N. Webster man arrested during summer on charges
Vickie Welborn
KTBS 3 News
A Webster Parish man charged this summer with animal cruelty after starving and neglected horses were found on his property has been convicted of one count of animal cruelty.
Charles Blanks, 33, was found guilty Wednesday in Springhill City Court. He’ll return in two weeks for sentencing.
Blanks has 24 hours to surrender any other animals he has in his possession.
The charge is a misdemeanor. A felony would have been preferred by animal rescuers who took care of the horses after they were seized.
“But we will take what we can get. I find it a step in the right direction for all animals,” Lumberjack Rescue’s Michelle Lewis said.
Blanks was charged in June after Cullen police seized five horses from his property in Cullen. Two died despite efforts to save them.
Lumberjack Rescue took possession of the remaining horses.
It was not Blanks’ first time to be charged with animal cruelty. He was charged in 2015, but the case was dismissed.