[Bar N K]

South Carolina Ag. Official Charged with Horse Abuse

by: The Associated PressFebruary 29 2008, Article # 11418

A top South Carolina agriculture official and two of his relatives are accused of mistreating dozens of horses in South Carolina and in Georgia, where authorities described some of the animals as looking like someone "draped a hide over bones."
James Trexler, one of South Carolina's three assistant agriculture commissioners, was charged this week with five counts of ill treatment of animals. Authorities said five horses on his Hopkins property were found without food in stalls filled with manure and mud.
Trexler, who was suspended without pay from the job he's held since 2003, was released from jail Thursday on bond. His mother, Hazelene Trexler, and brother Terry Trexler remained behind bars because they are considered fugitives in Georgia. Both were charged there with 30 counts of animal cruelty, authorities said.
In October, investigators found about 70 Arabian horses, including one already dead, on about 75 acres in Jefferson County, Ga., sheriff's deputy Jimmy Kitchens said.
"They looked like you just draped a hide over bones," Kitchens said. "I used to raise and train Quarter Horses, and I've never seen anything like this before. If paperwork could've been done quicker, there'd be more charges."
None of the Trexlers could be reached for comment Thursday. No one answered the door at James Trexler's home. No one answered the phone at a listing for him and a message could not be left.
An attorney named by the Trexlers at the bond hearing said he was not representing them. The phones for several Sumter businesses listed under Terry Trexler's name had been disconnected.
The more than 20 horses seized Monday on property the mother and younger Trexler lease in Eastover, Ga., were so malnourished that their ribs were showing, said Lt. Chris Cowan, a Richland County, S.C., sheriff's spokesman.
None of the horses was at optimum weight and all shared a 15-gallon trough of water, officials said.
Kelly Graham, a spokeswoman for the Humane Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said the organization did not find any food at the property or hay in the pasture. "The field was just mud. There was no grass at all," Graham said.
Hazelene Trexler, 70, is charged with 28 counts of ill treatment to animals, and Terry Trexler, 44, faces 23 counts of ill treatment to animals in South Carolina.
A tip led officials to investigate James Trexler's property on Tuesday, Graham said.
All 28 horses taken from the Trexlers, including a pregnant mare, are in veterinarian care and are expected to make full recoveries. The Humane Society plans to seek custody of them and eventually find people to adopt them, Graham said.
Terry Trexler also faces a kidnapping charge. Deputies said he refused to let a Humane Society investigator leave when she came to the pasture this month with a camera to follow up on a tip. At the time, he claimed he was his brother, James, officials said. Terry Trexler, a former lawyer, was disbarred by the South Carolina Supreme Court in January 2001 after he was convicted of breach of trust. As director of administration for the Agriculture Department, James Trexler oversaw budgeting and procurement, information technology, auditing, payroll, and mailing services, agency spokesman Stephen Hudson said. He declined to comment on the charges.


Forensic Veterinarian Joins South Carolina Abuse Probe

by: Pat RaiaMarch 02 2008, Article # 11432

A forensic veterinarian has joined the investigation to multiple alleged incidents of horse abuse in South Carolina.

Melinda D. Merck, DVM, senior director of veterinary forensics for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and a consultant for the Fulton County District Attorney's Office in Atlanta, arrived in Richland County, S.C., on Saturday afternoon to examine the buried bones of horses discovered on property formerly owned by the Trexler family, said Kelly Graham, director of public relations for the Humane Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Richland, S.C.
According to Graham, Merck, who also participated in the federal government's investigation into the Michael Vick dog fighting case, was called in to study the bones of the deceased horses.
"She travels with a mobile forensic CSI unit, and can test the bone marrow to see if the horses died of starvation," Graham said.
The ongoing investigation into the horse abuse case involving Hazelene Trexler, and her sons Terry and James Trexler, expanded last week when a tipster shared information about horses having been on former Trexler property in Sumter County S.C. "One of our investigators went out with a television crew to investigate 75 acres formerly owned by the Trexlers," Graham said on Friday. "What they found was horse bones in like a mass grave." No results from Merck's investigation were available on Sunday. However, according to published reports, the probe might expand next week to yet another Trexler-connected property in Lexington County, S.C. As the investigations continue, Hazelene Trexler and her son Terry Trexler, who face similar animal cruelty charges in Georgia, remain in the Richland County Jail. James Trexler is free on a personal recognizance bond.



South Carolina Abuse Investigation: Horses Impounded in Georgia Found

by: Pat RaiaMarch 06 2008, Article # 11447


Georgia officials visited Richland County, S.C., on Monday to attend court proceedings connected with the ongoing horse abuse case there. But before they left, they discovered that a total of 25 horses formerly under quarantine in Georgia had found their way to South Carolina.
Hazelene E. Trexler, 70, and her son Terry A. Trexler, 44, each face 30 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty by starvation charges in Jefferson County, Ga., along with additional charges in South Carolina. James Trexler, one of South Carolina's three assistant agriculture commissioners, is charged with five counts of misdemeanor cruelty.
According to Michael Privett, DVM, the veterinarian caring for the horses seized in the Trexler case, Georgia officials joined South Carolina humane officials to examine a site where a herd of 17 horses belonging to the Trexlers were kept. All 17 of the horses found at that site are now in the custody of the Richland County Humane Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals (HSPCA).
"The Georgia officials found 12 in that bunch that they identified as having been brought to South Carolina from Georgia," Privett said.
Privett said most of the horses in the herd of 17 were in "pretty good shape," attributing their relatively good condition to the care they received while in quarantine in Georgia. He estimated that they had been in the Richland County pasture for about three months.
Another 13 of the formerly quarantined Georgia horses were also identified among 28 horses seized by the HSPCA last week, said agency spokesman Kelly Graham. According to a statement by Georgia Department of Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin, the 25 horses found in South Carolina were impounded in Georgia from property leased by the Trexlers. The horses were quarantined for Coggins testing last October. Sometime in November, "a large number" had been moved in violation of the quarantine. A preliminary hearing for animal abuse charges in the case is slated for March 17.



Horse Abuse Defendants Extradited to Georgia

by: Pat RaiaMarch 06 2008, Article # 11448

Hazelene Trexler, 70, and Terry Trexler, 44, were on their way to Georgia Thursday morning to face multiple counts of animal cruelty, according to Jefferson County, Ga., Deputy Sheriff Jimmy Kitchens. Two deputies were slated to leave Jefferson County, at 8:30 a.m. Thursday morning to transport the Trexlers to Jefferson County Jail, Kitchens said. They are scheduled to appear in Jefferson County Court on Friday, March 7, for a bond hearing.

"After that, Terry Trexler will be extradited back to South Carolina because there is another charge against him there," Kitchens said. "If Hazelene is able to post bond, she will be released on bond."
Hazelene E. Trexler, and her son Terry A. Trexler each face 30 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty by starvation stemming from the alleged abuse of 60 malnourished horses on property they leased in Southeast Georgia. Terry Trexler is also charged with one count of allowing an animal to run at large, according to Kitchens. Each animal cruelty charge carries penalties of up to $1,000 or up to one year incarceration. They also face Georgia Department of Agriculture citations for violating the Dead Animal Disposal Act, and for violating quarantine of the horses.

[shawnee1020]

Wow that's sad, And a little to close for comfort since I live in SC on the GA border

[TB4life]

Yeah..close to me, too..poor horses.