Two people have been charged with animal cruelty after 27 horses starved to death and 100 others were seized from a ranch northeast of Edmonton.

Axel Hinz-Schleuter and Dale Huber, both of Andrew, Alta., where the property was located, were charged with 12 counts of allowing animals to be in distress and failure to provide duties of care under the Animal Protection Act, the Alberta Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said Wednesday.

The surviving horses have been transferred to a stable to recover.
(CBC)

If found guilty, they could be fined up to $20,000 and be banned from owning animals for a time period specified by a court.

On Feb. 26, peace officers from the Alberta SPCA seized 100 horses, 40 rabbits, 13 chickens, seven sheep and five goats from the property.

They also found the carcasses of 27 horses and several rabbits, chickens and ducks.

The surviving horses were turned over to Susan Fyfe, a breeder in Ardrossan, east of Edmonton, on Wednesday after she agreed to organize fundraising efforts and nurse the animals back to health. The Arabian horses are being monitored by a veterinarian.

"Some of them that have been underfed for some time will obviously need some specialized attention as to the quality and quantity of feed they receive," said Morris Airey, director of animal protection for the Alberta SPCA.

Airey said Hinz-Schleuter was convicted in 2005 under the Animal Protection Act and was fined $1,000, but the SPCA could not return to the property to check on the animals unless there was another complaint.

"Under our legislation, we do not have authority to go back onto property unless we have reasonable and probable grounds to believe that there's an animal in distress," Airey explained Wednesday.

The two accused have a court date in April.