MONROE — Many of the starving horses died thrashing on the ground as they tried to stand. Some were covered with lice and fungus. One Appaloosa had nothing in her stomach but air when she collapsed and died.
Five horses starved to death. Six others were severely malnourished and continue to have health problems. Prosecutors and animal control authorities called the mistreatment in the Monroe pasture one of the worst cases of animal cruelty in Snohomish County.
“This is extensive animal cruelty. It was not just one animal. It was a pasture full of animals,” Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Laura Twitchell said. “She let them die a horrible, suffering death.”
Jean Elledge was sentenced Monday to a year in jail. Elledge, 57, pleaded guilty last month to five counts of first-degree animal cruelty, a felony. She was paid to board horses in Monroe and Carnation.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Richard Thorpe ordered Elledge to serve her sentence after she completes a jail term for similar offenses in King County. A judge there sentenced her to nine months behind bars for three counts of first-degree animal cruelty involving starved horses found in Carnation.
Her attorney, public defender Sonja Hardenbrook, had asked that Elledge be allowed to apply the time she serves in King County toward her sentence here. Elledge has taken responsibility for her actions and wants to begin repaying the costs to care for the surviving horses, Hardenbrook said.
Thorpe denied the request. He said the magnitude of the cruelty compelled him to make sure Elledge receives the maximum punishment under the law.
Elledge also was ordered not to own any kind of animal for five years. She will be required to pay back the costs of treating and caring for the horses that were seized by the county. So far the county has spent about $43,000 to care for the horses, as well as pay to have the dead horses removed from the property, according to Vicki Lubrin, the county’s License and Animal Control Services manager.
A Snohomish County animal control officer in July 2007 began contacting Elledge about properly feeding her horses and the others she was boarding. The officer received another complaint about Elledge in January and discovered two dead horses on the property. A month later, an animal control officer found more dead horses. Authorities seized 10 starving horses.
In King County, officers found four dead horses and took 10 starving animals after raiding her boarding and breeding business in Carnation.
Snohomish County animal control officer Gordon Abbott told Thorpe the horses’ deaths were preventable. Animal control officers attempted to work with Elledge to help her properly care for the horses, Abbott said, but she callously disregarded any attempts to help the animals.
Elledge on Monday told the judge she had been in denial that the horses were in such poor health. She said she doesn’t know how she let it go so far. Elledge said she felt relief when animal control officers raided her properties.
“I realized on a very huge scale it was over. I had completely blown it. I had failed my horses and it was over,” Elledge said. “I’m terribly sorry to everyone, especially to my horses. I loved them.”
Eight out of the 10 rescued horses have been adopted. Two are still awaiting good homes. Anyone interested in adopting the horses must work through a nonprofit equine rescue organization, Lubrin said.
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
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