19 horses were moved to the Abilene Animal Shelter after being found abandoned on a man's property in Ranger.

"The horses are being loaded and coming to Abilene because the people in Ranger don't have any place to keep them," said Paul Washburn with Rescue The Animals, SPCA. "We will be paying the expenses for taking care of the animals."

Landowner Pat Collins said he got a phone call Tuesday night from a neighbor alerting him there were horses on his property. Wednesday morning he checked and found 20 horses abandoned on his land, one was already dead. He said the ribs and backbones were visible on the animals and they were clearly malnourished.

"One of the problems is putting weight back on these animals," Washburn said. "If you feed them too much it'll kill them."

Washburn said he will buy a special feed called 'Thrive' that will help them gain weight.

"They'll gain weight probably twice as fast as tehy would on some other type of feed," he said. "We need cash donations to help pay for the feed."

Washburn said they'll also need round hay bales. If anyone wants to adopt the horses they can visit them at the Abilene Animal Shelter. He urges people to know their limitations and abilities to care for animals before they decide to adopt, especially in the case of high-maintenance animals like horses.

Police in Ranger have a suspect for the animal cruelty but have not released the name. Due to the number of animals involved and the one that died, if convicted the person could face a first degree felony.