Abandoned horse found in Brooksville

BROOKSVILLE - Hernando County investigators are looking for someone who may have starved, then abandoned a horse in Brooksville.

Animal services estimates the horse may be a year old, but it's difficult to be sure because the horse was so malnourished.

The horse was found in a vacant lot last week.

He's at least 100 pounds under weight.

Although he is eating, experts from an equine rescue group say it will take a long time before he can be fully rehabilitated.

"We had one horse out here he was all skin and bones. It takes a minimum of six months, six months to a year for them to bounce back, when you don't see the rips and hip bones and all that," said Carey Randall with Casey's Place, a horse rescue and rehab organization.

In the meantime, investigators say who ever dumped the horse could face animal cruelty charges.