Preston, MN (KROC AM News) – Fillmore County authorities have filed animal mistreatment charges against a rural Chatfield man.

The charges against 42-year-old Jeremiah Smaglik include two felonies stemming from the discovery of several horses on his property that were severely malnourished.

A Fillmore County deputy last October reported there were four horses on Smaglik’s property that appeared to be in poor health.

Deputies were sent there again in March to check a report of “emaciated horses.” They found seven horses and a donkey that were so thin their bones were visible. They also found two dead horses. It was later determined they had apparently died from starvation.

All the surviving horses were in poor shape and a veterinarian suspected that had been “severely underfed.” Smaglik turned them over to the Minnesota Animal Humane Society.

Smaglik has been ordered to make his first court appearance next week. He is facing a total of eight counts.

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