Less than two weeks after Montgomery County Pct. 4 Livestock officers, accompanied by SPCA representatives, seized two horses, five dogs and four puppies from a home in the 14400 block of County Line Road near Willis, some of the animals have been returned.
Click the arrow to view seizure video.
Ronda Bounds, 44, appeared before Pct. 1 Justice of the Peace Lanny Moriarty on Thursday, flanked by a Houston attorney and asking for the return of her pets.
Moriarty returned Bounds’ dogs, but awarded the horses to the SPCA.
The county and Pct. 4 livestock deputies were asking that no animals be returned to Bounds and that she pay about $3,000 in restitution for medical evaluations performed on the animals after they were seized. The results of those evaluations were intended to be used as evidence, but were not allowed because of a technicality, so the judge did not order Bounds to pay for them.
Livestock Deputy Don Smith said he has dealt with Bounds repeatedly over the last few years, trying to keep her horses alive. Two malnourished horses died on her property in December, according to Smith.
He said when the animals were seized last week, the three to five acre area where they were kept was almost bare dirt and even the fallen leaves were eaten by the horses as they struggled to survive.
Smith said the judge apparently did not feel it was proven that the dogs were neglected, and so he returned them to Bounds.
Bounds and her attorney may appeal Moriarty’s decision regarding the horses.
