Georgia: impounded horses auctioned.

Horses seized due to neglect, auctioned off for as little as $5 ...

Drought, bad economy driving up animal neglect complaints [link]
Merritt Melancon | Aug 24, 2008

Horses in Georgia more and more frequently head to the auction block or the state impound farm because their owners can't afford to feed them. The state's drought has burned pastures to a crisp, forcing owners to supplement their horses' diets with expensive store-bought feed or let them go hungry. Unfortunately, some choose the latter, state Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin said. The number of malnourished horses seized by state Department of Agriculture agents is on the rise, and so is the number of neglect complaints filed with local law enforcement agencies. More and more often these days, people see an emaciated-looking horse or cow standing in a pasture and call police, said David Cochran, chief deputy at the Jackson County Sheriff's Office.

Many livestock owners put their animals out to pasture to feed mostly on wild-growing grasses during the summer, supplementing their diets with a little hay and oats. That works—if the grass grows fast enough to keep a horse well-nourished, Irvin said. But after the second consecutive summer with little rain, most pastureland is parched and overgrazed, and what's left standing has little nutritional value. In a drought like this, horses need additional feed, and some owners either don't know that or can't afford the extra oats and hay, Irvin said. "With pastures as dry as they are, you have to add other forages," he said. "There's just no life left out there." Buying feed is an extra that many horse owners think they can cut out when times get financially tight, Irvin said. But if horse owners can't afford store-bought feed, they shouldn't own a horse, he said. "It's common knowledge that the least expensive part of horse ownership is buying the horse," he said.

While the number of animal control complaints filed with the Jackson County Sheriff's Office has decreased compared to last year, the number of neglect complaints involving livestock has risen, Cochran said. "I think there are lot more coming in," he said. "It's due in part to the economy, but a lot of it has to do with the pastures dying off because of the drought. People aren't providing extra feed, and the animals are losing weight. The number of complaints is just going to keep going up until we see a break in the drought." When they get a neglect complaint, sheriff's deputies and agriculture agents usually try to find a way for the owner to sell the horse privately before the agriculture department seizes the animal. Officials only confiscate an animal immediately if it is severely malnourished, Irvin said.

Still, with only the worst of the worst cases ending up at the state's horse impound facility in Mansfield, agriculture department officials already have impounded 10 more horses so far this year than they did in all of 2007. Horses taken to the Mansfield impound farm get nursed back to health, then are auctioned off about once a month to help fund the care and rehabilitation of other seized horses, said Arty Schronce, agriculture department spokesman. Lately, with the demand for horses down due to the drought and the economy, it's been harder a make the money needed to fund the rehab center, Irvin said. An auction of 32 impounded horses held last week at the Mansfield facility raised $10,960. Horses there sold for an average price of $342, but one sold for as low as $5, Schronce said.

The private auction market isn't much better, said Shannon Winstead, who operates monthly horse and goat auctions at the Eastanollee Livestock Auction in Stephens County. Winstead has seen an increase in the number of people wanting sell their horses over the past year, and he's seen a slight drop in the prices people are willing to pay for horses. "There's been some horses showing up because of the economy and because of the drought," Winstead said. "We haven't seen a really large increase yet. But if this drought keeps going, they'll be here."

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