BECKLEY — After many horses were found dead Wednesday in Greenbrier County, police have hit a standstill because the state will not allow them back on the property.

Greenbrier County Sheriff Jim Childers says the total dead has now been brought up to 39 from two farms. The horses were originally found due to an anonymous tip Wednesday on 83-year-old Grady Whitlock’s 300-acre farm in Greenbrier County. Whitlock is also said to own many other farms that span county lines, and it is unknown how many others have died along with exactly how many other farms he owns.

The Whitlock family is said to have gotten into the miniature horse business in the late 1950s. Childers says Whitlock’s father advertised his horses in the Sears Roebuck Catalogue and also sold them to punch mines where the horses would go into the mines with a sleigh to bring the coal out.

Now, police have hit a frustrating situation. The state veterinarian will not allow them on the property unless they can prove there is a disease.

“After the warrant was served and we removed the dead animals, we were ordered by law to leave the property,” Childers said. “It’s a done deal and it may not seem right, but that’s the law.”

Police were hoping the state would give them the right to quarantine the property and to allow them to have access all weekend to figure out what to do about the malnourished horses. But in order to get a quarantine, they are required to prove a disease is present.

“So now, we’re scratching our heads thinking what else can we do to make this better,” he said. “I don’t understand how the state vet under emergency circumstances can’t do something. If you have horses that have to walk over dead horses to get water — I mean I don’t know whether a disease is present or not, but you can’t tell me that with 39 dead horses all over the place and in the streams that there isn’t a disease somewhere.”

The matter is still dire, he said. He doesn’t know how many more horses have died since they were ordered off the property, and he is also concerned about the living horses, especially the pregnant ones.

“When they have the baby, I’ve seen coyotes dragging them out to the woods and eating them,” he said. “Yet we can’t get back on the property and neither can our vet.”

Whitlock was arrested and charged with the misdemeanor charge of two counts of animal cruelty.

Childers says he wants to change that misdemeanor status to a felony.

“We are trying to get a process going to get a court order to allow us back on the property,” he said. “We also called our senator, Ron Miller, and told him about the situation.”

Childers explained that animal neglect is a misdemeanor but torture is a felony. What he hopes Miller can accomplish is to bring this matter up to the Legislature to make these offenses felonies.

“My understanding is that Monday or Tuesday the Legislature will take this matter up,” he said. “It won’t take care of this case, but it will certainly help in the future.”

The No. 1 goal right now is to make sure Whitlock doesn’t own animals in the future, Childers said.

“I feel that is my sworn duty because unless people see what’s going on, they just don’t know,” Childers said. “When you see the trailer coming down the road with the dead horses and their legs dangling in the air, you just, I don’t know. There was one horse out there and his leg looked like a 5-gallon bucket.”

There have been efforts to feed the horses. Police have moved salt blocks out on the farm, and the Agricultural Commission has donated money to buy feed. Also, community support has been great, Childers added.

“We’ve had people from all over to bring hay, but now they can’t get on the property to get it to them,” he said. “I hope Whitlock doesn’t know what he’s doing, but when he tells people to bury them, he has to know what he’s doing.”

— E-mail: alannom@register-herald.com