CLEARFIELD – A DuBois man pleaded guilty Monday to a felony cruelty to animals charge in connection with the starvation death of a horse.
Joseph Clyde Daniel Dush, 66, and his wife, Brenda Marie Dush, 51, were both facing charges after the horse passed away in January of 2018.
The horse had slowly starved to death while tied to a tree with a bale of hay not far away, according to previous reports.
In February of 2019, Brenda Marie Dush, pleaded guilty to a felony count of aggravated cruelty to animals and neglect of animals, a misdemeanor.
At that time, President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman sentenced her to serve nine months to two years less one day in jail and three years consecutive probation.
Her husband pleaded guilty to those same charges Monday and received a sentence of 72 hours to one year in jail and two years consecutive probation.
Prior to sentencing, Dush stated that he had been in the hospital at the time of the horse’s death and his wife was actually responsible.
Keri Coble of the animal rescue group, One Dog at a Time, addressed the court, saying that she felt Dush was equally responsible because the horse was tied to that same tree for years. She asked he receive the same sentence.
Her group had paid for the horse to be transported to a veterinarian for a necropsy. She stated that the horse had 0 percent body fat at the time of its death.
Coble had also spoken when Brenda Dush was sentenced saying, “This was an intentional act of starvation,” she said, adding that the horse, Cocoa, had even started to eat the tree.
The horse was near a church where people saw it every week. They tried to get help for it, and others even offered to buy her, but Brenda Dush refused and would not surrender it to a rescue group, Coble said.
At Brenda Dush’s sentencing, Ammerman commented that he had received many letters about this case and stated that it was terrible that people had to watch the horse slowly deteriorate.
Dush is prohibited from possessing any animals and must pay ODAAT restitution of $98.50 for their expenses.