A Brevard County man is facing animal cruelty charges, accused of starving a horse to death and neglecting two others in his care.
Zaid Ali, 36, was charged with three counts of animal cruelty and aggravated animal cruelty.
Shirl Cheetham drives by the Dairy Road property each day headed for work.
In late January, she could see horses in the pasture that appeared to be very malnourished.
"At first we thought they were rescues,” Cheetham said. “But we kept driving by and never saw any hay thrown out there. They were pitiful."
Several others, including Cheetham, called the abuse into Animal Services, and even started an online petition for something to be done.
That got the ball rolling with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Animal Cruelty Unit, who brought in a local veterinarian with equine experience.
"In my own words, the horses were in pitiful shape," said Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey.
One horse named Sammy was extremely malnourished.
The vet didn't want to risk taking the horse away from the property, due to his poor condition, and moved him to a stable away from the other horses.
"One of the concerns was that there was so little feed and hay for the horses, that the other horses were actually bullying Sammy and taking his feed from him," Ivey said.
But once Sammy did eat, the vet determined he couldn't handle the food due to his condition. The decision then was made to euthanize him.
The sheriff said Ali was given specific instructions to follow to begin properly caring for the horses.
"In my opinion, the individual showed little to no remorse and was actually very defensive,” Ivey said.
When Ali didn't comply, deputies arrested him and worked with the county attorney to take the other three horses off the property.
"It's just a shame for Sammy. She could have been saved,” Cheetham said.
The three other horses are once again healthy, in foster care and ready for adoption.