Langley veterinarians charged with animal cruelty

Two veterinarians are each facing two animal cruelty charge linked to the discovery of six emaciated horses on the couple's Langley, B.C., farm.

Mark Marohn and his wife Carol Schoyen-Marohn were charged Wednesday under the Criminal Code of Canada and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, the BC SPCA said.

The couple is scheduled to appear in court in Surrey on Friday, and if convicted they face fines of up to $5,000, five years in jail and could also be prohibited from owning any animals.

A cruelty investigation began in December, 2008 after SPCA officials arrived at the suburban farm east of Vancouver to find a horse being used to pull a vehicle from a ditch.

The exhausted horse had to be euthanized at the scene. A second emaciated horse was found on the property, but died four days later, while four other horses have since been nursed back to health.

Schoyen-Marohn was the subject of a B.C. Veterinary Medical Association inquiry hearing after the starving horses were found, but the outcome of the inquiry is not yet known.

A similar inquiry could not be held in Marohn's case because his registration under the Veterinarians Act had already been suspended.