When Town Hall, of Pocatello, was cited for animal cruelty involving the treatment of a large herd of horses in southern Bannock County, a lot of neighbors thought it was high time. When he received nothing more than a $637.50 fine and was placed on probation for one year this month after pleading guilty to one count of animal cruelty, they became cynical.
“It looks like he’s feeding them,” said Mary Weaver, a resident in the Downey area
of Bannock County who drives past the Hall herd nearly every day. “But there are still issues.”
Weaver said water troughs remain frozen over for long periods of time and she’s not sure how long the animals will continue to get adequate feed. Past experience has her skeptical.
“What I’m seeing out here is the same thing I’ve seen in the past,” Weaver said.
The county resident said it took several years and numerous complaints about the treatment of Hall’s horses to get any action from authorities.
Some residents went so far as to post photos on Facebook pages and write hard descriptions of the situation with the horse herd that Hall was keeping on land off Tool Road. Included in those descriptions was a pile of horse bones from all the animals who died on the property.
“There was a year when I couldn’t even drive down Tool Road,” Weaver said about the emotion that would well up inside her when she saw horses with 3 to 6 inches of backbone pocking against their hides because of starvation.
She said everyone in the area is keeping an eye on Hall’s horses now that he’s been placed on probation with a condition that he adequately care for the animals.
Bannock County Sheriff Lorin Nielsen said his department will be keeping an eye on the herd for signs of neglect.
“We’ll continue to monitor and we’ll follow up on any citizen complaints as well,” Nielsen said. “We’ll do everything we legally can.”
The sheriff said county law enforcement does face an uphill battle on policing animal abuse because the county is large and there is no specific animal control deputy.
“But we certainly do monitor cruelty and we know it when we see it,” Nielsen said. “We will definitely monitor this.”
When asked if the county commissioners had tried to influence enforcement in the Hall case, Nielsen said that was absolutely untrue.
“In my 17 years in the sheriff’s office, we have never had interference from the commissioners,” the sheriff said.
He added if anyone has evidence or suspicions about animal cruelty in the county, they should contact his office.
(6) comments
Town Halls horses were out on Tool Road this past week. 12/27/12. The horses across from Flags are being fed but NOT the 200 on Tool Road. That's why they are starting to break out. They got into the neighbors hay stack and the Sheriff's Deputy asked "Did you do the Neighborly thing and call Mr Hall and tell him his horses are out?" ARE YOU KIDDING ME??????? Everyone has been watching this abuse for Years and trying to deal with him. Where's this Officer Been?
Probation ?!!! Really !!! $637.50 fine REALLY !!! How many horses have to die ??? A terrible slow death... Our state does not allow dog fighting or chicken fighting but it's OK to starve countless horses. There are far too many horse's being neglected in Idaho & I think Bannock County surely has the lion's share of the worst offenders. How sad for us when the Horse has been such a big part of our Heritage in the West . I also believe we need a legal way to dispose of older, sick & crippled horses. I understand how hard it could be to feed & take care of too many horses or too many of any kind of animals. But there is no excuse for animal abuse of any kind. I also think our county officials should get involved in this & do what they can to stop every kind of animal abuse. Most importantly we all have to take part in stopping animal abuse.
in regards to the man town hall, excuse me, he is not a man but a coward/hoarder/horse abuser, i also own horses and they certainly aren't dropping dead due to lack of hay, not straw, and water.i too have been watching him for many years and nothing changes. i know people have tried but in idaho, not much you can do to stop cowards like this until it becomes a felony and not a worthless misdemeanor. our only hope is that enough public outcry pressures him to stop. but i doubt that will happen. what really breaks my heart is starvation is a slow painful death, doesn't happen overnight, but many long painfull weeks. when this coward/animal abuser passes away, i can only hope he is met on the other side by long term suffering that he has caused these helpless horses. please, anyone that loves animals, call law enforcement, the press, etc. let's at least make him squirm a little!
Go to KTVB.com and read about Town Hall, the years of abuse and neglect. The piles of carcasses and bones. The continuing starvation and lack of water. The multitude of complaints and plea bargains. How sad
It must be frustrating for Bannok county police to keep trying to sighting the man, then all he gets is probation. Especially frustrating when a similar case, a few years prior, gave the defendant 3 years in prison with a provision to not have studs on her property. It has to be difficult to enforce a law that is prosecuted inconsistently.
I worry about the horses in the field up by the Bannock county Fairgrounds. They are in that field year round with no shelter from the weather. I had thought about calling S.P.C.A. I still might.
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