Ribs showing, hips showing, pregnant, or unable to eat — those were the heartbreaking symptoms that rescuers say they had to deal with when they came upon the horses allegedly neglected by Dr. Renny Shoop and Kim Shoop late last month.

Both were charged with 11 counts of animal cruelty on Wednesday.State police, assisted by several local animal rescue groups, removed the 16 horses and a long list of other farm animals from a farm owned by Dr. Shoop.The horses weren’t beaten or worked too hard. Rather, they were neglected and emaciated, according to rescuers.But several deceased horses were found on the property, in addition to the horses were rescued.That suggested they were neglected for a long period of time, according to Emily Monsen, adoptions coordinator for Last Chance Ranch. The facility which has been housing some of the horses.“It was the number of horses, the severity of it. Two were pregnant and not receiving any care,” Monsen said.“And it was a veterinarian who did this — a person that’s supposed to dedicate his life to saving animals.”Since the rescue, four of the horses had to be put down because of their injuries. The rest have been placed at rescues and veterinarians in Bucks County and Maryland, where some are in better shape than others.Five of the horses are currently housed at Last Chance Ranch, located in Bucks County. The ranch has also taken in more than a dozen sheep and goats that were found on the property, who are in good health. Several of those are also pregnant.Emily Monsen said the horses they took in showed symptoms of being underfed — hips and bones showing, and gastrointestinal problems. Two of them are pregnant.Two of the horses have to be kept indoors as they put on weight and become healthy again.“We’re taking it day by day with them,” she said. “But they have such a will to live.”They gave the horses names from Nickelodeon shows, which is part of the process of helping the animal adjust to its new life.“Otto,” the oldest of the surviving horses, was severely underweight because he has no teeth, and could not eat the grass where he grazed. Now, he can’t stop eating.Clarissa, a 7-year-old mare, is pregnant, but has had a rocky road since the rescue.A local fire company had to come and help upright her after she was unable to stand under her own power. A “downed” horse can suffer from medical problems that could be fatal, Monsen said.“A 7-year-old horse shouldn’t be that bad off,” she said.The horses will require a significant amount of dental work and work on their hoofs, as well as food and training.Monsen said the community has come through with an outpouring of more than $30,000 after they went online to ask for funding to help the neglected horses.“I thought if we raised $5,000 it would be great, but to reach over $30,000 is unreal,” she said.In addition to the animals’ care, that money will also go toward the cost of delivering and raising two foals.Monsen said that will be another challenge for the ranch.Monsen said that often people will give up a horse if they don’t have the money to pay for its essentials.But Monsen said what occurred at the Shoops’ farm was something different — a deep neglect that took place over a series of months and years.“They had to watch this happen over a long period of time. Pull into their driveway and see it happening, and not care,” she said.It wasn’t just horses removed from the property. Police also took a pig, a calf and a turkey during the first search; 20 sheep and goats, as well as three dogs during the second. Police said a raccoon, an alligator, a boa constrictor and several birds were also on the property.In addition to Last Chance, animal rescue organizations including Days’ End Farm Horse Rescue in Woodbine, Maryland, Carbon County Friends of Animals and Carbon County Animal Shelter.Monsen said that while horses are often not easy to adopt, the horses from the Shoops’ farm are all well-behaved and love people.She said that they don’t act like abused animals, and some of them are even trained to carry a rider.“Someone did something with them at some point, which makes it even more heartbreaking that they were loved, then ended up in the condition that they were in,” she said.