Horses on Polk County property left for weeks without food and water, owner arrested: ‘Severely malnourished’

Horse malnourished, man arrested

Allie Corey reports.

LAKELAND, Fla. - A Polk County man is behind bars after deputies said he neglected six horses, all of which were found severely malnourished on his property. One of the horses died.

The backstory:

Investigators with the Polk County Sheriff's Office said in arrest records that they responded to Carl Olinger's property along Olinger Farm Road on Tuesday to investigate a possible animal cruelty case. They said Olinger was the sole owner of the Lakeland property as well as six horses found in his pasture.

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Courtesy: Polk County Sheriff's Office.

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Authorities said they found all six horses during a search of the property, and all were found underweight with their ribs and shoulder bones visibly protruding. No food or water for the horses was found anywhere, and investigators also said the pasture was primarily dirt with no edible vegetation for the horses.

"This was absolutely, unequivocally a horrible scene," said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.

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Courtesy: Polk County Sheriff's Office.

Dig deeper:

PCSO said during their search, they also found one of the horses lying in the pasture – malnourished and visibly in pain and discomfort. Officials said the 12-year-old horse was likely lying there for at least a day before the search.

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A veterinarian responded to the property and spent three hours trying to care for the horse and helping it stand. Deputies said the horse ultimately died from her injuries.

Booking photo of Carl Olinger. Courtesy: Polk County Sheriff's Office.

"This was determined to be a cruel act by the suspect causing unnecessary pain, suffering and death," officials said in Ollinger's arrest report.

After the horse was examined by a veterinary expert, they also found it was suffering from an infection in its eye that had been left untreated.

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Courtesy: Polk County Sheriff's Office.

What they're saying:

According to his arrest records, Olinger admitted that he hadn't fed the horses in two weeks, and he knew of the horses' conditions and still did not help them. He also told investigators that he was aware that all the horses were malnourished and underweight, but didn't fix the problem.

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"They are severely malnourished," Judd said. "It is very sad to see the shape these horses were in because of this man."

Olinger was arrested and taken to PCSO's Processing Center.

The Source: The information in this story was provided through arrest records on Carl Olinger. It also includes statements made by Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.

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