Officials knew of animal neglect at farm 2 years ago

Animalwelfare officers in Manitoba say they were aware of concernsabout neglect at a dog and horse breedingfarm in Swan River for two years but could not act on them until this week.

"We finally had an opportunity to act on it according to our bylaws, and we had a chance to do that [this week]," Jeff Blythe, an animal protection officer in the Rural Municipality of Swan River, told CBC News Friday.

On Thursday, the RCMPannounced they had seized 44 emaciated animals, including horses, donkeys and dogs, from the property and arrested a68-year-old man. Hefaces charges under the province's Animal Care Act and is due to appear in court Jan. 5.

Blythe said officials could not enter the property earlier but declined to provide details about why they couldn't do so, saying that would compromise the investigation into the case.

A Winnipeg woman who bought a dog from thefacility told CBC News she flagged concerns to officials in 2008.

Susan Otto said she encountered disturbing conditions at the farm when shebought a dogthere and that she had to get an air freshener for her car because the dog smelled so bad.

She was so concerned she called Manitoba's provincial veterinarian's office and the Minister of Agriculture at the time,Rosann Wowchuk.

"I spoke to her on the phone, and she told me that she was going to go out there and look over the place," Otto said.

She said she followed up because it did not appear that anything had changed.

"So then, about a month later, I called again and, oh yeah, they're monitoring him," Otto said she was told. "Well, nothing was done. There's still dead horses in the pasture."

Otto said she was told Manitoba was working on strengthening its animalwelfare legislation.

"I reported this two years ago, and I phoned so many people, and they just got sick of me," Otto recalled.

She said the scenes in photos of the farm released by the RCMP Thursday were familiar to her.

"These pictures that I'm seeing now are what I saw then," Otto said.

Blythe said Manitoba's laws limited what he could do about the case.

"It was very frustrating," Blythe said. "You know what, it's just a matter of what you can and can't do pertaining to the law. I mean, I could only do what I could do."

Police said when they seized the animals, they were acting on a citizen's complaint about the farm made in late November.