Animal cruelty defendant treated "like a child molester"

By BRENT SHRUM Western News Reporter

A Rexford man facing animal cruelty charges for the third time in the past seven years says he's being treated "like a child molester" over his alleged mistreatment of a herd of horses.

Steve Neff entered an "Alford" guilty plea to three of the 17 felony charges he was facing last month in exchange for a recommendation from the county attorney's office for a six-year deferred sentence and permission to own two horses while on probation. The rest of the horses would be auctioned, with the proceeds used to cover costs associated with caring for them since they were seized in April.

By entering an Alford plea, Neff accepted a conviction without admitting guilt. He maintains that if he is guilty of anything, it is "a crime strictly of being poor. People don't buy animals and then starve them for fun."

Neff said h is late father, an accomplished physician, bought land in the Pinkham Creek area in the late 1970s. Neff lived there and managed the herd of thoroughbred racehorses his father established. At one time the herd numbered 75 horses.

Neff called the collapse of his horse arena under a heavy snow load in the winter of 1996-97 "my Katrina." The loss of a year-round facility to train the horses put him out of business, he said.

Neff was first convicted of misdemeanor cruelty charges in 1998. In 2000, he was charged with five felony counts that were eventually reduced to misdemeanors in a plea agreement. He was sentenced to six months, suspended, on each count with the sentences running consecutively and fined $1,000.

Last spring, Neff was charged with 17 felony counts.

Neff said he cared for his horses as well as he could but said it's natural for horses to lose weight over the winter months and that it's normal to be able to see a thoroughbred's ribs. He acknowledged buying hay that had some mold in it, comparing it to "dented cans at the store," but he said the mold was only on the outside of the large round bales and that the hay inside was fresh. He said he sometimes went two to three days without eating himself last winter, struggling to make ends meet working as a musician when gigs were few and far between.

"Literally the worst you could say was a few of my horses were uncomfortable, and they were no more uncomfortable than I was," he said.

He said the charges are "a witch hunt" stemming from various disputes

with neighbors. Neff questions their knowledge of horse care and said he calls the horses some of them own "pink flamingoes" — little more than lawn ornaments.

"It's like you buy these horses to put out in a pasture because that's what you do in Montana," he said.

The neighbors who complained "live above me so they didn't see a truck bringing me a load of hay once a week," Neff said.

Neff said he worked as a professional horse trainer for 15 years and has risked his life for his horses, as when he rescued animals from his collapsed arena.

"I guarantee you none of these animal rights lunatics from the city have ever risked their lives to protect an animal," he said.

Neff said his property was in effect "an equine sanctuary" where the remnants of his father's herd could live out their lives, foraging freely on 130 acres planted with alfalfa and oats. He said he might have been able to provide more feed for some of the horses over the winter by thinning the herd, but he wouldn't have been able to give some of the horses away.

"I didn't think they needed to die," he said. "There was no other option but to kill a few."

One of Neff's neighbors who complained to law enforcement authorities about his treatment of his horses is Meg Yost. Yost, who said she has worked with horses for 50 years, said Neff has had a disproportionate number of horses die over the years.

"I've had horses die occasionally, mostly from old age, and I haven't had near the losses Steve has sustained in one year, over a period of 10 or 20 years," she said.

Yost said Neff's horses were "grossly underfed," and she isn't sympathetic to his claims of poverty.

"If you can't afford to get into racing, then don't," she said.

Lt. Roby Bowe of the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office, an experienced backcountry horseman and one of the officers who investigated the case, said some of the horses were in better shape than others. The more dominant horses that were better able to fend for themselves in the competition for limited food were thin but not urgently in need of medical attention, while some of the weaker animals were struggling to survive, Bowe said.

"There were four or five of them that were severe, that wouldn't be alive right now if they hadn't gotten some immediate care," he said.

Reviewing photographs taken of Neff's horses when they were seized, Bowe pointed out loss of muscle mass from underfeeding and split hooves that he said indicated "complete lack of care."

Veterinarian Dr. John Erfle of Kalispell was called in by the sheriff's office to inspect the horses. According to court documents, Erfle reported that Neff failed to provide sufficient quantity and quality of food to maintain normal health and failed to care for their health needs by allowing the horses to become infested with lice and for their feet to become overgrown. Erfle also considered various hazards such as vehicle parts, farm implements, household furniture and sheet metal to be creating an unsafe environment for the animals.

Another of Neff's neighbors — one who supports him and questions the charges of abuse — is Pete Ransier, who said being in business as a veterinarian makes Erfle biased.

"He's selling a product," Ransier said. "If a horse gets lame, he wants you to come in and spend a hundred and fifty bucks on it."

Ransier called the people accusing Neff of criminal behavior "lunatics" who might have two or three "hobby horses" and nothing else to do but tend to them.

"I thought the horses were thin, but Jiminy Christmas, if you're going to arrest people for having thin horses in the spring you're going to arrest a lot of people."

Ransier said he saw "pickup loads after pickup loads after pickup loads" of hay go past his house toward Neff's farm. He said he lets Neff's horses graze on his land and said Neff has always been a good neighbor. He agreed with Neff that the complaints stem mainly from personal animosities.

"They're not after Steve for his horses," Ransier said. "They're after him for other reasons."

Newspaper reports of Neff's plea agreement have sparked numerous letters to the editor from people arguing for a stiffer sentence, along with several emails to the judge in the case lobbying for harsher punishment.

"I am asking that you look at this the same as child abuse," reads one of the emails. "These animals are as innocent and incapable of caring for themselves as a child."

The sentence should be at least one year for each animal involved, the writer continued.

"Frankly, if I had my way, the same would be done to him as he did to the animals, however, our judicial system would not allow that and I know it."

Sentencing in the case is scheduled for Oct. 31.

Neff said he moved to Pinkham Creek wanting only to be left alone. He said he planned to die there, but the attention his case has drawn may force him to leave the area.

"People hate me around here that don't even know me," he said. "I'm the guy who starves his horses. I'm the guy who's no better than a child molester."