The Napanee OPP, saddled with the task of corralling and removing horses from a 70-year-old woman’s property, continued with the relocation process Friday, but, unable to safely wrangle them all into custody, said they would press on over the next few days.
Accompanied by the Ontario SPCA and township officials, the OPP last Tuesday executed a search warrant on Charlotte Bright’s Blessington Road farm, between and north of Napanee and Shannonville, following months of complaints about her horses running loose in Tyendinaga Township. The horses, neighbours claimed, caused damage to their crops and property.
The OPP announced Wednesday that they had charged Bright with one count of mischief under the Criminal Code of Canada and, as part of her bail conditions, were temporarily removing the horses and housing them elsewhere until an appropriate enclosure could be erected to prevent them from leaving Bright’s property. Police had determined that inadequate fencing had allowed the horses to roam. The OPP also received concerns about the horses’ health and welfare, which the Ontario SPCA was investigating.
Police indicated last week that they believed there were 35 to 40 horses involved, but that the large wooded area made an accurate count difficult.
According to Tyendinaga Township chief administrative officer Steve Mercer, horses have been escaping periodically from Bright’s property for about six years.
In a statement issued Saturday, the OPP indicated that although the remaining horses were currently secured on the property, a potential risk remained that some might escape their enclosure, and encouraged motorists in the area to exercise particular caution.
— With files from Luke Hendry, The Belleville Intelligencer.