Illinois woman denies neglect, fights to get horses back

ROSSVILLE, Ill. (AP) - A woman whose horses were seized by authorities in eastern Illinois says she takes in animals rescued from situations of neglect and that she is not guilty of cruelty or failing to care for them.

Rhonda Powell's trial on charges of animal cruelty is to start Monday. The woman and her husband run a farm east of the village of Rossville, where animal control officers say they found horses that were underfed and not properly cared for.

Powell tells The (Champaign) News-Gazette (http://bit.ly/1SeTKhC ) that rescue horses are often skinny when they first get them.

Rossville is 35 miles northeast of Champaign.

Vermilion County attorney Bill Donahue says that in May investigators found evidence supporting veterinarian reports of neglect at the farm.

They seized nine horses and other animals.

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Information from: The News-Gazette, http://www.news-gazette.com