The ongoing animal cruelty case involving former Emporia State student Kristin Chambers will be coming to a close this December.

“We’ve been working on trying to get all the issues with the case resolved, but at this point in time there hasn’t been much finalized – it’s taken some time for the process to run its course with some of the nuts and bolts of trying to make sure the horses were cared for,” said Doug Witteman, Coffey County District Attorney.

Chambers’ attorney, Clark Allemang, said that the plea review date is set for Dec. 14 at the Coffey County Courthouse. Chambers has been charged with a one count misdemeanor for cruelty to animals, but Allemang said that Chambers has not pleaded to anything at this point.

According to court records, approximately 81 animals were seized fromWinding Road Equine Rescue and Retirement  after Chambers “unlawfully, willfully, and intentionally had physical custody of a herd of horses and failed to provide food and/or proper veterinary care as needed for the health and well-being of that kind of animal.”

Tom Johnson, a detective for the Coffey County Sheriff’s Office, confirmed that upon seizure some of the horses were euthanized.

“We had veterinarians from K-State here the day we served the search warrant and they laid hands on every animal there – those veterinarians felt that it was best to euthanize those animals due to their total body condition,” Johnson said.

Coffey County asked Karen Everhart, owner of Horse Calls LLC and director of Rainbow Meadows Equine Rescue and Retirement, to help in re-homing the horses so that they would not have to go on to sale.

“Our efforts re-homed 64 (horses), and we had 11 returned to the rescue (WRERR) as a part of a plea bargain,” Everhart said.

Johnson said that that the horses returned to Chambers’ custody continue to be monitored for proper treatment.

Everhart said that the animals suffered from malnutrition and “severe emaciation” when they were first seized.

“There were problems with injuries that had not been treated, hooves that were not being trimmed and literally had pathology that had not been addressed… rain rot, scratches in which bacterial or fungal infection was evident, and lack of proper dental care,” Everhart said.

However, Everhart said that of the 64 horses she was involved in, all have made either significant or complete recovery.

Everhart said that WRERR probably just had more animals than was manageable and there was most likely not any malicious intent, despite the fact that this happened at Winding Roads, that it should not be an indictment for notable successful rescues.

“I don’t think that it is appropriate to make an opinion since we were not there to see what was happening first hand, but I do think that if someone understands the human and financial resources necessary to take care of a horse and then they do the math, it doesn’t take very long to understand that they just ended up with too many horses considering the resources,” Everhart said.

Kenzie Templeton

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Kristin Chambers stands with one of the horses at her rescue in the fall of 2008. File Photo, Kellen Jenkins/The Bulletin.

Kristin Chambers, a former Emporia State student, faces charges of animal cruelty and neglect after the Coffey County Sheriff’s Department seized more than 80 horses, miniature horses and donkeys from her property on July 30.

A police report filed with the Coffey County Courthouse confirmed the seizure.

Karen Everhart, owner of Horse Calls LLC and director of Rainbow Meadows Equine Rescue and Retirement, is in charge of overseeing the placement of the horses from the rescue. She said at the moment, the police have placed the horses are in an undisclosed location near Burlington.

“The shape (of the horses) is across the board, we have some very, very emaciated horses, we have a number of thin horses and then we have some that are marginally acceptable, we don’t have any fat horses there at all,” Everhart said.

Everhart said the majority of the animals appeared to have little to no wellness care, little sign of grooming, and she is unsure if they’ve had their vaccinations.

“We have very sketchy details, we don’t know a lot about them, we have no idea about their training or their wellness status, but they certainly are deserving of a loving home,” Everhart said.

On Sept. 18, 2008, Chambers was featured in an article in The Bulletin called “Local horse rescue: A thrifty solution.” The article chronicled how Michael Soyez, a local businessman, donated one-fourth of the profits of his business, Winding Road Thrift Store, to Chambers’ Winding Road Equine Rescue and Retirement.

“WRERR is a public charity that rehabilitates horses that have been abused or neglected. They save horses from slaughter and often work with law enforcement in animal cruelty cases,” the article stated.

Chambers had worked with volunteers to care for over 50 neglected and abused horses at her farm located outside Waverly.WRERR had received national media attention in 2009 when Chambers rescued Clever Allemont, a champion thoroughbred, from slaughter.

Chambers did not return calls for comment by press time.

Everhart said she’s trying to find homes for the animals before the court orders that they are put up for public sale. She said that it is not certain, but possible that they could have to go up for sale in two weeks. Anyone interested in adopting the seized animals can go to Horse Calls’ website, www.horsecalls.com.

Liz Coffey

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