DILLON — A Dillon man has been charged with cruelty to animals after six horses and a pony were rescued from his residence a week ago.
Glenn Chestnut, 54, was arrested Tuesday night after a Dillon County sheriff’s deputy went to his residence at 514 New Circle Drive on May 20 and saw the seven animals in deplorable living conditions.
Chestnut went before magistrate Wednesday morning and was released on $800 surety bond, Dillon County Detention Center Sgt. Marvin McQueen said.
The animals were being housed in cramped pens that were soaked in water and horse manure and the area smelled of urine, according to the sheriff’s office report.
The animals were all malnourished and underfed. The ribs and hip bones of the animals were clearly visible through their coats, according to the incident report.
Authorities at the scene said there was only one bale of dry hay, about two scoops of feed in a large plastic barrel and hardly any water for all the animals.
The animals were later seized and are in the custody of Florence Area Humane Society volunteers.
“The horses were up to their knees in feces and manure,” said Denise Hughes, a humane society volunteer, said in an interview last week. “They didn’t have any water, very little feed left in the buckets — it was just a very bad environment for the horses to be in.”
Animal Hospital of Kingstree veterinarian Dr. Jim Coker examined the horses Thursday and said some could recover from their ordeal.
“Five out of the seven appear to have some pretty bad nutritional issues, and we did find a severe lice infestation on one horse,” he said in a previous interview.
The seven animals ranging in age from 2 to 25 years old, and all have some serious problems, Coker said. They all showed signs of poor care, with some suffering from lameness.
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