More than 200 allegedly maltreated horses are in the custody of Texas law enforcement authorities after being removed from a holding pen in Presido.

Marge Hughes, assistant to Presido County Judge Paul Hunt, said that on Aug. 9, Presido County Sheriff Danny Dominguez removed the horses from a holding pen located near the Texas/Mexico border. The horses were awaiting transport to a processing plant in Mexico, Hughes said.

Hughes said that the seizure stemmed from a complaint filed by equine welfare advocate Ray Fields, executive director of the Wild Horse Foundation (WHF), against an employee of the C4 Cattle Company.

"The (employee) is accused to mistreating the horses; starving them, not giving them water and exposing them to the sun," Hughes said