A Connecticut couple is facing multiple animal cruelty charges in connection with the seizure of more than 30 horses from their breeding farm last month.

Last fall, an East Hampton, Connecticut, animal control officer responded to a complaint from an owner who’d leased four horses to Thomas and Melanie Olajos, breeders of Friesian, Andalusian, and Gypsy Vanner horses at the Fairy Tail Equine Facility. The complainant said the horses were emaciated when she retrieved them. A veterinarian later diagnosed those horses with malnutrition and parasite infestation. 

Connecticut Department of Agricultural (CT DoAG) animal control officers subsequently visited the farm and found no hay or grain available to the horses. According to their assessment, nearly half the horses on the property were underweight displaying signs of malnutrition, including muscle wasting, protruding hip bones, and visible ribs and spines. Owner Thomas Olajos was subsequently instructed to provide the animals with hay and clean water and to obtain professional veterinary and farrier services for the animals. In December, inspectors found the horses did not have access to food or water and that Olajos admitted he hadn’t followed inspectors’ instructions or those of a veterinarian he’d hired to assess the horses.  

On Feb. 2, CT DoAG seized 32 horses from Fairy Tail Equine Facility. They also removed more than 80 chickens, two dogs, and several rabbits from the farm