BUTLER TWP — Three quarter horses were rescued Thursday from a Butler Township home after a gas line worker complained to the Pennsylvania State Police, Butler barracks.

“They are doing good,” said Pamela Vivirito, founder of Equine Angels Rescue of Cabot, about the unnamed horses. “They are going to have a long road ahead.”

The horses appear to have been neglected for months, Vivirito said. They are underweight, low on electrolytes, infested with worms and anemic.

When they were found, they were dehydrated, ungroomed and suffering from muscle atrophy because of a lack of exercise. In addition, they had no shelter because it was filled with manure.

“One was trembling,” Vivirito said. “She had no more fat to protect her from the elements.”

Horse health is ranked on a scale from one to 10 and all three horses are a “one,” Vivirito said, although none are in danger of dying.

The horses were examined by Brian Burks, director of the Fox Run Equine Center in Apollo, who is the rescue group’s barn veterinarian.

The quarter horses are different ages. One is in its 20s, a second is about 10 years old and a third is about 3, but is the size of a 1-year-old, Vivirito said.

“Between no food and nowhere to exercise, she’s not where she should be,” she said.

The home, a ranch-style house, was occupied by three young adults in their 20s. The horses’ owner, a brother of one of the occupants who lives in Meridian, also is in his mid-20s.

The owner agreed to surrender the horses as long as his name and address were kept secret, Vivirito said.

A gas pipeline has taken up most of the home’s small pasture, which was strewn with junk and had turned into mud, Vivirito said.

The animals could not be seen from the road because they were held behind the property, she said. The pipeline worker, a woman who worked in the woods behind the home, saw the horses and called the state police repeatedly, Vivirito said. She’s asked to remain anonymous.

State police called the Butler County Area Response Team, who are quick responders for emergencies involving animals. Vivirito is on the CART board of directors.

“We got them out the same day (of the call),” Vivirito said.

Vivirito said the rescue organization has been overwhelmed by rescues, which are nonstop, peaking at about 39 horses a month ago. Now there are about 25 horses at the farm, including seven underweight. Foster families stepped up to take the others, she said.

“It’s a very bad hay situation this year,” she said, with a sparser crop than usual. “People don’t realize how much it takes for a horse to get through the winter.”

Vivirito said the rescue group would pursue charges against the young people, since there is no humane officer in Butler County.

In Pennsylvania, cruelty to animals is a summary offense carrying a maximum fine of $750 and up to 90 days in prison per charge. Those charges could be filed by police or the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Donations for the rescue group can be sent to: Equine Angels Rescue, 135 Durango Lane, Cabot, PA 16023.

The Mars Agway also accepts donations for feed. Those can be sent to the store at P.O. Box 450, Mars, PA 16046.