According to court records, Lyle Mark Williamson, 51, of Sallisaw was charged Monday with three counts of cruelty to animals.
On Sept. 2 Sallisaw Police Officer Randy Freeman, the animal control officer, was dispatched to Blue Ribbon Downs to investigate a complaint that three horses in barn stalls had been abandoned and deprived of food and water. The caller, a horse trainer, said the horses had not been fed or watered for at least two weeks.
Freeman arrived and reported that the horses appeared to be in poor to moderately poor condition. A local veterinarian checked the horses' condition and said the horses were about 70 percent of what they should be.
Freeman reported that he talked to Anthony Nickles, who said he found the horses on Aug. 30 needing feed and water. Nickles said the stalls were very dirty so he cleaned the stalls and provided hay and water for the horses. He also notified track security and Blaine Story, track manager. Story told Freeman that when they found the horses abandoned, he had security and track stewards feed and water the horses.
Story said there was no paperwork of the horses being brought onto the track, and the racetrack was in the process of an investigation to find out who brought the horses to the track without the track's knowledge.
The Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission searched records and found the owner of the horses, who lived in Minnesota. The owner told Freeman on Sept. 5 that she owned the horses and placed them in the care of Williamson.
She said the horses were brought to Sallisaw on Aug. 22. The horses were supposed to go to Mark Williamson's ranch, and one of the horses was to be trained for the meet at Remington Park in Oklahoma City. Williamson allegedly told her the horses were on his ranch and doing fine, giving daily updates on the progress of the horses, Freeman reported.
