MIDDLETOWN — A Middletown woman alleged to have neglected and underfed as many as 80 Arabian horses on a property in Middletown will face charges in court next month.
Teresa Sanders is expected to be arraigned on two counts of animal abuse in Department 4 of Lake County Superior Court in Clearlake by early October, according to Jon Hopkins, the county”s chief deputy district attorney.
Hopkins said that Sanders will face charges on one felony count and one misdemeanor count on a date selected by the court.
“She will receive a notice to appear rather than an arrest warrant,” Hopkins said, “and it will be up to the court to send notice to her to appear and face charges that we have filed.
“We are alleging a felony, 597(b), subdivision b (of the California Criminal Code), which is animal abuse or neglect. It relates to some of the 80 horses. Our theory is that the treatment of some of these horses rose to the level of a felony charge.
“For some of the horses, it did not. In that instance we filed a misdemeanor charge under 597f, subdivision a (of the Code), which is animal neglect.”
Hopkins said he believes the arraignment will be on a Friday in early October, possibly the sixth or the 13th in the Clearlake Superior Court annex for geographical considerations.
The charges follow an investigation by the District Attorney”s Office, which was acting on a 500-page report from Lake County Animal Care & Control of its observations of how Sanders was not providing sufficient food or care for the horses, including foals.
“Most of the investigations we asked our officers to do were on top of investigations by Animal Control officers in clarifying some of the opinions of the experts who examined the horses, veterinarians and so forth,” Hopkins said.
“We wanted the answers to the degree of danger that the horses were in based on examination to determine whether it was a felony or a misdemeanor.”
All of the horses have since been removed from the property and relocated under new owners, said Denise Johnson, the county”s Animal Care & Control director.
On Monday, Johnson reported that all of the animals remain with their new owners.
Earlier, one of the experts, Middletown veterinarian Jeff Smith, told the Record-Bee that in his opinion the condition of the horses was “as bad as it gets.”
Contact John Lindblom at jlwordsmith@mchsi.com.
