Animal rescuers and volunteers spent the weekend relocating more than 200 horses and cattle seized in Hill County on March 5. Many of them were emaciated.
It is believed to be the largest livestock cruelty seizure on record in Texas, officials from the Humane Society of North Texas in Fort Worth said. A judge awarded custody of the animals to the agency on Friday, after 169 horses and 67 cattle were rescued from a ranch near Blum.
The owner, Gregory W. Brinkley, 50, remained in the Hill County Law Enforcement Center on Sunday, on charges of animal cruelty and aggravated assault on a police officer. He reportedly pointed a shotgun at two sheriff’s deputies as they attempted to assess the situation.
Brinkley’s bail has been set at $1 million on the assault charges and $50,000 on the animal cruelty charges, a jail spokesman said Sunday. There was no attorney listed in the center’s records for him.
"Outside of a disaster like Hurricane Katrina or Ike ... this is the largest horse and livestock seizure I’ve ever done or heard about," said Sandy Grambort, the Humane Society’s equine program coordinator.
She said the owner appeared to have gotten overwhelmed with trying to care for so many animals on property that was too small for them.
She said dozens of animal carcasses were scattered around the small ranch.
"It’s uncountable," she said. "There were bones everywhere."
Twelve of the 236 rescued animals have died since March 5, largely due to the stress of the move and a quick and severe change in weather that brought cold and rain, Grambort said.
But rescuers who mourned the losses also had reason to celebrate – at least two new calves have been born since the rescue, and more are on the way. Several mares are also about to foal.
The animals were being moved this weekend from temporary quarters near Mart to one of several new homes.
"The cattle, we found good homes for them, believe it or not, and they’re not going to the slaughterhouse," Grambort said.
The horses will be put into larger pastures with more healthy environments where they are not crowded.
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