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Eileen Lenihan, 57, of 405 Old Long Ridge Road, and Jose Dejesus Rodriguez, 37, of of 55 Erskine Road, were each arrested and charged with cruelty to animals. Each was released on $10,000 bond.
The case began when New England Equine was caring for a horse from Rock Spring Farms at 405-421 Old Long Ridge Road, on Jan. 24. The horse, a 3-year-old Appaloosa named Muppet, was dehydrated and malnourished when brought to the New England Equine hospital in Patterson, N.Y.
The business was so alarmed by the animal's condition and fearing for the safety of other horses that it called Stamford police to do a welfare check on the other horses at the North Stamford farm.
When officers arrived at the farm Jan. 25, officers found five horses in the barn, police said. One horse, a 4-year-old Appaloosa named Lacey, was lying on the ground and gasping for air, police said.
At this point, the Detective Bureau, Identification Unit, and Animal Control were dispatched to the farm to conduct an investigation, police said.
Upon arrival, officers found holes in the barn's walls, exposed wires and unsecured doors. None of the stalls appeared to have been cleaned and were filled with a large amount of manure for the animals to lie on.
There was only a sparse amount of food left for the horses to eat, and any water that had been left was frozen over, police said. Both Muppet and Lacey had open sores, matted and wet fur, and many bones exposed from a lack of nutrition, police said.
A veterinarian called to the scene determined that Lacey was extremely emaciated and dehydrated and would have to be euthanized. Muppet had the same diagnosis and was later euthanized at the Equine center.
Necropsies performed on both horses showed they suffered from starvation and severe dehydration, police said.
Officers tracked down Lenihan, owner of the barn, and she told them that she owned several of the horses and that the others were owned by Rodriguez, police said.
Lenihan told officers she believed that Rodriquez was caring for the stable and all the horses on her property, police said.
Rodriguez said the horses may have been poisoned and said he had notified Lenihan the day before, police said.
But police said neither Lenihan nor Rodriguez could explain why the stable was in such a deplorable state and why there was no food or water for the horses.
Previous neglect complaints about the farm were investigated by the animal control unit, police said.
The remaining horses were examined by veterinarians. They were treated, removed and placed in an equine rescue, police said.
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