A local businessman was bound to the grand jury this week on animal cruelty charges amid allegations seven horses on his ranch were sick and malnourished.The defendant, Sid Stanton, was bound to the grand jury by General Sessions Judge Larry Ross on seven counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty.His indictment comes after lawmen raided his Sparta Highway ranch in July and seized 21 horses they felt were malnourished. They chose to file charges against him for seven of the horses.According to sheriff’s investigator Jason Rowland, the raid was sparked by a report that a horse had been left for an extended period inside a horse trailer on the property and that a passerby on the highway had reported it.Rowland noted the ranch sits between Sparta Highway and Old Rock Island Road making about 90 percent of the property visible from a roadway. Rowland said he used this visibility to conduct surveillance on the ranch for most of June, noting he did not see a proper feed supply most of the time.