By By MARY-ALLISON LANCASTER – Managing editor
A man who was arrested and charged with animal cruelty in March pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges, Humane Society cruelty investigator Renee Jones said this week.
Jones said that the Humane Society received a restitution check in the mail from Larry Quates of Ridge Road.
Jones said in an interview Wednesday afternoon that according to a plea summary, Quates had been arrested by an officer with the Department of Agriculture who charged him with animal cruelty.
The case had been set for a bench trial and after several continuations, Quates pleaded guilty on Sept. 6 to cruelty to animals. He also received a six month suspended jail sentence, had to pay a $2,000 fine and two years of unsupervised probation, Jones said. Quates was also ordered to pay the Humane Society $345 in restitution.
In March, Capt. Gerald McGough, criminal investigator, Jones, and Humane Society Officers Janet Beall and Kristy Lambeth responded to a call about animal cruelty. Neighbors had complained to both departments that horses on Quates' property looked to be severely emaciated and injured.
After further investigation, which involved taking statements from local veterinarians who had treated two horses, the decision was made to seize two of the horses that were judged to be in danger of imminent death. At the time, Quates had said the horses were sick and that was the reason they were so thin. Quates eventually surrendered the horses.
However, while at the Humane Society the next morning, it was determined by a veterinarian that the down horses were due to dehydration and starvation. Jones said that one of the horses, Katie, a paint mare, had to be put down because she was &#8220too far gone.”
Cherokee, a male Palomino, was given vitamin B injections, fed adequate hay, de-wormed and given several shots. Cherokee stayed at the Humane Society for 10 days and was adopted out to a family where he remains today.
Jones said that there were other horses on Quates' property that were his, but they weren't as bad looking as the two seized.
The purpose of the Humane Society, Jones said, is to seize animals that are in imminent danger. She said that people often had a misconception about the Humane Society.