GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A mother and daughter are being credited with helping rescue 15 horses that police say were neglected for months.
Channel 2′s Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson learned those horses were found without adequate food or water.
When a call went out about horses that may need some help, a mother and daughter answered the call and left the property determined to make sure all 15 horses could be rescued.
Fifteen-year-old Shayla Hilderbrant and her mother Michelle Hilderbrant knew they had to do something when they heard about starving horses not far from where they live.
“They’re horses, why should they be treated that way,” Shayla Hilderbrant asked.
They showed up at the house on Ewing Chapel Road near New Hope Road in Gwinnett County Monday and took pictures of 15 horses, including two pregnant ones.
“They were just really skinny,” Shayla Hilderbrant said.
They called animal control when they said they felt the horses were being neglected.
“Plastic all over the enclosure. No grass. No water,” Michelle Hilderbrant said.
Neighbors told Johnson that animal control has visited the property over the years because of complaints.
“Neighbors didn’t seem to think that there was going to be much done about it again,” Michelle Hilderbrant explained.
This time, the mother and daughter duo called animal control themselves and posted photos on social media.
“I’ve seen a huge outpouring response from the community,” Michelle Hilderbrant said.
By Tuesday, animal control investigators showed up at the property and arrested 68-year-old Sheila Leveritt.
She faces 15 misdemeanor counts of animal abuse and is out on bond.
“What I heard from animal control is that they hadn’t seen it this bad,” the mother said.
Rescue Group “Save the Horses” and others are working to re-home the horses and nurse them back to good health.
Shayla Hilderbrant hopes to one day save horses for a living. For now, saving these horses means the world to her.
“Now that they’re safe, it just makes me feel great,” the 15-year-old said.
Police say the owner inherited the horses but neglected to take care of them.
Leveritt has surrendered her horses so rescue groups can help re-home them.