Nearly 400 animals rescued from Iowa farm, owners arrested for neglect
A call to the Animal Rescue League of Iowa to help remove several farm animals from a Marshalltown farm turned into the rescue of more than 350 animals.
The Marshall County Sheriff's Office responded to a call of a horse struggling to stand up the morning of Thursday, Sept. 24, at a rural farm east of Marshalltown, according to a news release from the sheriff's office.
Upon arrival, deputies found the horse to be tangled on brush, laying on its side for hours, and severely malnourished, the release said. Deputies conducted a search warrant later that morning after seeing poor conditions at the farm.
The animals rescued included 342 chickens, 18 sheep, six pigs, five goats, two rabbits, two geese, two kittens, one horse, and one duck. That's 379 animals that were taken into the care of the ARL, the organization announced on Friday, Sept. 25.
"There were many animals extremely thin and in visibly poor health, all subjected to horrendously filthy and unsanitary conditions. No animal should be subjected to that kind of cruelty," ARL CEO Tom Colvin said in a statement to the Register.
Most of the animals were found to be emaciated, without food or water. Leaves and the bark on trees were stripped by animals as one of the only sources of food available, the release said.
Pigs were in a "cubicle-sized shed in pitch blackness in at least four inches of feeds and mud," according to the release.
Seven chickens were euthanized, as well as a separate, injured horse, according to the sheriff's office release.
"It was heartbreaking," the release said. "We didn't know when they had last seen daylight."
The two owners of the animals, Pedro Garcia-Alvarez, 46, and Millie Moreno-Garcia, 55, both of Marshalltown, were arrested on Monday, Sept. 28, and charged with livestock neglect causing injury or death and failure to provide adequate livestock care, both serious misdemeanors.
Kyle Werner is the breaking news and public safety reporter for the Register. Reach him at kwerner@registermedia.com.
