Holly, a newborn horse who nearly died late last month in an animal attack in Torrance County, is recovering nicely at Walkin N Circles Ranch, a horse rescue operation in Edgewood, according to this week's Mountain View Telegraph.

Holly -- named for professional boxer Holly Holm, who once lived in Edgewood -- is "a survivor; she's a fighter," Colleen Novotny, founder of Walkin N Circles, told the Telegraph.

The near-newborn filly was found on the property of Elizabeth Burr on April 27 when a deputy who was there to serve paperwork in an unrelated case, the Telegraph said.

"We found the horse near death,"  Torrance County Sheriff's Deputy Erwin Young told the Telegraph.

According to a report on KOAT-TV, deputies found dogs chewing away on the 2-day-old filly's upper thigh and at first thought the horse was dead until they noticed her eyes moving.

Deputies took immediate action and secured a court order to remove the horse from the property, and Burr was charged with animal cruelty, Action 7 News reported.

"This is the youngest horse that I've found that I've taken," Young told the Telegraph. "In the course of the investigation we got three stories from the owners ... They want the horse, but I want to do my best not to give it back."

The horse was taken to Western Trails Veterinary Hospital, where it was given antibiotics and a blood-plasma transfusion, and veterinarians determined that the young horse had never even had its mother's milk, the Telegraph reported.

After a few days of intensive care, Holly was turned over to the protective custody of Walkin N Circles, and Novotny has keeping constant watch.

Novotny told the Telegraph she even takes Holly home at night, making sure the animal has milk, antibiotics, probiotics and other treatments, and where she cleans, treats and rewraps Holly's injured leg.

Investigators told KOAT-TV that Burr has another 16 horses on her property, but members of Burr's family told Action 7 News she treats her animals well.

"My mother never neglected the horses," Burr's daughter Mae Bernard told KOAT-TV. "She never tortured them or whatever."

Meanwhile, the rescue ranch is providing all of Holly's care and paying for her medications and feedings, so anyone who wishes to help pay those expenses can call Walkin N Circles at (505) 286-0779, Action 7 News reported.

In another case of alleged animal abuse, Dona Ana County sheriff's investigators have learned that a horse found dead in Radium Springs on May 5 died of starvation and dehydration, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported.

Sheriff's investigators at first found two emaciated horses being kept in stables off Fort Selden Road, then located the dead animal at another location in Radium Springs, the Sun-News said.

Investigators learned that the three horses had been taken to Radium Springs and left there some time between December and February for training and sale by a person who currently lives in Portales, the Sun-News reported. 

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