Sentencing postponed for woman guilty of animal cruelty in horse case

Robin Vess talks about being convicted of 42 counts of animal cruelty in Ottawa County Municipal Court in Port Clinton on April 30.

PORT CLINTON — The sentencing of an Oak Harbor woman convicted of cruelty to animals for failing to feed and properly care for her horses was postponed Friday, after the defendant's lawyer filed three last-minute motions in the case.

Robin Vess, 55, was scheduled to be sentenced in Ottawa County Municipal Court on Friday afternoon. No new date has yet been set.

The former horse owner, who founded the Arabian Horse Club of Greater Toledo, was pronounced guilty April 30 on 42 separate cruelty counts, each a second-degree misdemeanor.

The Humane Society of Ottawa County raided Ms. Vess' Carroll Township farm Jan. 29 and removed 36 horses after receiving an anonymous tip that the animals were malnourished and in poor condition.

Ms. Vess has denied she abused or starved the horses, and said she was suffering from depression at the time the horses were taken.