RIVERVIEW, Fla. — Hillsborough County deputies have now charged a Riverview man was aggravated cruelty to animals after horses were found left to fend for themselves in a neighborhood backyard.
- 2 neglected horses found in backyard of Riverview home
- David Wayne Middleton faces several charges
- 1 horse dead when deputies arrived, another is being treated
The sheriff's office added a charge of aggravated cruelty to animals against David Middleton Saturday morning.
Neighbors alerted the Sheriff's Office that two neglected horses were in the backyard of David Wayne Middleton’s home.
"It's a 40x40 yard," said Danny Alvarez with the Sheriff's Office. "It's not really an agricultural area where we should normally see horses. And it looks like essentially he forgot about them somehow, someway."
When deputies went to the location, they say one of the horses was already dead. The other was terribly malnourished. That horse is now getting emergency care to get it healthy again as investigators try to figure how things got to this point.
The small backyard had no water, food, or shelter available for the horses.
David Wayne Middleton (Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office)
Neighbors said Middleton was having some financial problems and had the horses for several months after the price for keeping them at a stable tripled.
Several neighbors told deputies they had not seen the owner in weeks.
Deputies contacted Middleton, who responded to the scene.
He is also facing two counts of unlawful confinement or abandonment of an animal.