Veterinarian convicted of horse cruelty

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 29 (UPI) -- A Vancouver-area veterinarian has been found guilty of criminal neglect and cruelty against six of his horses, two of which had to be euthanized.

A British Columbia provincial court heard The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals received a tip about a horse attached to a car in a ditch in suburban Langley in December 2008, the QMI Agency reported.

At the time, Dr. Mark Marohn denied he had been using the horse to pull his car out. SPCA officers said the horse was emaciated and barely able to stand.

The 7-year-old gelded former racehorse was euthanized at the scene, the report said.

Later at Marohn's farm, investigators found five other malnourished horses, one of which was euthanized, the court heard. The other four were seized and have since been placed in adoptive homes, QMI said.

Marohn and his now-estranged wife, also a veterinarian, had run into severe financial hardship at the time and sometimes couldn't afford food for themselves, The (Vancouver) Province reported.

Marohn will be sentenced in May and could face as long as five years in jail and a possible fine of $5,000, the reports said.

His wife faces the same charges and goes to court in October, The Province said.