WKRN, Nashville, Tennessee News, Weather, and Sports |Malnourished horses found on Warren Co. farm

Malnourished horses found on Warren Co. farm

WARREN CO., Tenn. - While to some, photographs of malnourished and sick horses captured on a Warren County ranch should be enough to charge the owner, to the man who owns them, the photos only tell part of the story.

Sid Stanton knows each and everyone of his horses, which is saying a lot considering he had 186 of them.

He can tell you where each horse came from and what shape they were in when they arrived.

It's his love of horses, he says, that has caused him to accumulate so many.

Stanton said he started with about 25 or 30 animals and the next thing he knew, had 100 and it just "escalated from there."

Last week, some of Stanton's horses died and the Warren County Sheriff's Office was called to investigate.

"Well it's hard to put in words," Warren County Sheriff Jackie Matheny told News 2 Tuesday.  "They are very malnourished, ribs, hip bones exposed, some of them staggering, they could not walk well."

Four horses were dead when investigators got to the farm and a few more had to be put down because of the poor shape they were in.

Stanton relinquished ownership of 23 of the horses to a rescue group in Sumner County on Saturday.  One of those died on Monday.

Stanton maintains he hasn't done anything wrong.

He said Warren County lacks a place for people to take unwanted animals so they often come to him.

"When somebody comes up to you and says, ‘If you don't take this animal, either a dog or horse or whatever, we are going home and shoot it', I have a hard time turning my back on that," he said.

Stanton said he would gladly let the horses go and hopes someone able to help will come forward.

No charges have been filed against Stanton.

Sheriff Matheny said the investigation is continuing.