Photo: Contributed

A North Okanagan woman and her daughter facing numerous charges of alleged animal neglect will be in a Vernon courtroom next month.

Carla Jean Christman and her daughter Chelsea Beluse-Christman are facing charges in relation to numerous animals seized from a farm on Irish Creek Road north of Vernon.

Among the charges for both women are cause unnecessary pain/suffering to an animal and owner failing to provide necessaries for animal.

Christman and Beluse-Christman were scheduled to appear in a Vernon courtroom Thursday for a consult counsel appearance, but the matter was put over until June 5 at 9 a.m.

The property has been involved in controversy over the care of their horses in the past.

Animal abuse at the location dates back to 2009, when Carla Christman was arrested and more than 70 animals were seized.
BC SPCA constables seized 28 thin and emaciated horses with untreated injuries on Christman’s property in December 2009. Investigators also discovered dozens of dogs and four cats inside an unventilated area that was so thick with the stench of ammonia and feces that officers gagged upon entry.

In late March 2019, 42 horses, four dogs and four hogs were removed from the property.

“All the animals met the definition of being in distress, pursuant to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act,” said SPCA senior officer Eileen Drever.

The home on the property was destroyed by a fire on March 15, but no animals were hurt in the blaze.