A Collin County woman was arrested after officers found 12 dead horses and 24 dead dogs on her grandparents’ land.
The sheriff’s office visited a property in the unincorporated community of Westminster on August 1 after receiving a complaint about dead horses. When deputies arrived, they found dozens of animals “in advanced states of decomposition,” according to the Collin County Sheriff’s Office, per WFAA.
Rachel Ann Sword was arrested on August 4 and charged with animal cruelty. She is currently being held at Collin County Jail. Her bond was set at $85,000, according to jail records.
Sword’s elderly grandparents owned the property, and Sword lived in an RV on the side of the house.
“Investigators located several deceased horses on the property. The decay on the horses ranged from completely skeletonized to partially skeletonized with skin and fur, generally indicating the deaths were not recent,” reads an arrest warrant affidavit, Fox 4 KDFW reported.
Sword said her husband usually cared for the animals, but he died weeks earlier. She reportedly acknowledged to authorities that she knew it was her responsibility to feed and provide water for the animals since her husband’s death but blamed her inability to do so on depression.
In addition to the horses, deputies found two dozen dead dogs, some of which were left in cages without food or water, according to Fox 4.
Deanne Murillo, a former volunteer animal cruelty investigator, wants to ensure Sword is punished for her alleged crimes.
“It’s horrific. It’s unnecessary, and I’m so pissed,” she told Fox 4. “I would like to see her slapped as hard as possible through the law.”
The few animals found alive — two horses, a cow, a bearded dragon, a snake, and two frogs — are now reportedly being cared for by animal services.
Westminster is about an hour outside of Dallas, where there have been 153 criminal homicides as of August 5, according to a Dallas Police Department (DPD) report.
DPD has been understaffed for years. According to a City analysis, the department is short roughly 900 officers, falling under the 4,000 needed to adequately police the city.
The shortage has been felt in Downtown Dallas. The neighborhood sees considerably more crime than Fort Worth’s downtown area, which reportedly has a dedicated police unit working alongside private security guards.