Another article on the case. Once again, horses are finding new homes before the defendants have their day in court. What happened to innocent until proven guilty?
I'm still skeptical, maybe by nature or maybe from experience... one horse was for sure malnourished, but the other two seemed simply underweight and not in danger.
Abused horses are on the road to rehab [link]
KXLY.com | Sep 17, 2008
SPOKANE—Less than two weeks after being rescued from Stevens County, three malnourished horses are on the road to recovery.
After rescuers found three horses starving and underweight, they're starting new lives with new names.
"I couldn't believe I was seeing it in real life," said Dan Olson, who adopted one of the horses. "I don't know, I can't even explain it."
Two weeks ago, Rocky Stallion and Cinderella got a second chance. Both were severely malnourished after being rescued from Stevens County. The smallest of the two barely able to stand.
Now both horses have new outlooks and new names. Rocky now answers to "Chance" and Cinderella's new nickname is "C.C."
"We hemmed and hahhed and hemmed and hahhed, and we knew it was going to be a huge task," said Kim Olson.
C.C. was taken in by the Olson's, but the horse has a long way to go. She's about two years old, but is only half the size she should be.
"She's going to be pretty fragile, and not really out of the woods for about four months," said Kim.
Chance is a lot better off but still underweight.
"I have horses myself, and you can't see their ribs," said Joleen Williams who adopted Chance. "Looking at my mare the other day, I couldn't even feel some of the bones you see on him."
Williams' adopted Chance after hearing about the malnourished horses. She hopes he'll become her riding companion.
"He isn't halter broke, hopefully get some weight on him during the winter, send him to a trainer, so I can start riding him," she said.
And for C.C., those who've grown to love her say a happy ending is planned.
"I'd really like her to pull a cart, and take her to kids camps and little junior parades because of her deformities and her Cinderella story," said Dan.
Many local businesses and individuals have been helping with the horse's rehabilitation. The third horse, IB Spotless, may soon be adopted by a new owner.
Um, if you can't feel your horses' ribs, the horse is OBESE. That's really not a good thing. That is no healthier than being somewhat underweight, and in some cases, it is far worse. (See the Obese Horse of the Day blog.)
"Rocky/Chance" is underweight. Does underweight mean, needs to be rescued? Not always. If being obese is worse than being somewhat underweight, should animal control also be seizing "fat" horses? If no, why not?
The trend of losing your horse because you can see ribs, regardless of other issues, is very disturbing. Facing felony charges and having horse-ignorant judges and juries determine your fate is alarming.
Look at "Cinderella/C.C." just two weeks after the original video and screencaps. See how much better she looks after just two weeks? Truth is, a horse can go downhill just as quickly, and we don't know why she was skinny when seized or even if the owner she was taken from is the party responsible for her scarred nose.
In addition, a two year old of a certain breed, or even a bloodline within a breed, is genetically predispositioned to be larger or smaller than a horse the same age with different lineage. You can't put a pair of horses the same age next to each other and expect them to be the same size. If you're going to try to make a point, at least make it a valid one.
I want to know more about this case. Why has there been no coverage of the previous owner and the situation that led to this "rescue"?
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