‘No Excuse for Abuse’: man charged after 100 animals found starving, confined in heat

San Elizario, Texas (KVIA) -- One hundred animals have been rescued and transported to a ranch after an investigation led to a man's arrest and an animal cruelty charge, according to the El Paso County Sheriff's Office. The animals were transported to a nonprofit animal rescue called Gracey's Rescue Ranch.

Santos Gordillo Torres allegedly neglected dozens of animals in San Elizario, the sheriff's office said. Authorities reported seeing unsanitary conditions with signs of malnourishment.

According to court documents obtained by ABC-7, J. Murphy, an El Paso County Animal Welfare officer, saw the animals lacked basic care like food, water and shelter.

After his first observation of the neglected animals, Officer Murphy issued a 24-hour notice to Torres, telling him to get the animals veterinarian care, documents said.

The next day, Officer Murphy alleged Torres made no effort to get the animals proper care or improve their living conditions, documents said.

The animals were transported to a nonprofit animal rescue called Gracey's Rescue Ranch.

ABC-7 reached out to Gracey's Rescue Ranch for an update on the animals' conditions.

"So when I got the call, we were called to get ten animals. They asked us to come back the next day and they said, how many can you take?"

Thats when Mike Gracey arrived to the property and realized he was going to rescue 100 animals instead of ten.

He told ABC-7 it was more animals than he ever anticipated on rescuing.

"Usually it's one horse at a time. Even the ten for us was like, okay, it's kind of a lot. But you know, we we didn't know what the situation was or what the aspect or hey, we have ten animals in need. We didn't even know what kind of ten animals."

ABC-7 asked Gracey if he had any second thoughts once he discovered how many animals were in need of rescue.

"It was really something that we know we had to make happen, and we just knew we could do it. We just had to figure out everything afterwards. We made it happen." Gracey replied.

County Animal Welfare officer observed that most of the horses hooves were overgrown and that many horses were thin, according to court documents.

Gracey explained to ABC-7 that overgrown hooves cause horses to feel pain, especially when walking or running.

The defendant Santos Gordillo Torres, told deputies he was feeding the horses racehorse food which does not allow the horses to gain weight, according to court documents.

He also told deputies he invested most of his time with the miniature ponies, that he rented out but he confessed he had no formal training or education on caring for livestock animals.

Court documents also said that a female pig was confined in a 120 degree enclosure, with no access to food or water.

The El Paso County Sheriff, Oscar Urgate told ABC-7 in a statement," The El Paso County Sheriff's Office has zero tolerance for animal cruelty. There is no excuse for abusing, neglecting, or failing to provide proper care for an animal. When these cases are reported to us, we will investigate them thoroughly and take enforcement action when the evidence supports it."

They also shared a message for the community," We also ask our community to be our eyes and ears. If you see or suspect animal cruelty or neglect, report it. Speaking up can save an animal's life."

While the investigation remains active and ongoing, the focus at Gracey’s Rescue Ranch stays centered on the long road to recovery for the many rescued animals. The sanctuary is currently accepting community donations and volunteers to help cover the unexpected costs of veterinary care, proper nutrition, and rehabilitation for the 100 animals now in their care.