A Solano County horse owner is under fire after their animals appeared to be suffering and malnourished.
NBC Bay Area has learned two of those died this week and an animal cruelty investigation is underway.
"There’s basic care that every animal deserves, and I don’t see them getting it," neighbor Becca Hintz said. "It breaks my heart."
Hintz said she is sickened by how the horses that live in the pasture near her home are being treated. She called animal control on Wednesday after discovering two horses down -- one dead in the field and the other so skinny, it could not stand up.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
"She was laying down and she couldn’t get back up," Hintz said. "And she’s completely emaciated. No meat on her at all."
Solano County Animal Control got a warrant to go onto the property with a veterinarian, but the mare was too sick to save.
"I tried to give her some love, so she would know she mattered, and they euthanized her," Hintz said. "I told her, her life mattered."
Animal Control confirms it has opened a criminal animal cruelty investigation. An officer said the owners have been given 48 hours to get a vet-approved care plan.
Hintz said the horses’ owner leases the pasture and rarely comes to feed them.
"Basic care is not being done. They don’t have water to drink. They don’t have food to eat. The pastures not being maintained so it provides nutritional content for them to consume," Hintz said. "They’re not getting basic vet care. None of this is being done from what I can see."
Hintz said several of the mares appear to be pregnant, adding they have babies every year.
Several people on Friday morning were in the pasture trying to round up the horses. One appeared too weak to run. A woman chased several animals out of a pen, forcing one of them to jump through a fence to get away.
The people declined to talk or provide comment, but they loaded two of the animals in a trailer before driving away.
Late Friday, 13 horses remained in the pasture, including one dead one.
"There are vultures eating one of their mates," Hintz said. "There are bones scattered across the pasture that you can see. It’s not how it should be."
