Ten horses rescued from a Black Forest property remained in the custody of the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday as questions surrounding their condition and the criminal investigation continued to make waves with the public and local officials.

Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Greg White declined to say where the horses are being kept or who is caring for them. He also responded to public commentary on social media that the Sheriff’s Office had not acted swiftly enough to seize the horses from their owner, Sherri Brunzell.

“Whether people like it or not, we have to operate by law and we have to uphold the Constitution, and that means that we can’t just go in and seize a person’s property without probable cause,” White said. “If we had tried to rush the job, we would’ve made mistakes and then the prosecution wouldn’t hold up and their owner would’ve gotten the horses back.”

Investigators with the Sheriff’s Office mounted unit were called to a property on the 5400 block of Burgess Road, off Milam Road, about 3 p.m. Friday, and determined the living horses were not in “imminent danger,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a previous statement. About a dozen other horses were dead, their carcasses covered with tarps.

The decision was met with public outrage throughout the weekend, as thousands of Colorado Springs and Black Forest residents and thousands more across the country and the world took to social media to demand that the Sheriff’s Office remove the live horses.

On Monday, the Sheriff’s Office returned to the Black Forest property with Elbert County veterinarian Dr. Randy Parker of Range View Equine Associates. Parker determined the horses should be removed, and the Sheriff’s Office cited the animals’ owner with class-one misdemeanor animal cruelty.

White defended the Sheriff’s Office actions, arguing that the legal process, and not public opinion, dictated how investigators handled the case.

“There’s no social media reach that goes over the legal system’s head. We can’t go to a judge and ask for a search warrant without probable cause just because people are angry on Facebook,” White said. “If we would’ve brought in the veterinarian on Friday, he would’ve been out there until late at night, working in the dark and we wouldn’t have been able to collect evidence, either. We knew the horses weren’t going to die Friday, and none of them did.”

In a phone interview with The Gazette, Parker said he couldn’t comment on the horses’ conditions or what he observed when he examined them at the Black Forest property, but he affirmed the horses were “safe and being cared for.”

At a Board of County Commissioners meeting Tuesday, 4th Judicial District Attorney Dan May said the District Attorney’s Office is seeking to join the investigation. May said his office had contacted the Sheriff’s Office, which has jurisdiction in the case.

County Commissioner Darryl Glenn expressed concern over the investigation, saying that he had received more than 1,500 emails since Monday regarding the horses from people as far as Canada and South Africa.

Glenn, a horse owner, said he understands that it takes a lot of work and effort to care for horses appropriately.

The Black Forest case can be used as a learning opportunity to make sure the community knows where to go for assistance to feed and care for their horses, and most importantly, to revise the laws that define animal neglect and cruelty.

“It’s important that we don’t miss this opportunity to begin an open and active dialogue about what happened and how it can be prevented from happening again,” Glenn said.-

Gazette reporter Stephen Hobbs contributed to this story.

Contact Andrea Sinclair: 635-0235

Dr. Randy Parker, a local veterenarian, looks over a horse at a stable on Burgess Rd. in Black Forest on Monday, Sept. 22, 2014. Last Friday, a neighbor called authorities because of concern for the horses living in the barn. A number of horse carcasses were found at the barn and the neighbors were concerned that some of the horses looked emaciated. The El Paso County Sheriff’s Dept. investigated and didn’t remove the horses. The investigation continued on Monday and the veterenarian was brought to the scene. (The Gazette/Jerilee Bennett)

A horse munches on hay at a stable in Black Forest. The horse was one of ten that was taken from a stable in Black Forest on Monday, Sept. 22, 2014. The owner was cited with misdemeanor animal cruelty. (The Gazette/Jerilee Bennett)