ADAMS COUNTY, OHIO (WCMH) – Seven starving horses in Adams County were rescued today by the Ohio SPCA.

NBC4 was there when they were brought into a shelter, beginning their road to recovery. The SPCA is asking for help from the public to get the horses healthy again.

“Your heart just goes out for the animals,” said volunteer John Downs. “You just want to cry sometimes.”

Downs is a retired deputy sheriff who volunteers his time with the SPCA.

“We’ve hauled what 70 horses this year, approximately. We’ve seen some really bad ones. This is a bad one,” he said.

Executive director the Ohio SPCA Teresa Landon said the seven horses they rescued today was supposed to be eight.

“One of them just died before we got there a couple of days ago,” she said. “Any longer more probably would have perished.”

She said the horses are extremely underweight, with hardly any muscle or fat. They had been without adequate food or shelter.

Landon said the horses were seized with a warrant, charges will be filed against the woman who neglected them and she will have to appear in court.

“Sometimes it’s laziness,sometimes it’s a lack of funds,” said Landon. “I think she had too many horses. She had bred horses. She had no way of taking care of the horses and really almost not herself, too.”

She said horse cruelty calls are at the top of their list every week, all over Ohio and taking care of their rescues is very expensive.

“Taking on seven horses, in addition to the horses that we already have, we’re going to need some help,” said Landon.

It can sometimes take months for neglected horses to get healthy again.

If you’d like to support the SPCA with a donation, you can call 740-420-2984 or you can donate at: http://www.ohiospca.org/.

To report cruelty: http://www.ohiospca.org/report-cruelty.