________________________________________ _______________More than a dozen horses are the subject of a Pierce County Animal Control Department investigation for abuse and neglect in the Summit-Waller area of unincorporated Pierce County, Washington.Four years of complaints to the department and various other County and State agencies culminated in a site inspection on December 31st which resulted in the removal of two horses. One was a weak, malnourished colt with deformed legs, the other a stallion with an infected, bleeding penis.Twelve horses, owned by Donna, Lisa and Roxanne Gale of Tacoma, remain in small pens without proper shelter, standing in years' accumulation of mud and feces. Lacking food and water, the horses have resorted to eating their own feces.Despite having observed these conditions, one veterinarian declined to state that the horses were enduring pain and suffering, a requirement for further action by the department.The Pierce County Animal Control Department was transferred from the Humane Society to the Sheriff's Department to the Auditors Office over the last few years.Citizen volunteers remain ready to provide foster care and medical attention for the horses, pending the outcome of the current investigation.________________________________________ _______________

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