Butler County District Attorney Rich Goldinger is pulling the reins on two cases of animal abuse filed against horse owners.

Goldinger said one case has been withdrawn, another will be withdrawn soon, and “because of the obvious increase in these (horse) cases, I am going to form a committee to create a protocol in how to handle in these matters in the future.”

Formation of the committee already is in motion, and it would include representation from the horse owners as well as Equine Angels, the animal advocacy group that has raised some of the abuse allegations to prosecutors, Goldinger said.

Pam Vivirito, founder of Equine Angels, said she was aware of the decision to drop the cases and said it’s let down to her organization’s work.

Vivrito said this decision and the recent round of negative publicity, related in part to these cases, has the group pondering it’s future.

“I think Butler County as a whole would rather see neglected horses than enforce any charges,” Vivirito said.

The criminal case already withdrawn involved three dozen charges of animal cruelty against 49-year-old Brian Arendosh of Fairview Township, according to Goldinger.

Arendosh defended his care of the animals, saying they were properly housed, fed and watered.

Of his decision on Arendosh’s case, Goldinger would say only, “In the interest in justice and using our prosecutorial discretion, we withdrew the citations.”

In a second case, citations still are pending against Gerry J. Geibel, 22, of Summit Township. However, Goldinger said he will withdraw that case soon.

Geibel faces six counts of animal cruelty for allegedly failing to provide adequate shelter for some of his horses.

Of his decision on this case, Goldinger said, “The horse owners were given an opportunity to correct the problem, and they complied. We had an agreement that the citations would be withdrawn if they complied.”

Butler attorney Alexander Lindsay, who represents both Arendosh and Geibel, declined to comment, saying he had not received direct confirmation from the district attorney’s office on either case.