Court order follows testimony of neglect, animal remains
We Care Wildlife Sanctuary has been ordered to surrender horses, pigs, cows and other animals to Bandera County following a civil judgment issued Tuesday afternoon by Justice of the Peace Gina Grothues.
Under Grothues’ order, animals on the sanctuary’s Lakehills property are to be removed, with exceptions for dogs, goats, one donkey, frogs and certain birds.
The order prohibits the sanctuary from receiving or caring for new animals for five years. Animals remaining on the property must be spayed or neutered, and the sanctuary is prohibited from operating a breeding program.
“We will not have a breeding program there,” Grothues said.
The order also requires animal carcasses remaining on the property to be properly buried or removed and allows supervision by Bandera County law enforcement for 10 years.
“It is a health and safety issue,” Grothues said of the carcass- removal requirement.
The ruling followed a two-day civil hearing Sept. 14-15 at the Bandera County Courthouse, where veterinarians, animal welfare professionals and county officials testified about conditions they said they observed at the property.
Bandera County Attorney Janna Lindig argued during closing statements that the conditions at We Care Wildlife Sanctuary met the definition of torture and cruel treatment under Texas law.
“We saw dead monkeys, extremely emaciated horses, tortoises with lack of cover and muscle,” Lindig said. “They were unreasonably deprived of food, water and care.”
The hearing came 10 days after Bandera County authorities executed a search and seizure warrant at the sanctuary Sept. 4. More than 100 living animals were seized and transported to secure locations for evaluation and treatment.
Grothues said the civil proceeding was required under Texas law to determine what would happen to the animals following their seizure.
“This is a civil hearing; it’s only about what happens to the animals,” Grothues said Tuesday. “This is not criminal or punitive. That is all that is in my power. There will be another day for other issues.”
Witnesses during the hearing described what they characterized as inadequate food and water, unsafe enclosures, poor animal care and animal remains throughout the property.
Cesar Perea, associate vice president of the rescue division of the American Humane Society, testified about conditions he observed while assisting with execution of the warrant.
Perea said the animals were not receiving what he described as basic husbandry, food, water and veterinary care. He also testified that bones and animal remains were found in areas where living animals were housed.
David Fuentes, an animal rescue responder with the American Humane Society, also testified about skeletal remains found throughout the property.
“Every single pen had these types of skeletal remains inside where the [live] animals were penned,” Fuentes said.
Perea estimated that between 15 and 20 animal bodies were found throughout the property in various stages of decomposition.
Photographs and other exhibits presented during the hearing included what witnesses identified as a deceased monkey in a freezer, another unidentified dead and decomposed animal in a freezer, a dead horse, a dead pig and skeletal remains throughout the property.
The court also was shown remains in empty water troughs, a pile of bones on a tarp in a shed and a burn pit containing skeletal remains in an area with living animals.
Fuentes described enclosures with little or no food and what he characterized as minimal or brackish water.
In one enclosure, Fuentes testified, the remains of a hog were found inside a small shed where living cows and goats were housed.
He also described bone fragments in various stages of decomposition scattered across the property.
Photographs showed horse pens with water troughs containing little or no water, burned skeletal remains in areas where living animals were housed and fences and gates that had fallen down or contained sharp metal edges.
Fuentes also testified about piles of feces, turtle shells scattered in horse pens, empty food bins and medications he described as significantly out of date.
In another area, he testified that a decomposing horse carcass was found beneath a tarp. Other testimony described a carcass so badly decomposed it could not be moved intact, as well as containers filled with the shells of dead turtles and tortoises.
Perea testified that one photograph showed a dog eating the remains of a dead foal.
He also described a shed containing a large tarp piled with bones and another area where bones were scattered throughout a field.
Perea testified that live birds were housed alongside a decomposing bird.
Witnesses also testified about animals they said were in poor physical condition or had injuries that had gone without appropriate medical treatment.
Animals examined as part of the Sept. 4 warrant were assigned Body Condition Scores on a scale of 1 to 9, with 9 representing the healthiest condition. Animals with scores of 4 or below were seized during the warrant execution.
Grothues’ order requires the removal of all animals covered by the order regardless of their body condition score, with the previously listed exceptions.
Testimony detailed the condition of horses, chickens, cows, pigs, turtles, tortoises, birds and other animals. Witnesses said numerous animals scored 4 or below and described some as extremely thin or in poor physical condition.
Photographs also showed damaged or broken fencing and gates, empty food containers and what witnesses described as contaminated water and moldy food.
Witnesses described dead or dying trees on the property and testified that horses and other animals appeared to have eaten bark from trees when viable food was unavailable.
The testimony and photographs prompted emotional reactions from people in the courtroom, with members of the gallery audibly reacting as evidence was presented.
Lindig told the court the county has authority to protect animals from cruelty and hold owners responsible for their care.
She also said the county can seek reimbursement for costs associated with the investigation and care of the seized animals, including transportation, professional evaluations, medication, food and housing.
Those costs had approached $20,000 at the time of the hearing, according to testimony.
Representatives of We Care Wildlife Sanctuary were not present Tuesday when the ruling was issued, although they were present Monday and participated in the proceedings by presenting questions to witnesses.
Sanctuary owner Armando Mendez has 10 days to appeal the ruling.
If an appeal is filed, the case will proceed further in court. If no appeal is filed, the court’s order will remain in effect.
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