Southeast Texan faces many animal cruelty charges
Investigators find five dead equine among 19 starving ones

By LYNN MONTGOMERY | East Texas Edition

Oct. 20, 2005 - A Plantersville man was arrested on one felony and 24 misdemeanor animal abuse charges on Oct. 10, after Grimes County deputies found five dead animals and 19 horses and donkeys left to die on property he leased.

Grimes County is in southeastern Texas.

Grimes County Deputy Martha Ramirez was dispatched on Sept. 27 to a mostly-wooded, 52-acre pasture in southeastern Grimes County, after neighbors reported a fowl odor. At the property, near the end of a dead-end rural road, Ramirez encountered several dead horses along with other equine that had no food or water.

Following the investigation and seizure hearing, police arrested Jason Wenzel, 29. Wenzel faces 24 Class A misdemeanor charges for the 24 animals found on the property he leased (five dead equine, and 19 live equine). He also faces one felony cruelty to animals charge due to the investigation showing one dead equine on the property had been tied by his hind legs and the rope was tied to a tree.

The living animals were seized on Sept. 30 and awarded to the Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society where they will be taken care of until they are ready to be adopted.

Grimes County Sheriff Don Sowell noted volunteers came from various cities, including Navasota, Dayton, Caldwell, Tomball, and Houston, to recover the animals, all in poor condition. 

�There is no sense in it,� stated Sheriff Don Sowell. �The horses were in several stages of animal carcasses.�

The only horse Wenzel was allowed to keep was a Mustang that “we were unable to capture,” the sheriff said.

Wenzel was freed from custody after posting a $27,000 bond on Monday, Oct. 10. 

If convicted, the state felony charge can carry more than two years behind bars and a $10,000 fine. The misdemeanor charges carry a year behind bars and a $1,000 fine for each count.