Rescued Maple Park horses find new homes, begin recovery; previous owner may face charges

A woman who relinquished 13 of 15 horses last month may face additional charges as state investigators forwarded their case to the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office.

The Illinois Department of Agriculture sent results of its investigation of Angela Beers’ care of the horses last week, a spokesman confirmed.

“The horses were malnourished, obviously,” said Jeff Squibb, agriculture department spokesman. “And we are continuing to monitor the horses still in Beers’ possession, the two horses she retains ownership on.”

“They have forwarded information to us, and we have asked them for additional information,” Kane County First Assistant State’s Attorney Jody Gleason said of the Department of Agriculture.

A 16th horse that was dead was necropsied at the University of Illinois to determine the cause of death, and that information was included in the department’s investigation, Squibb said.

Beers, 36, previously lived at Flanery Farms, in the 47W200 block of Ramm Road near Maple Park. The investigator issued a humane care violation against her in October, and she was ordered to have a vet examine the horses. Beers would not say where she is living now.

Beers said she gave up seven horses to adoption and the rest went back to their owners. She denied that she starved the horses.

“They were underfed,” Beers said. “It’s not like they were starving or emaciated. Times were tough, and money was short. ... I fell on hard times this past month, and the horses were being underfed. I’m not abusing the horses. They’re a little underweight. You can see their ribs. They’re not emaciated or dying in the stalls.”

In 2009, the agriculture department ordered Beers to get veterinary care for 15 horses while she was at a farm in Marengo, according to records from the state and McHenry County Animal Control.

According to a June 9, 2009, department of agriculture animal welfare report, three of 15 horses in Beers’ care had a body condition score of 1.5, and the others ranged from 2.5 to 4.

The health of horses is measured on the Henneke horse body condition scoring system, which determines how much fat a horse has on its body. A score of 2 means the horse is very thin, and a score of 1 is considered emaciated, according to the University of Maine Cooperative Extension website.

Beers said she eventually got the Marengo horses fed enough so that animal welfare officials approved. According to a follow-up agriculture department report dated Aug. 5, 2009, Beers’ Marengo horses “are in acceptable condition at this time.”

Beers attributed the Marengo horses’ poor condition to finances.

“I had an income loss this year and one in 2009,” Beers said.

Beers said she always has loved horses and is learning that if she cannot afford to feed them, she should not have too many.

“If I don’t have help and financial backing – if I can’t financially do it – I should not do it,” Beers said. “I never intended for any of that [underfeeding horses] to happen.”

While the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office is reviewing possible charges against Beers, the local horse rescue community is campaigning against her.

“It takes public pressure, and we don’t have a problem posting it,” said Gail Vacca, president of the Illinois Equine Humane Center in Big Rock.

Vacca has two of Beers’ horses at the Big Rock facility, King Cielo, which scored 1.5 on the Henneke scale and a filly named Bling, which scored a 2. King Cielo has gained 120 pounds, and the filly gained 100 pounds in four weeks, Vacca said. The stallion should have weighed 1,200 pounds, and the filly should have weighed 950 to 1,000 pounds.

“It takes a while to regulate their food intake and water because they don’t know when their next meal is coming,” Vacca said. “The filly’s growth is stunted from malnutrition.”

At Casey’s Safe Haven near Elburn, founder Sue Balla said the rescue group received a Beers horse, an 8-year-old thoroughbred mare named Ginger, that they renamed Lola. Balla said Lola should have weighed between 1,100 and 1,200 pounds, but when she arrived Nov. 28, the horse weighed 870 pounds.

“The vet that brought her in said she already had gained 50 pounds in the past week,” Balla said. “She was very thin and lethargic.”

Balla said it will be a five-month process to get Lola back to a normal weight.

Two veterinarians involved with the horses removed from Beers’ care did not return messages seeking comment.