day it was thrown out on the road, on Live Oak Boulevard. But while we were shooting video, a man named Sam Richardson pulled up in his truck, on the phone with his friend, the owner of the horses, Sharon Brown.
'The lady just now went to the veterinarian, was out here yesterday with these horses giving them shots. So I don't know what the problem with this is. We done called in. She done talk to the people. If you want to talk to her now you can talk to her now,' said Richardson, handing his phone to this reporter.
On the phone she said her veterinarian treated the four horses the day before. She spent more than $400 on shots. She claimed the horses were thin from the wrong nutrition and worms but she was taking care of it.
The Jefferson Animal Shelter also got several calls and have been investigating for days.
'The owner has given us permission to go onto the property anytime and check on the horses, take additional photographs, whatever we need to do and so we are going to be doing that and monitoring them very closely. And she understands that if she doesn't provide the care that they need, veterinary care, food, water, etc., that the animals are subject to seizure under state law,' said Kim Staton, a consultant and cruelty investigator with the Jefferson Animal Shelter.
They say the owner's story didn't exactly match up with the veterinarian's account. He told investigators he's had concerns for a while, but they feel she is trying now.
'I think, probably, this person didn't know exactly what she needed to do to provide for these animals. I don't think there was any malice behind this. The bad thing about that though is, it doesn't really matter whether the suffering is intentional or unintentional, because it still amounts to the same thing for the animal,' added Staton.
Richardson said she loves riding the horses in Mardi Gras parades, and that they looked fine months ago.
'She really love her horses. Most everybody know her, tell you that,' He said.
So the Jefferson Parish Animal Shelter says if immediate changes are not made, the horses will be taken away.
The owners said they threw the hay back out on the street because they were worried someone was trying to poison the horses.
Veterinarians now say no one should give the horses extra food since they are now on a special, monitored diet.
