Nine of the horses seized during an animal cruelty investigation in Bee County were awarded Monday to the Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society for care.

A total of 10 horses were seized from property on County Road 505 in south Bee County.

Sgt. Steve Linam said that one of the horses died after it was seized Nov. 21.

Linam said that the cause of death was malnutrition.

“It was so severely malnourished that when the cold snap came, it went down and it could not come up again,” Linam said referencing a letter from the veterinarian caring for the horse. “He said from the get-go that he would be amazed if that one would make it.”

A charge of animal cruelty has been filed against one person in connection with the case; however, Linam declined to release the name.

“I don’t want to name any names until after the warrant is served,” he said.

The Class A misdemeanor charge carries with it a maximum of a year in jail and a maximum $4,000 fine, he said.

The sergeant said that he only pursued the one charge for now, leaving the decision up to the district attorney as to whether 11 charges, one for each horse, would be filed.

“There was another horse that was removed from the property that led to the investigation,” he said.

Volunteers from the Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society were among the many called in to help with the seizure last month.

Deputies, Special Ranger Sonny Sewald of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association and Bluebonnet volunteers loaded up horse trailers and drove down Farm-to-Market 888 that cold Friday.

At the time, they expected to find as many as 19 horses, according to prior information.

This was the second time that horses were taken from the property, a volunteer told reporters that morning.

She said they thought it was five years ago that Bluebonnet volunteers had responded to a similar situation at the place.