Horses, donkeys, goats seized from Jenny's Market near Dexter

By Cindy Heflin Associate news director

Posted on Fri, Sep 7, 2012 : 12:20 p.m.

The Humane Society of Huron Valley seized eight animals Thursday from the popular Jenny’s Market near Dexter.

Humane Society cruelty investigator Matt Schaecher said the seized animals, which included horses, donkeys and goats, were in varying states of neglect. Investigators are working on a report that will be submitted to the prosecutor’s office for possible charges, he said.

Jenny's Market operator Burton Hoey leads a pair of horses at the business in this file photo.

File photo

The market, at Island Lake and Dexter-Pinckney roads in Webster Township, is a popular spot in the fall for families seeking cider, doughnuts, pumpkins and pony rides.

Investigators had visited the market Wednesday, Schaecher said, and returned Thursday with a search warrant. The Humane Society and Washtenaw County sheriff’s deputies were at the property for several hours late Thursday afternoon and evening, Schaecher said.

Market operator Burton Hoey said Friday that investigators took two horses, four donkeys and two goats from the property. He said he doesn’t think the seizure was necessary.

“I think they overreacted,” he said. “They should have pointed out what they thought was wrong and gave me a couple of weeks to make any correction that I could make.”

Hoey said one of the horses was an 18-year-old mare with heaves, also called recurrent airway obstruction. He said he was treating the animal as best he could, but a veterinarian had told him nothing could be done for her, he said.

The other seized horse had an abscess on its hoof that Hoey said had already healed.

Hoey said the Humane Society said the donkeys’ hooves needed trimming. He said he acquired them last fall from someone who had not trimmed their feet, and he was in the process of gradually trimming them back.

As for the goats, he said investigators thought they were underweight, but Hoey said they were underfed when he bought them a couple of months ago and he has been nourishing them back to health.

He said he still has 18 horses, one donkey and one goat on the property.

Hoey said he hopes to get the animals back, and in the meantime is operating his business as usual with one exception. Until last year, Hoey had offered hayrides on the property, but said he has decided to end those. “It's just too much,” he said.

An employee, Mary Armbruster was paralyzed during a hayride on the property last year when she fell off the wagon and was run over by it. She has since filed a lawsuit.