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Onalaska horse pulled from mud hole getting evaluated

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The start of the rescue from the mud. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Fire District 1

Updated at 8:23 p.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – It took several individuals quite a bit of time to hoist a young horse from where it was found partially submerged in saturated ground in Onalaska yesterday.

“The horse was laying on its side, buried in thick mud and manure, and was shaking and shivering,” Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Cmdr. Dusty Breen said.

The 911 call about 1 p.m. to property along the 2500 block of state Route 508 came from a neighbor, Breen said. The owner had gone to a veterinarian to try to get help, he said, but they told her they couldn’t.

Breen this morning said he didn’t know how long the animal was stuck there that way.

A deputy who is assigned to work with county code enforcement responded.

Lewis County Fire District 1 Chief Andrew Martin said those present had made some sort of efforts to free the horse before asking the fire department for assistance.

He ended up summoning five more fire department volunteers.

They worked in mud that reached to the fire chief’s knees, using straps tied off to a post to ratchet the animal up, and slid boards beneath it. The operation wasn’t finished until about two and a half hours after the initial call, Martin said.

“A bystander named Chance jumped in to help,” he said, noting the good fortune to have someone he called a good animal wrangler present.

The horse is owned by a 44-year-old woman. Martin said he thought she was among those at the scene, but wasn’t sure.

They cleaned out quite a bit of mud from the one eye that had been facing downward and got it blankets, he said.

The animal had several abrasions and lacerations that neither Martin or Breen knew the cause of.

Cmdr. Breen this morning was waiting for an update on the horse’s condition. The owner’s vet and a vet from the state were both supposed to examine it today.

The sheriff’s office and code enforcers are investigating, according to Breen.

“The pen was mud, that’s the area that concerns us,” Breen said. “Under the RCW, if you fail to give proper living conditions, that can be an issue.”

There were a handful of other horses in another area nearby, on firmer ground, according to Breen.

Whether the situation involved any criminal issue or something else, Breen couldn’t say.

“We investigate a lot of issues,” he said. “There’s sometimes a fine line between people saying, ‘I wouldn’t treat my animal that way’ and the law being violated.”

Update from 7:46 p.m. from Lewis County Sheriff’s Office:

“This afternoon, Lewis County Sheriff’s deputies arrested horse owner, Jennifer Jenkins, of Onalaska for nine counts of Cruelty to Animals. Jenkins was booked into the LCSO Jail on the probable cause charges, while deputies served a search warrant at her property. Deputies along with LC Code Enforcement officers and a Washington State Veterinarian proceeded to rescue and remove nine horses from the property.”

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The horse stands up. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Fire District 1