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Court: Man accused of neglecting animals will have to pay almost $10K

Court: Man accused of neglecting animals will have to pay almost $10K
Posted at 2:58 PM, Mar 29, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-09 16:57:02-04

Three people were arrested on Thursday after the McLennan County Sheriff's Office seized 42 malnourished animals near China Spring last week. 

The McLennan County Sheriff's Office said Trentin Bolden who is the owner of the property where the animals were found was arrested on four cruelty to livestock charges.

His girlfriend, Keirstin Perkins and his mother Gina Bolden were also arrested. 

On Monday, April 9, a judge said that Bolden had grossly neglected 28 head of horses, seven bottle calves and five head of cattle. The court ordered that Bolden pay the housing and care of the animals, totaling $9,460, as well as any "public sale ordered by the court." The McLennan County Sheriff's Office will conduct an auction for the animals after ownership is determined. 

According to a complaint, deputies made contact with Gina Bolden mother of Trenton Bolden. Gina showed the deputies around the property. Deputies were able to see numerous malnourished animals, underweight and dehydrated. 

The complaint said the animals were kept in a small pasture of one acre of land for over 20 animals with 1 bale of hay and no grass. They also said there were two water troughs - one was empty, and the other had 2-3 inches of water.

Perkins was arrested and booked into jail on one charge of animal cruelty and Gina Bolden was arrested for making a false statement to an officer.

McLennan County Sheriff's Office said they were preparing to seize at least 28 horses and 14 cattle that are malnourished last week near China Spring. 

The animals are being seized off of a property at 2414 Bend of the Bosque Rd. 

The sheriff's office said they have found 4 dead calves and 4 dead horses. On Monday, April 2, two more animals seized died. 

The animals were found after about 20 animals broke out and were in a neighbor's pasture. 

About three cattle trailers arrived at the property to seize the animals. 

A red horse had its hips and ribs showing large open wounds on its right front leg at the knee. 

A Yellow Palamino Overo Colt horse also had its hips and ribs showing very thin and underweight and cut on the lower left leg. The owner of the horse said she did not leave the horse in that condition and had paid and left food for the horse. 

A smaller black/ dark brown horse also had its hips and ribs showing very thin and underweight. 

A young man on the property disagreed with the seizure saying the animals are well fed. He also disputed the sheriff's office head count on the number of cattle. He said there were only four on the property.

According to the McLennan County Sheriff's Office, several people have come forward to claim animals seized on the property were there for training and did not belong to the person who owned the property. 

An affidavit obtained Monday said that officials had received a cruelty to animals crime report on March 23. The affidavit said that there were two dead horses on the property and one of them being a burn pile. The affidavit said the crime report said that there were several horses on the property with "some being emaciated with ribs and hip bones protruding." 

The affidavit said that on March 29, 24 horses were in a pasture on 17253 China Spring Road. The owner of that property called to say that horses were on the property and belonged to the property on Bend of the Bosque Road. The affidavit said that the owner of the property, identified as Trenton Bolden, allowed officials to walk around the property, where they observed emaciated animals. 

No other details were released. 

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