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HARDY (WSLS 10) - A Franklin County man has been indicted on 14 misdemeanor charges after seven of his horses were found starved and emaciated.
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Michael Wendell Cabbler, 62, of Hardy, is charged with seven counts of neglect and seven counts of cruelty to animals.
On Thursday, February 25, Franklin County Animal Control along with staff from the Roanoke Valley Horse Rescue investigated the case. They found four mares and one colt in a field emaciated with a body score of only one to two.
According to the RVHR, the horses had no access to water or hay and had survived from only eating bark from nearby trees.
RVHR staff say they were told by the owner that there were no other horses on property; however, they later found two more horses locked in small stalls in a building on the property. T
hey found one stud and one miniature horse standing in "soaked, soupy manure." Staff say they also had no access to hay or water in their enclosure.
The seven horses were signed over to the county and removed immediately from the property and brought to RVHR for care.
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No court date has been set for Cabbler at this time.