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Inspector Partly Cleared in Starving Horses Probe

A state Livestock Board official says an inspector took appropriate action when he was told about four dying horses at a Las Lunas auction. But the inspector has been reprimanded for how he dealt with animal rescue group members.

Livestock Board Executive Director Myles Culbertson tells the Albuquerque Journal that inspector B.J. Winchester is back on the job.

Winchester was at the Southwest Livestock Auction last month when members of the Animals Angels group found the downed horses. The group issued a report saying the inspector resisted their pleas to end the horses' misery.

Culbertson says interviews show he ordered the horses to be euthanized. But he didn't deal professionally with the rescue group's members.

The Valencia County sheriff's department and Livestock Board are investigating the auction house.