Animals abused to the brink of starvation and even death. Dogs tied to trees and left without food, water and shelter on scorching-hot days. Horses so skinny that their ribs and other bones show. Even an iguana met an unfortunate fate when it froze to death in an abandoned house.

As a senior animal-control officer and cruelty investigator for Johnston County, Davis often wonders how he can continue to witness such horrors. But he is reminded of the reason with every animal that gets another chance at life because of his efforts. He has been looking after the abused animals in Johnston for seven years, but the job is hard.

Most of the 500 calls Davis responds to each year involve horses and dogs. He recently went to a home to check on two horses that were reportedly extremely skinny. Part of the complaint was true. One horse appeared healthy, but the other horse was obviously sick. Davis immediately gave the horse a body-condition score of 1.5. Ideally, a horse should score between five and six.

The owner of the property was not home, so Davis got a closer look at the sick horse. The horse had cracked hooves that needed to be trimmed. A fungus was growing along its sunken back. Hay was not visible, and the only available grass was in the yard, which was not near the horses. Large piles of horse feces were scattered throughout the yard.

“When it gets like this, it is harder to rehabilitate the horse, but can it be done?” Davis asked after leaving a note on the property owner’s door. “Oh yes. I’ve had a lot that were worse, and they are now healthy.”

The property owner had 24 hours to respond to Davis’ notice. He tried not to immediately blame the owner for the horse’s condition. Since the other horse was healthy, Davis wondered if the sick horse had a medical condition or if the healthy horse was hogging the food. Regardless, Davis wanted to talk to the owner to find out how to get the sick horse healthy again.

If a property owner does not respond to Davis’ notice, he goes out again. Depending on the severity of the animal’s health, Davis will issue fines, which have increased from $100 to $500 each time he goes to the property, and he can get a warrant to seize the animal. Horses are cared for the by the U.S. Equine Rescue League, while other animals are taken to the Smithfield shelter.

In some cases, Davis is able to present enough evidence to prosecute the owner. Davis always asks the property owner to pay for the animal’s medical expenses and not own another animal for a certain period. Davis once had a judge tell a pit bull owner he could never own another animal, not even a goldfish.

“This man adopted a pit bull from us and took it to his girlfriend’s house,” Davis said. “They were living together at the time. He left, and she wasn’t feeding the dog, so the dog starved to death on a chain. They had another puppy that was hers. It was walking around and laying with the dead dog.”

Davis commonly responds to calls about dogs knocking over their water and food bowls, horses not being properly fed because of higher feed costs and lack of shade for dogs. Those problems can be fixed by educating the owner. But for those who do not listen to Davis, he makes sure the animals do not suffer the consequences.

“When I get to your house, I am there to help,” Davis said. “I am nice, and I will be until the point that you don’t do what I am asking you to do for the animal. You will never go to the grocery store and see an animal pushing that cart to get something to eat or drink. They are like babies. They depend on us to take care of them.”