A Wisconsin couple claims that Ashland County is responsible for the deaths of their horse and donkey after the animals were allegedly unlawfully seized.

In the complaint, filed Dec. 12, Patricia A. and Dwight R. Westmore allege their constitutional rights were violated in December 2013 when, acting on a tip, Ashland County animal control personnel searched the couple’s property without a warrant and examined their animals, including a mammoth donkey and several horses. County animal control personnel later seized and euthanized the donkey and without obtaining an appropriate warrant, the complaint alleges. The complaint further alleges that animal control personnel failed to get a warrant before seizing four horses from the property.

The complaint claims county officials refused to disclose the location of the horses, and “refused to tell plaintiffs about any type of procedures and hearings that plaintiffs could invoke to recover their four horses.”

The complaint also alleges that the couple later learned that a seized Arabian horse had died of malnutrition while in the county’s custody