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Under the agreement approved by Judge Janet Booth, Argo and Sharon Clagett will get 25 horses back. The Clagetts have selected the 25 they want.
The horses have been cared for at private farms in Jessamine and Garrard counties since being seized March 26 and 27. The Clagetts, who have raised Tennessee walking horses, were charged with second-degree animal cruelty, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.
On Friday afternoon, the Clagetts took possession of eight horses on Dennis King's farm about five miles southeast of Nicholasville under the watchful eye of a Jessamine County deputy sheriff. The Clagetts had no comment on the court agreement reached between their attorney, David Thomas, and Jessamine County Attorney Brian Goettl.
The Clagetts hope to retrieve an additional 17 horses on Saturday and Sunday.
According to that agreement, a veterinarian and a county animal control officer will check on the condition of the 25 horses twice a month for three months, with monthly visits for nine months after that. The Clagetts will agree to follow the advice of the veterinarian regarding the need to sell or give away any number of these horses if they are unable to provide appropriate care. A veterinarian will produce progress reports on the horses' condition and care every three months during the next year.
The remaining 49 horses at the private farms will be surrendered to the Jessamine County government, which will arrange for adoption or other disposition. In the meantime, those horses will go to the Kentucky Equine Humane Center on Catnip Hill Road north of downtown Nicholasville. Lori Neagle, executive director of the center, said that facility will be able to take four or five horses at a time.
The 74 counts of second-degree animal cruelty against the Clagetts and Sharon Clagett's son, Charles Richard King, are to be dismissed in one year if they live up to the terms of the agreement.
Those terms include paying Jessamine County government $3,000 in restitution within the next 90 days. The county paid for the animals' care while they were held on private farms.
The Clagetts will be allowed to sell or give away any of the 25 they get, but they won't be allowed to breed the animals. The Clagetts also won't be able to sue anyone for any liability resulting from this case.
Thomas, the attorney who represents the Clagetts, said it is inappropriate for him to comment on the merits of a pending case.
The deal came under immediate criticism from Dennis King (no relation to Charles King), a Jessamine County farm owner who was temporarily taking care of nine of the seized horses.
"I think it's subsidized health care for equines," Dennis King said. "Because in effect, the county has put out at least $12,000 and they're going to get back $3,000 of it, so it cost the taxpayers to get 25 horses back in good shape and surrender the others."
Dr. Woodrow Friend, the Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital veterinarian who assisted in the determination that the horses were malnourished, also said he was disappointed that he wasn't consulted.
"I'm disappointed that the county attorney did not consult the expert witness on the case and let it go so lightly," Friend said. "I think it sets a precedent, basically saying to Jessamine County that if you mistreat your horses, that you can get away with it.
"Why give 25 head back?" Friend added. The veterinarian said the Clagetts "should have been made to pay for the care for all those horses they obviously didn't feed the first time."
Goettl said he discussed the proposed agreement with a couple of other prosecutors and "they thought this was a good resolution of the matter. My entire prosecution team was in agreement with this, but I made the decision."
Friend had estimated that it could cost $8,500 to $9,000 a month to feed and care for the seized animals. It could have taken months or years for the case to be resolved in court.
Jessamine County Judge-Executive Neal Cassity acknowledged that the county's growing cost to care for the horses was a factor in the court agreement.
"Sure it was," Cassity said. "It was the best thing for the horses and the best for us, too."
