Published: December 28, 2006 11:35 pm         

Suspect in case of animal abuse turns himself in

A Wakita man charged last week with seven felony and two misdemeanor crimes related to alleged abuse and neglect of mules and horses surrendered and was arraigned Thursday in Grant County District Court.

George Wesley Gilchrist, 43, was arraigned on seven felony counts of cruelty to animals and two misdemeanor counts of leaving a carcass in a well, spring, pond or stream. He also received applications to revoke and accelerate a suspended sentence.

Six malnourished horses were seized from Gilchrist’s property, about nine miles north and four miles west of Medford. A mule was euthanized at the site, and two of the horses seized have been euthanized since.

The four remaining horses that were seized are still thin but are putting on weight and are “past the critical stage,” Lahoma veterinarian Kristy Krueger said Thursday.

“The four we are still working on are doing great,” she said.

One horse had needed assistance to stand, she said, but has been able to stand on its own now for a week.

“We discovered and seized six horses that had hip, backbone and ribs significantly protruding from their body,” Grant Coun-ty Deputy Jeremy Biggs wrote in an affidavit. “The hors-es appeared to be in very poor and malnourished health conditions, and they were in (imminent) danger of death.”

Grant County Sheriff’s Office deputies found carcasses of about 34 domestic animals and a number of other decaying carcasses and bones, according to the affidavit.

The pasture where the animals were kept, “... had no grass or any kind of vegetation growing on the ground.”

Two mules were found dead in the animals’ only water source. Deputies also found two dead pigs and two other pig carcasses, according to the affidavit.

“We discovered one mule that was so sick and in pain it could not even stand up on its own feet in the pen with the other animals,” Biggs wrote in the affidavit.

There were about 63 other surviving donkeys, cattle, pigs and sheep on the farm that were not seized because they did not appear to be in immediate danger of dying, authorities said.

Judge Jack Hammontree set $1,000 bond for each felony, including the applications, and $500 for each misdemeanor.

Prosecutor Melissa Blanton said Gilchrist has a 2005 felony bogus check conviction and was about a year into his suspended sentence when the animal cruelty charges were filed.

Gilchrist had been given until Thursday to surrender and is free on $9,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court again Jan. 16 for a bond appearance.