A Hanapepe horse owner was cited for cruelty to animals last week after two of his horses were found tangled in their tethers. One of them, a quarter horse mare, was dead.

The animals had not been checked since before the Fourth of July fireworks, said Kaua'i Humane Society executive director Dr. Becky Rhoades.

"If horses are tethered, which I strongly disapprove of, they must be checked multiple times a day ... she had no way to escape from the choking rope and suffered horribly," Rhoades said.

Richard Corr, 31, was charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty. A new felony animal cruelty law does not apply to horses.