Johnston woman to be arraigned in connection with November seizure of neglected horses
A Johnston woman who's been the subject of numerous complaints about neglect at her Dallas County horse farm will soon be arraigned in an animal abuse case that will affect more than 20 other counts of livestock neglect against her.
The charges against Linda Kay Kilbourne, 78, came after the November removal of 46 horses from a property in rural Dallas County.
Investigators said in September there were holes in water troughs on the property, that pasture had been eaten down to dirt and that that the horses looked gaunt and underfed. After authorities executed a search warrant at the property in November, they removed all of the horses from Kilbourne’s care, according to court documents.
Kilbourne will be arraigned Jan. 18 in a case involving a horse with a serious neck injury that left it with an exposed spinal column. She has pleaded not guilty in connection with other livestock neglect counts, which also are awaiting review by the court.
Kilbourne, who lives in Johnston but owns River Bend Ranch in rural Granger, has been convicted previously for similar charges. She pleaded guilty in 2020 to five counts of failure to dispose of a dead animal, a simple misdemeanor, after a photo of dead horses on the farm went viral on Facebook.
Four of the charges are related to specific dead horses — one of them a colt and another that was partially burned — that a state inspector saw over the course of three visits to the property. The fifth charge related to “improper disposal for the bones of multiple, likely dozens, of horses that have died on the property over the years,” according to criminal complaints.
Complaints against Kilbourne continued in fall 2022, when Elaine Schellekens told Watchdog she counted 17 horses that had died on the horse ranch in the three years she worked for Kilbourne.
The animals, she said, weren’t getting enough food or vet care. Aggressive studs would attack young horses and breed freely with young mares, and several horses were injured by broken fences and other obstacles on Kilbourne's land, she said.
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Kelly Lorenzen, the owner of an equine therapy nonprofit in Dallas Center, also previously told the Des Moines Register she had attempted to help Kilbourne sell some of her horses, but Kilbourne raised the prices so high that potential buyers lost interest. She told the Dallas County Sheriff's Office the animals still in Kilbourne's care were being neglected.
The horses were placed in the care of the ARL after the rescue operation in November. A court-approved agreement between Dallas County and Kilbourne permitted ownership of eight of the horses to be transferred to a third party with the ownership of the remaining 37 horses transferred to the ARL.
The horses in the ARL’s care are recovering at the ARL’s Second Chance Ranch. They have gained weight and are healing from their injuries, according to the ARL. The horses are expected to be in the ARL’s care for weeks if not months, receiving farrier and dental care.
Lee Rood's Reader's Watchdog column helps Iowans get answers and accountability from public officials, the justice system, businesses and nonprofits. Reach her at lrood@registermedia.com, at 515-284-8549, on Twitter at @leerood or on Facebook at Facebook.com/readerswatchdog.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Arraignment scheduled for Johnston woman in horse neglect case
