STARK COUNTY, Ohio – Police are investigating an extreme case of animal abuse in Stark County.
On Saturday, Hartville Police found two boer goats and a llama locked in a barn, said Cindy Huntsman of Massillon.
“When I first saw the female goat, I wanted to puke because she was, she was that bad. She couldn’t stand up on her own,” she said. “When we moved her from one stall to another, still, two days later, we had to carry her. She was too weak to even walk.”
Huntsman said she was called as a last-ditch effort.
The animals appeared to have been abandoned for months, with no food and covered in their own waste. Huntsman said the two male animals were trying to breed the female, and she was dying from malnutrition.
“When we first got her here, her sides were sunk in so bad that they were touching inside,” Huntsman said. ”I mean, it was awful,”
Huntsman is now rehabilitating the animals at Stump Hill Farm in Massillon. The exotic animal farm has been a part of the community for more than 30 years. It houses more than 200 animals, many that have been abused.
A veterinarian says it’ll take at least six months to get the goats and llama back to a normal weight. They’re also being quarantined to prevent a spread of illness.
On Friday, Huntsman recruited Mike Bagley to help the animals get a fresh start: by getting their hooves trimmed.
Bagley is a blacksmith an says the animals were discomforted by their hooves, which were also infected.
“I could see they were overgrown,” Bagley said. “I could see they haven’t received any attention in quite a while. Well, it’s always sad to hear something like that. There’s always someone willing to help the animals out.”
Huntsman said she’s happy to be that person, giving the animals a second chance at life.
“Abandoning an animal is a death sentence,” she said. “These animals weren’t abandoned just for weeks. It’s been months for them to get to this condition, and there’s no call for it.”
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