Horses Seized in Clackamas County Neglect Case

Police say the residence had no water, power, or phone, which also led to the suspect's 4-year old autistic son being taken into protective custody.

Photos: Clackamas County Sheriff

(CLACKAMAS, Ore.) - Deputies from the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office executed a search warrant Friday at 29184 S. Benzinger Road in Colton, regarding an investigation into the neglect of four horses on the property, by their owner, April Punley.

Horse abuse suepect April Punley

Detective Jeffrey Green with the Clackamas Sheriff's Office says the investigation began with a tip from a person reporting the conditions of the horses in March 2007.

"At the time, the four horses were thin and in need of medical treatment." He says Deputy Morgan Gunther had the animals examined at that time by a vet and Punley agreed to follow the instructions for treatment.

But Deputy Gunther that in doing that follow up work, he found that Punley was not following the instructions of the vet. Since the time the investigation began, one of the horses died from unknown causes.

They say the Punley residence had no water, power, or phone. Due to those conditions her four year old autistic son was placed into protective custody with the state of Oregon as a result of this investigation.

Deputy Morgan Gunther reported the animals were be tethered to trees on the 103 acre property, without access to water and having only weeds and ferns to yet. He described the horses as thin and in need of treatment. There has been four previous cases investigated by the sheriff's office regarding animal neglect involving April Punley but this is the first time the investigation has resulted in her arrest. She wis charged with one count of Animal Abuse in the Second Degree. She was cited and released after being booked into the Clackamas County Jail.