This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The man who owned a malnourished horse dubbed Elsa — that died in January 2014, two weeks after being found frozen to a patch of mud in Iron County — was sentenced Tuesday to 30 days in jail.
Sonn Kent Berrett, 39, of Enoch, was sentenced immediately after pleading guilty to two class B misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty.
In exchange for Berrett's pleas, prosecutors dismissed two counts of failure to vaccinate and two counts of failure to license an animal.
In addition to the jail time, Iron County Justice Court Judge Margaret Miller ordered Berrett, as part of an 18-month probation, to pay a $1,246 fine and not possess any animals.
The Independent of southern Utah reported that Barrett will serve his time on weekends, beginning April 11, so he can maintain his employment at Southern Utah University.
The Independent also reported that the judge left open the amount restitution Berrett must pay, which would include veterinarian fees that were accrued for care of Elsa and her mother, along with costs associated with their rescue.
The 1½-year-old filly was hypothermic and nearly dead when passersby discovered her and her starving, abandoned mother Jan. 2, according to Ginger Grimes, of Dust Devil Ranch Sanctuary for Horses near Cedar City.
The sanctuary took in the horses and named them after the characters from "Frozen" — Elsa's mother was called Anna.
Elsa should have weighed 700 to 800 pounds, but the ranch found her at only 400 pounds. She was put under 24-hour surveillance and was bouncing back the second week of January. Though the staff initially had to lift the horse's head to get her into a sitting position to drink, she grew stronger and was eventually standing and rubbing noses with her mother.
But Elsa died Jan. 18.