Woman charged with animal cruelty after authorities locate five dead horses in Okanogan County

A woman was arrested Tuesday after authorities found five dead horses without food or water in Okanogan County.

Jennyfer Taylor, 39, was booked into the Okanogan County Jail on suspicion of five counts of first-degree animal cruelty, according to the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page.

The sheriff’s office received a complaint of animal abuse Jan. 18 in the northern part of the county, the post stated. Deputies accessed the remote property Friday with an ATV and found three dead horses.

People who lived at the property and owned the animals were not home at the time, the sheriff’s office said. Deputies made contact with the horse owner later but she stopped communications with investigators.

Deputies executed a search warrant Sunday at the property with the assistance of Fish and Wildlife officers, U.S. Border Patrol officers, an equine veterinarian and others, according to the social media post. Law enforcement located the occupants of the property at that time.

Authorities found four dead horses in a makeshift stable and a fifth dead horse was located next to the stables in deep snow, the sheriff’s office said. There was no food or water in the horses’ vicinity. The veterinarian believed the horses died because of starvation or dehydration.

Law enforcement located a sixth horse which was alive but underweight, the post said. N.O. Paws Left Behind Rescue, an animal shelter in Oroville, Washington, agreed to take the horse into its facility.