Edmonton man charged with animal cruelty for abandoning horses

An Edmonton lawyer has been charged with animal cruelty after two horses were abandoned in the snow on a mountain near McBride, B.C., last fall.

Frank McKay is facing two counts under the federal Criminal Code and one count under B.C.'s Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, the SPCA in B.C. announced Tuesday.

In December, snowmobilers found McKay's two horses starving and trapped in the snow on the side of Mount Renshaw.

They brought them food and blankets while volunteers spent a week digging a one-kilometre trench through deep snow in order to reach them.  

The SPCA in B.C. put the horses in foster care.

Earlier this month, they were adopted by people in Prince George and  Kamloops.

In December, Mackay told CBC News he had tried twice to rescue his horses on his own but that during his last attempt in early December, he realized the snow was just too deep and he would have to leave the horses on the mountain.

McKay is scheduled to make his first court appearance in June.

A conviction could bring a maximum fine of $10,000, up to five years in jail and a ban on owning animals.