Some 40 horses and mules are on Gary Belcher's Farm in Centerville in Wayne County. Concerns over their care have led to an investigation by the sheriff, but no formal charges have been made. Cheryl Watts described what she saw of the horses: "one of them had a back swelled leg with barbed wire wrapped around it...still wrapped around this horse's leg and I got highly upset. "

Belcher contends he's taking care of the herd. They had no access to hay when Eyewitness News videoed their grass-less pen Monday. Gary Belcher said: " We feed here everyday. they don't do without feed. We was getting ready to feed here in a little bit. I've got to go get some hay this morning. "

A Dunlow family described an ugly scene where a horse died when they purchased another horse they said appeared to be 400 pounds underweight. Kenny Watts said: " I saw personally there's no food. there's no water for those horses. I seen that black stallion fall dead on the ground. " The sheriff could not verify the dead horse story.

Belcher says a state Agriculture Department official looked over the farm last week and found no problem. The sheriff says animal laws lack teeth and enforcement involving large animals are a major burden for a county if horses have to be seized. The horse did have water Monday.