On Wednesday a Dallas County man pled guilty in court for failing to bury his livestock properly.

Roger Lecuyer, 57, was arrested in December on animal cruelty charges for more than five horses on his property that were malnourished and had open sores, as well as an improper burial charge for one horse.

Lecuyer pled guilty and was fined and ordered to pay the bail bond fees by District Judge Tim Evans.

District Attorney Michael Jackson said Lecuyer was also prohibited from keeping or bringing horses or other livestock into Dallas County for one year. Authorities with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department said they were receiving constant phone call complaints about the condition of horses on Lecuyer’s property that appeared to be malnourished, those driving by his property said they could see the horses’ ribs and deep sores that were going untreated.

Sgt. Granthum, upon Lecuyer’s arrest in December, said when questioned, he told the sheriff’s department he considered himself to be a horse rescuer and said, “What he does is he goes to the stock yards and he buys these horses for pennies on the dollar that the stock yard doesn’t want.”

Granthum said upon investigating Lecuyer’s property, they discovered a horse buried improperly in a septic tank.

“What he did is he drug the horse to what he called a vault,” Granthum said. “But what it actually is, is an abandoned septic tank — it’s on his property that he leases.”

State law mandates that after an animal dies, other than being slaughtered for food, it must be buried two feet at least in the ground or burned. The burial or burning must occur less than 24 hours following the death.

Police suspect Lecuyer may not have been able to feed the horses and care for them due to financial reasons and said he had no prior animal cruelty charges. Granthum said some food given to horses was by nearby residents who felt so bad for the horses that they tossed food over the fence to them.