Redding Woman Accused of Severe Neglect of Horses Rejects Plea: Report

REDDING, CT — A Redding woman arrested for animal cruelty in 2014 in relation to the severe emaciation and neglect of her two horses was accepted into a program that could wipe away the charges against her, however, she has rejected the conditions set by the judge as part of the probation, according to The News Times.

Lisa Lind-Larsen, 76, is representing herself in the case and recently said in court that she would withdraw from the diversionary program because of the conditions., the paper reported. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, she was charged in 2014 with two misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty after authorities were notified by an alert delivery man that there were two emaciated horses in a barn on her property.

The two Mustangs were living in unsanitary stalls lined with several inches of manure, unclean water and were extremely underweight, with their ribs, hip bones, and spinal bones prominent, according to a release from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. They also were in need of immediate veterinary and dental care.

Lind-Larsen had previously been investigated for possibly neglecting the horses — Chinook and Cheyenne — which she adopted in 2005 from the federal Bureau of Land Management. A 2011 complaint that the horses were underweight was resolved after the horses gained weight over the course of several months. Lind-Larsen turned herself in to Redding police in 2014 when she learned of a warrant for her arrest.

Chinook and Cheyenne were sent to the Department of Agriculture’s Large Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Facility in Niantic and have since recovered. The agency partners with the UConn College of Agriculture Annual Spring Horse Auction to find homes for animals, once they are healthy enough to be placed in permanent homes.

The two mares are being cared for by prison inmates at the York Correctional Facility as part of the program. Inmates volunteer to receive minimal pay and work in partnership with agency personnel. Click here to read more.

Related:

• Redding Horse Owner Accused of Animal Cruelty
• CT Animal Control Seizes Two Emaciated Horses
• Redding Woman Trying to Clear Animal Cruelty
• Owner of Emaciated Horses Charged with Animal Abuse

Photo provided by US Department of Agriculture