Woman arrested after horses left to starve in Coryell County

Killeen Daily Herald
Staff Report
September 22, 2023

A woman was arrested this week in a case involving alleged cruelty to livestock animals, according to a news release Friday from the Coryell County Sheriff’s Department.

Sabrina Hale, 37, was arrested Tuesday in Palo Pinto County on outstanding warrants related to 14 counts of cruelty to livestock animals in Coryell County.

Hale allegedly abandoned 11 horses in August. She also faces charges of burglary of a habitation, criminal mischief and theft.

She is the second person to be arrested in this case, the first one being Colton Hale, 34, who allegedly abandoned 14 horses. Police were informed after a property owner who was not named called Aug. 3 to report the condition of the livestock.

The caller told the sheriff’s office she hadn’t seen the horses’ owners since May 2 and that she could not afford to care for the animals any longer. Apparently, she said three of the horses had died and she did not want any additional deaths.

The release said the horses’ owners were not replying to the caller’s attempts to contact them.

A livestock deputy with the sheriff’s office met with the caller Aug. 4, at the property near Topsey and observed “several round bale feeders on the property that were empty,” as well as “three troughs filled with water and no grass anywhere on the property. According to the deputy, there was no hay observed and during the course of the inspection, a large brown horse carcass was seen on the north side of a house on the property. The release said the caller advised the other two carcasses were in the northwest pasture.

“The 11 surviving horses were in bad shape, with bones seen protruding from their heads, ribs and hips,” the release said.

The surviving horses were removed from the property and taken into custody by the CCSO on Aug. 5.

According to the sheriff, multiple attempts were made to contact the owners of the horses, with no success.

On Aug. 8, a local veterinarian examined the 11 surviving horses and assigned each a Body Condition Score. The BCS System is a scale ranging from 1-9. Thinner horses score low while fatter horses score higher than 5.

The vet found the horses to be “very thin, exhibiting signs of malnourishment.” He further stated that he would consider two of the horses to be emaciated and scored each of them a 1 out of 9, according to the release.