Horse-owning sisters found guilty of mistreatment

Two women have been found guilty of mistreating horses and weresentenced Fridayin western New Brunswick.

Sisters Beverly and Sandra Tomalin were charged with failing to provide adequate food and shelter and veterinary care.

The women weregiven an$1,800 fine andare prohibited for10 years from owningany kind of animal.

They were not given any probation, because Judge Paul Duffie said the SPCA has the right to go on their property at any time.

They have 30 days to appeal.

"It's rotten," Beverly Tomalin told CBC News. She said she intends to appeal the case.

The Crown had asked for a $6,000 fine, a 10-year ban on owning any animals and two years probation.

Duffie said that $6,000 would've been too harsh a penalty given that the the sisters live on a fixed income.

The defencehad wanted the fine somewhere in the range of$600 to $1,000, the banto be two to three years and apply to horses only, and said that probation was not necessary.

Duffie said he chose the 10-year ban becausestatements made bySandra Tomalin as recently as Fridaylead him to believe that she does not understand the seriousness of the condition these animals were in.

In fact, she told the court before the sentence was delivered that she had never neglected a horse in her life.

Thirty-eight horses were seized from the Tomalinfarm in Tilley in July of last year after an animal protection officer received two complaints about the care of the animals. There were 23 adult horses and 15 foals on the farm.

Animal protection officer Lindsay Bishoptestified this spring that she made three trips to the farm in 2010 and at the time, the horseslooked thin.

During a followup visit, the SPCA found two partially buried carcasses and one dead newborn horse. By that time, Bishop testified, the horses had grown extremely thin.

The SPCA returned on July 13, 2010 with the RCMP and a warrant to seize the animals.