The Kitsap County Health Department (KCHD) obtained a court order last week to remove a dead horse that was lying in a metal shed for several weeks on a Port Orchard woman’s property.

The horse was discovered by Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office deputies over a week ago in a small, unventilated shed after neighbors of 60-year-old Roni Gail Myers called 911 to report an awful smell. Neighbors were unsure if the smell was coming from a human or an animal that had died.

Myers was arrested for animal cruelty in the first degree after deputies also discovered two other horses and several dogs that were located in the shed as well. She was released shortly after on personal recognizance.

The deputies reportedly had to wear ventilation masks to enter as the odor of dead, decaying animal was extremely strong. Upon entering, authorities found there were no windows and the shed was hot inside.

Jan Brower, a manager with KCHD, responded to concerns from neighbors about airborne diseases due to the decaying animal. “If the horse is diseased then that’s a different story but this was just a case of presumably neglect,” said Brower. “We posted the court order allowing us to enter private property which we had to obtain prior to the removal of the horse.”

The controversy began when a neighbor of Myers originally contacted Kitsap Humane Society (KHS) Animal Control over a week ago to complain of a terrible smell. The neighbor then contacted 911 as a precaution in case it turned out to be a dead person.

KHS animal control officers came and removed the live animals for treatment but left the dead horse still on the property. This caused neighbors to question why the dead animal was left on the property as the smell gradually intensified each day.

KHS ordinance records state that they are not allowed to enter personal property unless requested by law enforcement or for emergency purposes and are only allowed to collect live animals.

A call was made to the KCHD in order to determine who’s jurisdiction it fell under to remove the dead animal as the odor neighbors described was becoming “unbearable”.

“It’s not an easy process to remove dead animals from private property,” said Bower. “You can’t just walk onto their property and pick them up.

“Property owners have rights and we have to follow a process in order to obtain permission to enter.”

KCHD advised Myers on Aug. 2 that she had 24 hours to remove the dead horse or they would petition the court for an order to remove it at the owner’s cost.

An attorney for KCHD spoke before a Kitsap County judge requesting the order on Aug. 3 for the removal of the remains, which the judge granted.

“This is going to cost her upwards of $1500 in fines and fees,” said Bower. “We had to petition the court for an order, pay a renderer, pay a junk removal company to pick up the trash that was in front of the animal so we could go in and get it, post the notices and administrative costs. It’s going to cost her.”

Further investigation into the Myers case uncovered a 1998 incident that involved the death of four horses on Lake Way Boulevard.

According to reports, four horses were found dead on her property and four others were found near starvation and living in deplorable conditions.

Four dogs and six cats were also removed after a warrant was served by the Kitsap Humane Society (KHS).

The animals were described as severely neglected and living in extreme filth by KHS officials. Officials also discovered two of the four horses living in their own waste with lesions all over their bodies.

Authorities also uncovered what appeared to be the remains of as many as four other horses.

According to neighbors, Myers has not been seen or heard from since the incident occurred.