Four horses seized from a property just south of the village of Scott are part of an ongoing investigation into the alleged starving deaths of several horses, the Saskatchewan SPCA recently confirmed.

The SPCA launched its initial investigation into the property, located about 14 kilometres southwest of Wilkie, Sask., last April after a horse died under concerning circumstances. On Friday, after the death of several others horses, the animal society alongside the RCMP seized four of the animals.

“There’s been a number of allegations out there. Largely that the animals have been starved,” said Kaley Pugh with the Saskatchewan SPCA.

The owners of the property were unavailable for comment.

Sam Johnson, a farmer who lives close to the property, is one of several people in the community who said they are familiar with the investigation.

Johnson said he’s witnessed the carcasses and that he’s stepped in to help the animals in the past.

“I saw one mare with a halter on that was so tight it was making marks on the animal’s cheeks, so I took it off myself and hung it up on the fence,” he said of an incident in December 2012.

He wished he had stepped in earlier.

“Right then and there, that’s when I should have made a call to the SPCA.”

Pugh said the Saskatchewan SPCA deals with over 700 investigations a year with only four investigators. Horse investigations are especially difficult because the SPCA has trouble finding places to shelter the animals after they are seized.

“It’s definitely challenging with horses, and that’s one of the reason we like to leave them on their property and resolve the situation on site,” Pugh said.

Several residents in the area believe the horses’ owners were given more than enough time to resolve the problems, considering the investigation began in April 2013.

“If they'd have started looking after things when they were first told, they had all last summer, fall, to either start liquidating their herd or do something to make sure they have feed,” said Les Kroschinski, a rancher in the area.

The SPCA said more horses could be seized from the property in the future and that charges against the animals’ owners are pending.

Wilkie is located about 175 kilometres west of Saskatoon.