A Georgia couple has been sentenced to serve probation and pay fines in connection with charges that they maltreated 41 horses on their Thomas County farm.

In October, volunteers from the Dancing Cloud Farm Horse Rescue, Inc., and the Georgia Rescue League began feeding the animals residing on a roughly 3-acre Ochlocknee, Ga. property without access to adequate feed and water resources. On Nov. 1, acting on a warrant obtained by the Thomas County Sheriff’s Department, Dancing Cloud Farm and Georgia Rescue League volunteers removed the animals from the property. The horses were then placed in protective custody at Dancing Cloud Farm for rehabilitative treatment.

The horses’ owners, Cecil Lewis Walker and Kathleen Walker were each later charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty. State Court Clerk David Hutchins said that both Cecil and Kathleen Walker later pleaded no contest to the charges.

On Dec. 1, the Walkers were each sentenced to serve 8 months probation and pay $250 in combined fines, Hutchins said. The pair was also ordered to surrender the animals to the Thomas County Sheriff’s Department