Four-legged animals are at the heart of a Barren County controversy that has played out since 2019, but bipedal political animals are moving it forward to its ultimate destination: a court of law.

Greg Turner and Brittany Turner of Christian County, owners of the BG Stables business, have filed a lawsuit in Barren Circuit Court, seeking compensatory and punitive damages against various Barren County officials for what the lawsuit alleges was an unlawful seizure from Barren River Lake State Resort Park of nine horses owned by the Turners.

Barren County Judge-Executive Micheal Hale, his wife, Shani Hale, the county’s seven magistrates, Glasgow Mayor Harold Armstrong and Barren County Animal Control Officer Shelley Furlong are all named as defendants in a lawsuit filed by Brownsville attorney Gary Logsdon on behalf of the Turners.

The lawsuit, which was filed June 13, is the latest abrupt turn in a story with more twists and bumps than a bucking bronco, and it comes despite Greg Turner pleading guilty in February 2021 to nine separate counts of cruelty to animals in the second degree.

That guilty plea would seem to hinder the Turners’ case, but attorney Logsdon discounts the damage.

In his complaint filed with Barren Circuit Court, Logsdon alleges the prosecution of the Turners was “an intentional, malicious and perverse use of the judicial process not justified by the underlying evidence.”

As for the forfeiture of the horses that was part of Turner’s guilty plea, Logsdon said: “He (Turner) agreed to forfeit the horses, but we didn’t know what we know now.”

Logsdon didn’t elaborate on what new information he might bring to the case, and neither Hale nor his attorney – Aaron Smith of Bowling Green’s English, Lucas, Priest & Owsley law firm – would comment on the pending case.

The dispute has been discussed in great detail, both by elected officials and Barren County residents, at Barren Fiscal Court meetings since that Sept. 10, 2019, removal of the horses from the park.

That removal came after animal control officers responded to complaints of abandoned horses at the park and reportedly found 10 ailing horses.

Veterinarian Steve Webb of Glasgow evaluated the horses and found them to be underweight. One of the horses was in such poor condition that it was euthanized, according to a report by Glasgow’s WCLU radio station.

Nine horses were then removed from the park and kept on a farm owned by Steve Bulle, who is also a defendant in the lawsuit.

The horses were eventually returned to the state park, where they have been used on occasion in therapy sessions with special-needs children.

Hale has said the horses were an attraction at the park and have boosted tourism, but some magistrates and county residents have called for getting rid of the horses because of liability and expense concerns.

Although Hale reported that federal American Rescue Plan Act funds have helped with the costs of keeping the horses at the park, fiscal court took action in April to find a buyer for the horses.

No sale has yet been made, though, and Logsdon said Thursday that the horses are still at the park.

Now, in an election year in which Democrat Hale faces opposition from Republican Jamie Bewley Byrd and most of the seven magistrate seats are being contested, the fate of the horses and the fate of those elected officials are becoming intertwined.

Logsdon, who asked for a jury trial in his complaint, doesn’t expect a resolution anytime soon.

“This will take some time,” he said. “It’s political theater.”