Couple Get Prison Terms for Cruelty to Horses
Two people found guilty of felony animal cruelty have been sentenced to prison.
Neglect in the treatment of five horses led Fresno County Superior Court Judge Robert Oliver to sentence Phillip Black, 46, to two years and his wife, Mary, 53, to 16 months.
Graphic descriptions of the condition of the horses when they were found in April contributed to the convictions. Two dead horses were found in a corral while three others were sick, starving and blinded by infected eyelids, authorities said.
Still, the owners rode one, “skin and bones stumbling down the street, and it was in agony with every step,” said prosecutor Kathy Marousek. The surviving animals were taken from the owners. One died six weeks later. The other two recovered.
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