Dead Bodies Of Starved Horses, Dog Found On North Carolina Property

Police launched an investigation after a dog and 21 horses were found dead on an abandoned plot in Wake County, North Carolina, on Friday.

According to local reports, police took a "person of interest" into custody in connection with the case but further details were unavailable.

Gwen Roberts, who runs Horses for Hope, a horseback riding service, just a few blocks away from the property where the horses were found dead, said she received a call from a woman who suspected there might be animals in trouble there. The two then walked through the woods to reach the property where they found dead animals.

"When I walked back there and went around the corner, it was just horrifying ... they were all dead. It was just bad. It was really bad. They didn't have to die. All they had to do is ask for help. It's really sad,” Gwen said, ABC 7 reported.

Lisa Howard, president of the board of directors for Horses for Hope, said, "Can you imagine any one of those just ignoring them just letting them stand in their pen just letting them die? I just think about that.”

“She (Gwen) walked over there expecting to see live horses and just walked in on those 20 horses and their small pens and some of them were lying on top of others. It’s beyond what I think any of us can imagine," she added, NBC/CW+-affiliated television station WWLP reported.

Tony Roberts, a volunteer with Horses for Hope, said the horses died of thirst and it looked like one of them had tried to get out of the pen in order to get some water.

"That’s a whole herd of horses just starved and thirsty to death for no reason at all and we’re half a mile from them. All they had to do was say, ‘Hey were in over our heads,’ and we’d be glad to help them out," Tony said.

"God help ya, cause you need it,” Tony said. “I mean really what else do you say to somebody who does something like that."

Eric Curry of the Wake County Sheriff's Office said they found one dog alive in the same cage as the dead dog, however, it was also in a bad condition. He added animal-control officers removed the dead animals by Friday evening and that an animal cruelty investigation was ongoing.

"As an animal owner myself, it is quite disturbing for any animal to have to suffer, like these animals, we assume, did," Curry said.

There were no details regarding the owner of the property.