MOORPARK : Man Gets 90 Days for Cruelty to Horses

A Moorpark man convicted of nearly starving his two horses to death was sentenced Friday to 90 days in jail and stripped of ownership of the geldings.

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Charles W. Campbell Jr. also placed Stephen Michael Ney, 49, on five years’ probation.

The horses were seized Oct. 21 by the Ventura County Humane Society, after authorities found them nearly starved to death in their Newbury Park pasture, prosecutors said.

The horses--a thoroughbred and a Hanoverian--were each about 350 pounds underweight, authorities said. A Superior Court jury convicted Ney of two counts of felony animal cruelty and two misdemeanor counts of not providing the horses with food or water.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard E. Simon recommended a sentence of eight months in prison for Ney, who has also been charged with fraud for running up $8,000 worth of purchases on a neighbor’s credit card, Simon said.

But Deputy Public Defender Michael J. Neary asked the judge to show leniency in sentencing Ney. Neary maintained that the defendant had fed the horses before they were seized.

“The theory that he intentionally starved the horses and was cruel to them is rational only if he bought the feed and flushed it down the toilet,” Neary said.