Eleven horses have been seized from a Cumberland County farm after allegedly being neglected for years.

The trouble started with the caretaker of the animals, Tammy Montiel, last year at her farm in Harnett County. She then moved the horses to Cumberland County assuring animal control that she would work to improve the situation.

The United States Equine Rescue League got involved in January when the horses remained malnourished. The group also gave Montiel time to get the horses health back on track but she did not comply according to the Executive Director of the U.S. Equine Rescue League Jennifer Hack.

Now, The USERL has custody of two horses at their facility in Wake Forest and the others are being cared for at farms around the Triangle. Hack said it's sad and shocking.

"It angers me. We offer not just for her but most of our cases we offer education, we offer to help. In January, we offered to take some of the worst horses and allow her to donate them to use her resources to save the rest but she refused so it's frustrating," Hack said.

The horses are being nursed back to health but the investigation continues and the owner could face 11 counts of misdemeanor animal neglect.