Grass Valley Animals Recovering After They Were Found Malnourished, Nearly Dead
GRASS VALLEY (CBS13) — Animals found mistreated and malnourished in September are being given a second chance as neighbors rally to care for them.
Animal control officers had been called out to a Grass Valley home after a neighbor complained of a foul odor. They found a dead goat, a horse, and eight starved animals at the property.
Back then, Bell the mule was in pretty bad shape and flirting with death—her hips and ribs exposed from a lack of food.
"She was very lethargic, very wobbly," said Bonnie Easley. "I was afraid to put her in the trailer that she would fall down."
Easley raises mules and heard Bell was malnourished, so she stepped in to bring her back to health.
Deputy District Attorney Kyra Patterson says Charles and Sara Gore, along with their adult daughter, didn't feed the animals living on their property off of Auburn Road.
"Certainly help was available had that they asked for it," Patterson said. "We have reason to believe that they knew help was available and they choose not to seek it."
One of the malnourished horses that had to be euthanized weighed only 500 pounds—one-third of the weight it should have been.
"These animals can't feed themselves when we put them in enclosures on private property," Patterson said.
The case hit Easley hard, because she sold Bell to the Gore family, only to have her come back abused and near death.
She says Bell will be fine, but hopes her owners pay for what they did, and are never allowed to own an animal again.
"Something needs to be done, because people shouldn't be starving their animals."
