3 more horses claimed by crash

Three more horses were euthanized Monday, bringing the total number of dead animals to 16 following Saturday's rollover crash involving a double-decker semitrailer truck.

Meanwhile, local, state and federal officials began their investigations, which could lead to additional charges against the driver of the truck. And animal rights activists are hoping the crash raises awareness about -- and possibly leads to the regulation of -- how the animals are transported.

The remaining 43 draft horses are being housed at Carney Farm in Wadsworth until authorities finish their investigation.

"The vast majority are eating, drinking and acting like a herd of horses," said Leslie Szalla, a veterinarian with Bristol Veterinary Service in Union Grove, Wis. "It really is amazing how resilient they are."

The three animals that were euthanized Monday had severe joint injuries, Szalla said.

Lake County sheriff's Sgt. Craig Gregory said the horses belong to a Minnesota-based breeder.

Gregory said owners are cooperating with authorities. He wouldn't release the breeder's name, saying it could jeopardize the investigation.

The animals were being transported from an auction in Indiana to an auction in Minnesota Saturday night when the driver ran a red light on Route 41 near Wadsworth. The truck struck a pickup truck and then rolled over, Gregory said.

The driver, James Anderson, 34, of McLeod, N.D., was issued a traffic citation.

It took authorities, veterinarians and volunteers more than five hours to get the horses out of the trailer and transport them to nearby Carney Farm.

"The most important thing to us is the horses," Vicki Carney said Monday. "The phone has not stopped ringing, but right now, there is really nothing that can be done."

Carney said she is waiting to hear from a representative from a local insurance company who has been put in charge of the animals.

When contacted Monday, that person would not comment.

Meanwhile, the Illinois Department of Agriculture and USDA began their investigations Monday.

State Veterinarian Mark Ernst, with the Illinois Department of Agriculture, said the state is in the process of determining whether any animal welfare laws were violated.

"Right now we've gone to where the animals are being housed and we're making sure the ones that survived are being managed well," Ernst said. "Some of the horses are bumped and bruised, others have lacerations, but all in all, there don't seem to be any more life-threatening injuries."

Ernst said his department investigates accidents involving trailers carrying animals several times a year. But typically, the animals involved are cattle or pigs.

"I can't say I recall every seeing this number of horses loaded into a truck," Ernst said.

USDA spokeswoman Madelaine Fletcher said the federal government has jurisdiction only over animals being transported across state lines to be slaughtered.

If that were the case Saturday, Anderson would have been required to have health certificates for all of the animals.

Fletcher said the USDA is trying to determine if those documents were in Anderson's possession and if they were necessary.

Gregory said the horses were not being taken to a slaughterhouse and were going to be sold as breeding stock for draft horses.

Regardless of why the animals were being transported, Chris Berry, president of Equine Protection Network in Pennsylvania, said the method of transportation was inhumane.

Berry worked for five years to get the Pennsylvania legislature to pass a horse transportation law banning double-decker semitrailer trucks.

"These trailers are not designed to transport horses," Berry said. "Unlike cattle, sheep and goats, horses can raise and lower their heads much higher. In these trucks, they can't raise and lower their heads and, when they do, they bang them on beams."

So far, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont and Massachusetts outlaw double-decker horse trailers, while Connecticut, Virginia and Minnesota regulate usage.

Berry is hoping Saturday's crash will raise awareness in Illinois.

"I've seen and heard horses crashing, banging and screaming when they are in the trailers," she said.