skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Another story emerging.Neglected Horses Rescued from Wood County Farm [link]
Wisconsin Ag Connection | Aug 25, 2008
Authorities seized seven horses that were being neglected from a Wood County farm on Friday after humane officers had been monitoring them for more than a year. According to Lt. Robert Levendoske, the animals had no food and did not appear to have received proper care. Reports indicated that they were in various stages of malnutrition and were taken to a safe location where they will be cared for and examined by a veterinarian.
Gannett Newspapers reports that owner, Gary Emmerick, recently began to refuse to cooperate with the officers about the situation. He was served last Wednesday with a warrant that authorized authorities to check the condition of the horses. But when Emmerick answered the door, the deputy noticed what appeared to be the handle of a handgun sticking out of Emmerick's pocket.
He was arrested the next day and taken into custody without incident on a charge of disorderly conduct. Emmerick has since been released from jail after posting a $2,500 signature bond.
The humane officers' investigation into possible neglect charges against Emmerick is only beginning, Levendoske said. At this point, it is unknown whether officials will request any charges in addition to the disorderly conduct charge.
XP
Following a story where "neglect" may be in the eye of the beholder... have not seen pics, but an older Thoroughbred, especially a stallion, is not going to look like a hog-fat halter bred QH at any stage of life.Cruelty charges at horse farm reignite feud between SPCA, agriculture agency [link]
BRIAN T. MURRAY | Aug 25, 2008
Patrick Nelson sees nothing wrong with the two dozen or so horses he breeds at a small farm in Burlington County. They're lean, a bit bony and muscular—just how retired thoroughbreds at the "end of their line" should be, he said. An insurance broker by trade, Nelson purchases the old horses to stud them before they die. But neighbors in rural Springfield Township see things differently. They called the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals earlier this year, complaining the horses were neglected and underfed. The SPCA agreed, but agents said the state Department of Agriculture urged them to back off. SPCA officials said the department discouraged them from filing cruelty charges in February so agriculture officials could monitor the stables and deal with neighbors' concerns.
It wasn't until May, after five horses died and a foal was put down because it got stuck under a gate, that the SPCA filed charges. Now, long-simmering divisions have erupted between the two state agencies (the SPCA operates under the state Attorney General's Office), prompting a high-level sitdown today between the groups. "It could be an issue of different people seeing the same situation two different ways," said Department of Agriculture Secretary Charles Kuperus. "Tensions do occur, and different perspectives on different cases are going to continue. But we are working to minimize the number of these kinds of cases."
The SPCA has filed 44 charges of cruelty against both Nelson, 60, who lives 80 miles north of the farm in the Lake Hiawatha section of Parsippany, and his hired-hand, Dennis Cameron, 48, of Piscataway. The charges don't pertain to dead horses, but rather to 10 living ones allegedly neglected, denied food, medical care and proper shelter in recent months. "Horses die. That happens on a farm. I'm not even saying that some didn't die of natural causes here," said Frank Rizzo, superintendent of the SPCA. "But I think that if we could have written the tickets in February ... some of the animals would have lived." Rizzo accused agriculture officials of habitually standing in the way of the SPCA by threatening to testify for farmers accused of cruelty. But farmers say the problem is overzealous agents. "Farmers are reasonably concerned about groups or people who are not familiar with livestock, trying to determine what is or is not humane treatment," said Liz Thompson of the New Jersey Farm Bureau. "The SPCA doesn't specialize in livestock."
The SPCA doesn't argue that widespread animal abuse is happening on New Jersey farms. Instead, it says the problem lies with the occasional farmer who has animals and finds himself in financial trouble. "The economic downturn is putting some stress on people with all types of farm animals, but it's mostly the marginal livestock operations—people who may not be true farmers, but more like collectors," said Matt Stanton, an SPCA spokesman. The dispute between the SPCA and the agriculture department, according to officials on both sides, dates to a set of landmark regulations enacted in 2004 that called for "humane treatment" of livestock. Animal rights activists and the SPCA challenged the laws in court as inadequate. Last month, the state Supreme Court upheld the standards, but the dispute lingers and the SPCA now is in the odd position of enforcing regulations it opposed. Meanwhile, Kuperus noted, agriculture was left with an expert staff of veterinarians who had no enforcement power. Because the regulations require notification and involvement of agriculture officials, Rizzo said he is frustrated.
In the South Jersey case, things were complicated because the people charged with cruelty don't own the farm or stables. Neighbor Maggie Payne said the problems there had been going on for years, starting with dilapidated fences. "I started seeing horses where you can see their ribs, hair falling out and open wounds. Bloody, infected eyes—it's just gross," she said. She called the SPCA after filing charges against the farm owner in municipal court concerning the dilapidated property. Nelson agreed that "disrepair" of the stables was part of the problem. He said as many as five horses "got rain-rot" last winter, losing hair and weight after getting out of a shelter and not being able to get back in. "But we tried to move our horses to a new place, and the SPCA prevented it. So who is cruel here?" he said. "I have proof that those horses have been properly fed. The SPCA, the people around there—they know nothing about thoroughbreds. Thoroughbreds don't look like a pleasure horse."
XP
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."
XP
How does anyone leave a horse in a ditch?!
Check out the news video ... amazing.Abandoned Horses Looking For Homes [link]
Joan Murray | Aug 23, 2008
South Florida's animal shelters are seeing an overflowing number of pets being brought in after their owners have flat-out abandoned them. But it's not just dogs and cats facing homelessness; now, even horses are looking for somebody to love and cherish them.
Two horses starving and left to die in Miami now have a second chance at life. The horses were found stuck in a four foot ditch on Friday at SW 168th Street and 199 Avenue. Miami-Dade's large animal rescue unit helped bring the stranded horses to safety. They were given temporary shelter in the Redland before being brought to the SPCA in Northwest Miami-Dade Saturday afternoon.
"I haven't seen horses in this bad of a condition ever. And I've been around horses 40 years." said volunteer Vicki Castellano, "It's a reflection of the economy. People can't afford to feed their pets anymore and they're letting them loose." The gray mare is being called "Miracle." That's because volunteers caring for her say it will be one if she lives.
Besides Miracle and a gelding named "Trooper," Laurie Waggoner, who runs the SPCA ranch, is taking care of a third horse, found discarded on a foreclosed property. "At one time I'm sure they were used as riding horses," she said. "One still has shoes on. I don't believe they walked away... the animals were dumped out there."
Waggoner's job now is to get the animals on the road to recovery. "They're alert, hungry and on antibiotics," says Waggoner. It isn't cheap. In the last year, the price of feeding a horse has doubled. It goes back to gas. Everything is harder to come by," she explains. It's partially a reason some people are abandoning their pets.
The cost to feed a horse is at least 40 dollars a week and that doesn't include vet bills. The SPCA is now caring for 45 horses and many were in the same shape as the two horses brought in Saturday before being brought back from the brink.
The SPCA in Northwest Miami-Dade relies completely on donations, and they're running out of money. But there's no other choice; leaving the creatures by the road is just not an option. Now, volunteers are looking for somebody to give the animals a new home.
XP
Both feral and domesticated.Oregon's horse population outpaces ability to care for them [link]
Richard Cockle | Aug 23, 2008
Joan Steelhammer planned to care for 35 unwanted and neglected horses this summer at her nonprofit central Oregon sanctuary. It didn't work out that way. Steelhammer's Equine Outreach on 20 acres near Bend Municipal Airport, is feeding 1 ton of high-priced hay daily to about 100 abandoned horses. She's worried about the approach of colder weather, when more financially strapped owners might decide they can't afford to feed their horses hay costing more than $200 per ton. "I'm scared to death about this winter," says the 54-year-old real estate broker. "I wake up at 3 a.m. scared."
Oregon and the nation are in the throes of a population explosion of horses, both wild and domestic. The surge in horse numbers—estimated at 9.2 million animals by the American Horse Council in Washington, D.C.—is aggravated by a sluggish national economy, soaring hay and fuel prices, and the 2007 closure of the nation's last domestic horse slaughter facilities.
$190,000 a year
Steelhammer and her husband, Gary Everett, rely on donations to help cover their $190,000-a-year costs to feed and care for unwanted horses in the shelter they have operated about five years. They offer domestic horses for adoption after rescuing and rehabilitating them.
Oregon has 3,750 wild horses on its open ranges, well above the 2,855 level that range managers prefer, said Gary McFadden, a federal Bureau of Land Management wild horse specialist in Burns. About 175 wild horses are penned at the bureau's corrals near Burns, down substantially from a more typical 440 wild horses there in January 2007. The BLM's budget crunch put the brakes on roundups that normally gathered 500 to 600 wild horses a year to protect Oregon's open ranges, said McFadden. This year's roundups have corralled only 234 horses. Wild horse adoptions have declined, in part, because of the cheap availability of thousands of unwanted domestic horses. Without an increase in its budget, BLM soon will be faced with implementing one or more unpopular options to control wild horses, said Tom Gorey, BLM spokesman in Washington, D.C.
So the BLM may propose in October:
- Humanely killing wild horses that nobody wants to adopt.
- Selling unwanted horses "to any buyer whatsoever," virtually guaranteeing many or most would be trucked to slaughter facilities in Canada or Mexico.
- Ending wild horse roundups. BLM roundups remove about 10,000 horses a year from federal rangelands. Halting them would stop the torrent of wild horses into long- and short-term care, where costs to feed and care for them range between $1.25 and $5.08 a day for each.
- Killing or selling wild horses under conditions that could lead to their slaughter are authorized under provisions of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, he said.
"It is not a matter of us wanting to exercise either option," Gorey said. But with a budget of $37 million for the wild horse and burro program, the agency can't continue with the current program, he said.
Use of rangelands
Scott Beckstead, an attorney for the Humane Society of the United States, says BLM and the ranching industry contend there are too many wild mustangs, but the federal rangelands could sustain many more if there were fewer cattle.
"I will agree there is an overpopulation of domestic horses," largely because of indiscriminate breeding, said Beckstead. Beckstead is the director of the new 1,120-acre Duchess Sanctuary near Eugene that opened this summer to rescue horses. It shelters 155 horses from Canada that were used in the collection of premarin from pregnant mares for an estrogen replacement drug for women. Ultimately, the sanctuary could hold as many as 400 horses, he said.
As wild horse numbers increase in the absence of roundups, the BLM may come under increased pressure to reduce grazing permits to livestock on federal lands. That could affect ranching families and ranching communities across the West, the agency said. "It is kind of a big snowball once it starts," said BLM's McFadden. "That is the big unknown that is coming."
The environmental impact from rapidly growing wild horse herds promises to be destructive to the open range, he said. Gorey said the BLM's goal is to balance the uses. "The horses and burros need their fair share, and the other uses need their fair share," he said.
Closed slaughter facilities
Cavel International in DeKalb, Ill., the last horse slaughter facility in the nation, shut its doors in September 2007, and two similar operations in Texas closed last year, too. That left an estimated 100,000 domestic horses alive that probably would not be otherwise, said Tom Persechino, spokesman for the 350,000-member American Quarter Horse Association of Amarillo, Texas. "You are talking about 100,000 horses each and every year that now have to be cared for, and somebody has to foot the bill for that," said Persechino. Federal legislation triggering the closures of the domestic horse slaughter facilities, while well-intentioned, was "irresponsible," he said. "It has done more harm than good for horses." Veterinarian Chris Otteman with the Oregon Humane Society said closing the nation's horse slaughter facilities was done without contingency plans. "There has not been a provision for what we do with a 1,500-pound animal that is at the end of life, that needs a place to go." she said. Beckstead, of the Humane Society of the United States, doesn't regret the demise of the slaughter industry. Attitudes toward horses are changing, and people are coming to regard them as companion animals deserving of respect rather than merely livestock, he said. "The slaughter industry was horrendously cruel and a horrible way for horses to meet their end," he said.
Although the problem is an overabundance of horses, the solution for wild horses is birth control, not sending horses to slaughter, said Steelhammer of Equine Outreach in Bend. Gorey said it's not that easy. Wild horse managers successfully dart mares that have been bred as a birth control method at the Assateague Island National Seashore off Maryland's Atlantic coast, he said. "But they are on this little island," said Gorey. "Compare that to BLM having herd management areas that encompass 29 million acres. We are in a real tough situation; there is no question about it."
XP
This article is written in a sensationalized way, meant to make you believe that things are worse than they probably are ... uses a lot of "buzz words" to create an emotional reaction.
When I see coverage that is more based on heartstrings-pull than facts, I tend to lean toward giving the defendant the benefit of the doubt.Local Humane Society In Need Of Livestock Feed [link]
Katherine Blake | Aug 22, 2008
Seven horses were found in a life-threatening situation in Fort Worth. According to investigators, the owner had abandoned them, leaving them without food and water.
The animals arrived at the Humane Society of North Texas late Thursday night. Workers there said that the horses had cuts on their bodies. Many were just skin and bones. They were so hungry that they only wanted to eat. "It's heartbreaking," said Humane Society of North Texas employee Sandy Grambort. A pregnant Grulla Mare is one of the worst. Grambort explained, "On a body score condition of 1 to 9, she is a 2."
The horses were all found in Fort Worth. A woman there identified herself as the property owner, but she did not want to speak on camera. She did, however, say that she leases the property to a man, but she does not know his name or where he might be. "Nobody had seen an owner out there to care for them in a month," said Humane Society of North Texas employee Peggy-Brown-Aguilar. A nearby business owner gave the horses food and water upon learning of the animals. Otherwise, "They probably would be dead," Grambort said.
Fort Worth Animal Control was able to get a warrant to seize the horses. For now, they will remain at the Humane Society of North Texas until a custody hearing can be held on Tuesday. "If the judge awards them to us, then we've got our fingers crossed to get them all wonderful homes," said Grambort.
XP—If you watch the video, you will see that most of the animals are looking somewhat underweight to average, with the ones that they focus on, conveniently in the foreground, being the most thin of the group.
While the grulla mare is certainly malnourished, they do not explain that the scale of 1-9 that they use is not 1=bad and 9=good, but that ideally a horse is around 4-5 on the scale, and that 8-9 is overweight in an unhealthy way.
We shall see what happens in this case.
Follow up to Texas: vet suspected of animal cruelty.Horse Custody Hearing Held In Aransas County [link]
Lauren Williamson | Aug 21, 2008
A hearing was held Wednesday in Aransas County to determine who will get custody of some horses removed from some private property in Rockport. Authorities were contacted last Wednesday and asked to investigate a possible case of animal cruelty. When they searched the property, they found a horse that appeared to have been dead for some time and two more that appeared to be underfed. They also found two more horses at another location. Two were turned over to a horse rescue group.
In the meantime, the owner, a Corpus Christi veterinarian named Dr. Sally Bywaters, said it is all a misunderstanding. No decisions have been made yet because the hearing concluded for the day but it is far from over. The county attorney is recommending they be turned over to Bluebonnet Rescue and he presented four witnesses to support his case. The hearing actually began without Dr. Bywaters because she arrived late.
Rockport property owner Earl Matthews said he has leased land to Dr. Bywaters for her five horses. Matthews said she was inconsistent with her care and feeding of the horses and even became delinquent on rent. He had a judge sign a formal eviction to get her horses off the property earlier this year.
The court also heard from veterinarian Neal Florkey who inspected the two seized horses. He said they were very skinny with ribs and hip bones protruding. Of course, there are a lot more witnesses to testify and the court will hear from them on Monday. Gulf Coast Humane Society says Dr. Bywaters is still their veterinarian at the agency. The court has yet to hear from Dr. Bywaters, the owner of the horses. That may happen on Monday when the county attorneys finish presenting their witnesses.
XP
In these hard times, horses can't even be given away.Six horses still in need of homes [link]
By Laura Meyers | Aug 21, 2008
Rehabilitated horses up for adoption
Of 23 horses that were rescued during a raid on a Somerset ranch in April by El Dorado County Animal Control, six are still looking to be adopted.
A complaint from the community animal control to go in and seize 23 horses, 15 sheep, one goat, five llamas and one chow that showed severe signs of neglect and were delivered to the Grace Foundation in El Dorado Hills. The Grace Foundation provides medical attention and care for abused and neglected animals. Over the last few months, the Grace Foundation rehabilitated all of the animals and prepared them for adoption, but the process wasn’t easy.
The animals showed severe signs of malnourishment, kept in small pens, found standing their own feces and in need of medical attention, said chief animal services officer Linda Haller.
“They weren’t in the best living conditions,” Haller said. “Sheep needed to be sheared and the horses’ teeth needed attention and their hooves were in terrible condition.”
Once the county seized the animals, they were brought to the Grace Foundation for rehabilitation. “The animals were definitely in need of food and medical care,” said Tricia Esparza, Director of Operations at the Grace Foundation. “On average, the horses gained 300-400 pounds during rehabilitation.”
Equine training director Robin Stears said the horses were in extreme pain. “Their hooves were over grown and some started to curl backwards,” she said. The horses went through a rigorous rehabilitation including a medical examination from a veterinarian, a visit from the farrier, teeth floating and socialization. Only three horses were in such poor condition that they had to be humanely euthanized.
Despite the rehabilitation, six of the horses are still looking for homes. “You can’t even give away horses right now,” Haller said. “The biggest issue with the horses there are already people in the area who have horses, and it’s extremely costly to take care of them.”
The county has waived the regular adoption process hoping to get more horses adopted. and is considering bids in the $100- $200 range. “We understand the expense people are taking in adopting these horses,” Haller said. “We’re trying to make it easy as possible for people to adopt.”
The Somerset seizure was an unusual case for both animal control and the Grace Foundation. It was the largest large animal seizure either group had encountered. Both parties are working desperately to get the animals adopted.
The Grace Foundation is a non-profit organization ran by volunteers. They currently care for more than 100 rescued horses. It costs nearly $200 per month to care for each horse. The foundation is accepting donations and sponsorships in order to care for the horses. “We keep taking care of the horses until each one of them is adopted,” Esparza said. “We continue to socialize them and use them in our children’s programs.”
XP
Choose from 42 designs!
An awful lot of this going around.2 men plead not guilty to animal cruelty
AP | Aug 19, 2008
Two men from Woodstock, Ga., have pleaded not guilty to animal cruelty charges in a Ravalli County case. Craig Heydon and Curtis Heydon face four counts of cruelty to animals. They entered their pleas Monday in Justice Court. Prosecutors say four horses owned by the Heydons were found overworked, neglected and malnourished. Hikers found one horse on the Big Creek Trail last weekend, unable to move. The owners told investigators they left the horse on the trail because it was being stubborn. Deputies found three more malnourished horses in a pen near Stevensville. The horses have been turned over to an animal shelter.
XP
Don't make more criminals by legislating cultural choices.
Bill aims to halt killing of horses for food [link]
But opponents say effort to impose penalties would lead to more abuse.
RYAN ROBINSON | Aug 19, 2008
What happens to horses when their owners no longer want them? Some are sold for slaughter so their meat can end up on dinner plates in Europe, Mexico and Asia. A bill recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, however, is the latest attempt to make that illegal. The bill, the "Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act of 2008" would carry criminal penalties for the purchase, sale, delivery or export of horse meat intended for human consumption, including fines and prison time.
Proponents like the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) in Washington say the bill would end the cruel transport and slaughter of American horses meant for consumption. But critics blast the proposal, arguing the bill—introduced July 24 by House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.)—doesn't offer any alternative solutions and would likely lead to more abuse of horses. "One side wants to call it a slaughter horse issue," said Jim Holt, New Holland Sales Stables' veterinarian. "It's better characterized as an unwanted horse issue." Equine rescues and some private citizens try to find new homes for unwanted horses, but their stables are full, he said.
The Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association, the American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Association of Equine Practitioners all recognize that humane slaughter of horses is a "necessary evil" because of the lack of other avenues for them, Holt said. But the AWI argues in its press release that more than 100,000 U.S. horses a year are "brutally slaughtered" for human consumption in Canada and Mexico. A 2006 national poll conducted by Public Opinion Strategies found that nearly 70 percent of Americans supported a federal ban on horse slaughter.
Holt, of Glenmoore in Chester County, said animal activists lobbied for measures that effectively closed down the last of the horse slaughter plants in the U.S. in recent years. So some buyers now take horses to slaughter plants in Mexico and Canada. The AWI said some of those horses are killed by knife stabbing or other inhumane methods. Holt personally has visited a plant in Canada and said horses were treated very humanely and then euthanized with a bullet to the head, one of three humane methods to kill a horse (others are drugs and a "penetrating captive bolt" which fires a steel pin into the brain). He hasn't visited any slaughter plants in Mexico.
If the sale of horses for slaughter for human consumption is banned, he fears more horses would be abused, or abandoned, like one recently left tied next to a bucket of water outside the New Holland stables. Some farmers might work horses longer, even if they are lame, Holt said. Horses can live into their 20s and 30s, so it's a compounding problem, he said. "We don't have an organized network of humane societies for horses like with dogs and cats," Holt said. "We do not have the facilities necessary to house these animals, nor a network of people to do it." Exacerbating the problem is the fact that it's no longer cheap to euthanize and dispose of large animals, he said.
Holt said horses can become unwanted for several reasons. Some owners sell racehorses that can no longer win, or workhorses or ponies which can no longer do the job for which they were bought. "For some, it's a financial issue," Holt added. "Food prices are going up for horses at least as fast, if not faster, than for people." He estimated it takes about $2,400 a year just to feed and house a horse.
XP
When rescues can't take care of them, what's next?Horse rescue owner pleads guilty to animal cruelty [link]
NATE TAYLOR | Aug 19, 2008
Matchett to undergo mental health evaluation, can still care for 10 animals
A Wellington woman has pleaded guilty to one count of animal cruelty in connection with animals she was keeping at her animal rescue, but under a plea agreement, she will still be able to care for at least 10 animals. Alesha Matchett, the owner of Animal Angels, was scheduled to go on trial Monday to face four counts of animal cruelty covering 22 horses, seven goats, seven llamas, a pig and a sheep. Larimer County sheriff's investigators said the animals were malnourished and improperly cared for following a raid of the property.
Instead of going to trial, Matchett entered the guilty plea and agreed on Aug. 8 to four years supervised probation and a mental health evaluation. She also will be ordered to comply with any recommendations from the evaluation. Matchett is set to be sentenced Oct. 1, likely to community service. Her attorney, Fort Collins lawyer David Johnson, said there is a gag order in effect until the sentencing hearing. He said his client's arguments regarding the case will be made then. Matchett also has 30 days to comply with an agreement to have no more than 10 animal units on her property. An animal unit is a calculation designed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and assigns a value to farm animals based on size. For example, the largest animal unit is 1.4, designated for a mature dairy cow weighing more than 1,000 pounds. A horse has a value of 1, and a llama, 0.3. A swine weighing more than 300 pounds has a value of 0.4. Matchett's rescue will be monitored monthly to ensure she is complying with her agreement.
Margaret DeSarno, who works at a veterinary clinic and volunteers at the Colorado Thoroughbred Rescue in Wellington, took three horses from Matchett in December because she was concerned about their health. "I'm disappointed it was only one count," DeSarno said. Johnson said a horse named Cheyenne was the animal Matchett pleaded guilty to treating with cruelty. DeSarno said Cheyenne is one of the horses she took in December and that Matchett signed over Cheyenne's rights to her. "She was probably one of the horses that was in the worst condition," DeSarno said. DeSarno also said documentation about Cheyenne's health indicated she lost about 240 pounds in a five-month span under Matchett's care. Veterinarians use a scale of 1 to 9 to rate an animal's health, and DeSarno said Cheyenne had a rating of 1 when she was taken from Matchett. Authorities seized dozens of animals in three different raids of Matchett's property from December through February, which is why DeSarno said she doesn't think Matchett should be allowed to keep any animals. "I'd certainly like to see that she doesn't have any animals," she said. "It was pretty much proved through the three seizures she can't take care of the animals."
XP
One dead, others malnourished.
Suffering from neglect, horses taken from owner [link]
Sanne Specht | Aug 19, 2008
One of five abused and neglected horses already had died when authorities arrived Friday in Central Point to investigate a complaint of animal starvation, officials said. "It was really pretty awful. It was definitely the worst we've seen in quite awhile," said Colleen Macuk, program director for Jackson County Animal Care and Control Center.
The small herd, owned by Debbie Tabor, was in such deplorable condition that shelter officers called in Jackson County sheriff's deputies to proceed with a criminal investigation, Macuk said. "Ultimately the owner signed all the horses over to animal control." Tabor lives at the Merita Terrace property in Central Point where the horses were kept "in makeshift pens," Macuk said. Tabor could not immediately be reached for comment Monday. Macuk could not say why Tabor had allowed her animals to deteriorate. Court records show no charges have yet been filed in Jackson County Circuit Court.
Volunteers from the Equamore Foundation on Saturday and Sunday responded to animal control's request to collect, house and care for the two surviving stallions and the two mares, said Macuk. "We have no facility to house horses," Macuk said, adding she is grateful for the equine rescue foundation's help. "It's important to have someone available and knowledgeable to care for a horse in need... It is not the same as caring for a healthy animal." Linda Davis is the owner of Eden Farm and the founder of Equamore, a nonprofit rescue organization in Ashland that provides care and placement for horses who are in desperate need, Davis said. The four Central Point horses' matted manes, rotting coats and skeletal bodies tell the tale of long-term neglect, she said.
XP
Costs of horsekeeping, overpopulation leave abandonment as only option for many.Due to high prices, backyard owners to breeders are giving up horses [link]
DANA COLE | Aug 17, 2008
Saddled with runaway hay and grain prices, many horse owners are taking a hard look at how much they're spending on their animals. Across the country, skyrocketing feed prices are taking a toll on the horse industry. In a three-year duration, hay has climbed from $8 a bale to $14 or $15 per 100-pound bale, depending on when it's purchased and how far it's transported. From the backyard horse owner to breeders and trainers who depend on horses for income, everyone is affected by the escalating costs. "We're really feeling the pinch," said Vicki Whittaker who, with husband, Jeff, owns Equi-Sands Training Center in Hereford. "What we're paying for hay this year is twice as much as it was three or four years ago. Every time we buy feed, it's more expensive." Along with the climbing hay and feed prices, veterinary care and farrier fees also have increased. "Shoeing has gone up $10 per horse this year," Whittaker said. "It's forced us to raise our lesson prices to cover what it's costing us to maintain our lesson horses." Hay and grain prices are causing barns to raise board rates, too.
Whetstone resident Susan Richards has owned her horse, Cheyenne, for about 10 years. With the escalating hay and grain prices, she can no longer afford to keep him and has made the "excruciatingly painful decision" to give him away. "I really didn't want to do this," said Richards, who works at Southeastern Arizona Behavioral Health Services in the New Turf Prevention division. "All my animals are family to me, so it was very difficult to give him up. But the expense of supporting a horse has become such a financial strain for me, I needed to do what was best for Cheyenne." While Richards could have sold Cheyenne, she decided to give him away, which gave her more options when it came time to find a new owner. "I've been very selective about where he's going," she said. "I decided to give him away because I wanted him to go to a good home where he'd get the best possible care." Bob Martin, manager of Ramsey Canyon Feed and Pet, said Richards' story has become a familiar scenario. In recent months, Martin has seen an increase in the number of notices on the business' bulletin board, where owners are selling their horses at reduced prices or, as in Richards' case, giving them away. "Families with three or four backyard horses are scaling back on the number of animals they're willing to support," Martin said.
Historically, hay prices have come down during summer months, but through the past two years, Martin said, prices have stayed fairly consistent, giving consumers little reprieve on the cost. Despite the struggling economy, Martin said the feed store is doing the same volume of business, with no noticeable dips in sales from last year. "Food prices for horse owners are absolutely tremendous right now," said Julie Murphree, spokeswoman for the Arizona Farm Bureau. "The dramatic rise in hay costs has created some serious cash problems for horse owners across the state. We're experiencing an inflationary market right now and everyone (is) feeling it." The state Farm Bureau's equestrian group hears concerns expressed by horse owners, as well as the personal stories, Murphree said. There are cases where cash-strapped owners turn to rescue organizations for help, but many of the groups are already overflowing with unwanted animals. As the situation escalates, desperate people are literally abandoning their animals. Murphree has heard reports of horses abandoned in sale yards, left at horse shows and on public lands. "Horse rescues and sanctuaries across the country are literally overflowing right now," Murphree said.
Care for the Horses, a local rescue and advocacy group, has been contacted by several people who need to find homes for their animals, said Cynthia McLemore, the organization's vice president. A nonprofit organization funded through grants and donations, the group is unable to assist every case. "As money issues become more difficult, our supporters and donations become more scarce," McLemore said. "We are continuing our fundraisers so we can help as many people as possible." Care for the Horses also is receiving more calls for feed and veterinary assistance, another service it offers horse owners needing help. McLemore expects the current situation will only worsen as time goes on. "People are losing their homes and pets (of all sizes) are being left behind, abandoned and dumped," she said. "It's a sad situation, one that forces us to make some tough decisions. We help as much as we're able."
XP
Horses rescued from neglect still face deathRescued Horses In Danger, Money Crunch Continues [link]
CBS13 | Aug 16, 2008
About fifty animals in El Dorado County were rescued in April after being grossly abused by their owner. Many of the horses are being nursed back to health, and most have been adopted, but seven horses still remain, and are once again in danger.
The neglected animals' owner couldn't afford to take care of them, and now The Grace Foundation may be facing the same dilemma.
"It's a very scary time for large animals and horses in particular," said Beth DeCaprio from The Grace Foundation.
Seven of the last 47 horses nursed back to health have not been adopted, and their caretakers can't afford to keep them.
"The community was wonderful in supporting us, but with the economic times the way they are, people are not in the market for horses," Beth said.
It's costing The Grace Foundation about $16,000 a year per horse to house and feed them, and the abused horses also have special medical needs.
If they can't find someone to adopt or sponsor them, the horses may have to be put down. These animals, who were once on the brink of death, may be looking death in the face again, so volunteers are reaching out.
"It would mean a lot if we could get adoptions or sponsorships for some of these horses."
XP
Long read, but a good one.Should we send horses to slaughter? [link]
RACHEL DUFF | Aug 16, 2008
Rosy Erganian, a therapeutic riding instructor and horse owner from Rocheport, has a barn full of horses that are unwanted by their previous owners.
A couple of these horses were likely headed to slaughter had Erganian not bought them at an auction frequented by slaughter buyers. And yet, she said she thinks that a horse going to slaughter has a better fate than the unknown future many now face.
"It's a lot less humane to let a horse starve all winter than to take them to slaughter," Erganian said. "Slaughter is a necessary component of our industry, and we should establish rules to let horses going to slaughter be handled in a humane way."
This year is even scarier, she said, because the prices of hay and grain are so high. A lot of horses will be in trouble this winter because of the feed costs, the poor economy and limited places to take a horse an owner can no longer feed.
The troubling question of what to do with an unwanted horse has been exacerbated, some say, by a bill proposed in Congress that would have ended horse slaughter for human consumption. The bill didn't pass, but it prompted the only two states with slaughter plants, Illinois and Texas, to ban horse slaughter. Missouri has not banned horse slaughter in the state, but no facilities currently exist. The effect of those bans has rippled through the horse industry.
Neglected and abused
Informal research has shown that horse rescue facilities are full from the overwhelming number of unwanted horses, said Tom Lenz, a veterinarian and chairman for the Unwanted Horse Coalition. The Unwanted Horse Coalition is an organization of breed registries, rescue facilities and equine disciplines that are dedicated to decreasing the number of unwanted horses. Lenz said he thinks horses may be neglected and abused more often as a result of the limited number of options for horse owners that need a place to take their horse. He points out that there has been a drastic increase in the number of horses being hauled to Canada and Mexico for slaughter.
This trend is likely to accelerate because the prices of feed and fuel are up and are expected to continue to climb through the winter. Nearly all aspects of the equine industry are suffering financially, Lenz said.
"There is definitely a higher volume of unwanted horses and no place for them to go," said Sharon Marohl, president of the Missouri Equine Council. "The Unwanted Horse Coalition was created under the American Horse Council to help deal with this problem nationwide."
No bottom point
The unwanted horse problem has come about largely because there is no longer a base price for a horse, Marohl said. The base price is the amount for which a horse could be bought for slaughter, the price per pound. It used to be if the horse was worth 50 cents a pound, that was its base price, and if you didn't want your horse to go to slaughter, you would price your horse above that price, she said. That base price no longer exists with the shutdown of the plants in Illinois and Texas.
"We are now seeing more ads for free horses," Marohl said. "People have given up trying to sell them and are now trying to give them away. I'm afraid we've only seen the tip of the iceberg right now. It takes a 1,200-pound horse a long time to starve to death. So, you can say what you want about slaughter, but it's certainly quicker than starving to death."
The Missouri Equine Council has maintained a policy on equine welfare, Marohl said.
"We're in favor of humane, regulated slaughter," Marohl said.
The Humane Society of the United States has been promoting antislaughter legislation.
"We work so hard on this issue because it's very inhumane and traumatic for the horses," said Stacy Segal, equine protection specialist for the society. "There is no way to humanely slaughter a horse."
The method is the same as for cattle, called captive bolt, which instantly renders the horses brain-dead by a penetrating rod, Lenz said. The three methods that are deemed acceptable by the American Veterinary Medical Association's expert panel on euthanasia are captive bolt, gunshot and overdose of injectable barbiturates.
More humane
But many veterinarians say the process was humane from the beginning. Horse slaughter plants were required to adhere to the American Veterinary Medial Association and the American Association of Equine Practitioners approved method. The U.S. Department of Agriculture had also approved this method, Lenz said.
"Regardless of what the animal rights people say, the horses in the U.S. were slaughtered in a humane way," said Nat Messer, professor of veterinary medicine and surgery at MU. "Now, we've made it so the unwanted horses have to be exported for slaughter, which is much more inhumane than anything that happened in the U.S."
If the unwanted horses aren't exported for slaughter, they are sent to a rescue facility. Many of these rescue facilities are full to capacity.
"We are overwhelmed with phone calls for people that can't take care of their horses anymore, so we've started an adoption program," said Rhonda Stephens, founder and director of the Shannon Foundation in St. Clair.
Joining the rescue
In the last couple of months, Sandy Whitaker from Willow Springs has received several calls from people out of state with up to 30 horses that needed homes. Whitaker is new to rescuing horses. After looking at a couple of Web sites, she was shocked to see how many people wanted to get rid of their horses. She filled out an application and was approved to take some horses, but she said she can't afford to take more than the seven she planned to take.
Part of the problem is that it costs at least $1,825 to keep a horse per year, according to the American Association of Equine Practitioners. That's not including hoof care, veterinary and health care bills. The total cost of keeping a horse easily mount to $5,000 yearly.
A major consideration in the expense of keeping a horse is the cost of hay, grain and fuel, which makes the situation worse.
"The plants being closed and the price of hay, grain and diesel fuels have created a perfect storm for the horse industry, resulting in the decrease of the horses' value and an excess of unwanted horses," Lenz said. The price of feed, hay and diesel fuel is as important as the shattered pricing structure for horses, said Lenz, who is an MU graduate and a horse owner.
But the expense of owning a horse, as variable as it may be, is a challenge any horse owner should be prepared to handle, Segal said. Right now, the economy is affecting horse owners. The Humane Society encourages horse owners to think ahead about their horses, she said.
Choices have to be made
Kent Haden, vice president of livestock operations for MFA Incorporated and a horse owner, said he became a veterinarian because he loves horses. He's had to put a lot of excellent horses down, and he doesn't like slaughter, he said. But, there are mean horses, neglected horses and crippled horses. With the prices of gas and feed up, choices have to be made. Slaughter isn't the ideal choice, but it has to be weighed against other alternatives, Haden said.
Segal said there are good and bad choices. Euthanasia by a licensed veterinarian is the Humane Society-approved method for horses that have no place to go and all other options have been exhausted.
But, having a veterinarian euthanize a horse can be costly. The lowest rate for euthanasia is $66, and that's not including the cost of the house call by the veterinarian or the cost of disposal, according to the American Association of Equine Practitioners.
A 2007 estimate by the association showed that there are about 170,000 documented unwanted horses in the U.S. each year, including horses slaughtered in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, unadoptable wild horses and others.
"If all unwanted horses are euthanized, where do we put 100,000 bodies?" Messer said. "It's not environmentally friendly."
After a horse is euthanized, disposal options are limited. A horse can be buried, rendered or incinerated. Depending on how far away dirt work or land-clearing companies are, burial prices can reach $100 to $200, and horse owners within city limits often have limitations, according to Habitat for Horses. The price range for rendering, which is the processing of horse meat to be used as feed for other animals in zoos, for instance, is between $75 and $250. The price range for incineration is $2,000, according to the American Association of Equine Practitioners.
A solution needs to be found to the growing problem, and almost everyone has an opinion.
"Part of the problem is the public's perception of horses and how they are managed," Lenz said. "Because the average American is around three generations removed from the farm, they don't understand equine care."
XP
The media can't get enough of the "plight of the mustang" ...
American horses threatened [link]
Jerry Abbott, Kevin Bottrell and Tyler Richards | Aug 15, 2008
BLM currently has the responsibility for the health and management of America’s wild horses and burros. In the past few months, They have sent a distress signal that the current 33,000 wild horses in the 10 western states plus 27,000 in short and long-term holding areas are far beyond their budget capabilities and action must be taken or there will be overpopulation of existing federal land and/or lack of funds to pay for the cost of the holding areas. The BLM has several ways they control the wild horse population. They conduct roundups to remove wild horses from BLM and government land. Horses that are passed over for adoption three times or reach the age of 10 are put into long-term holding areas. Since the wild horses have very few natural predators, the herds on public lands can double in size in just four years.
“We are not at a starvation point on the government land,” said Tom Gorey, senior public affairs specialist for BLM in Washington, D.C. “Removals of 7,000-10,000 horses per year are needed to ensure sufficient forage for those that remain. We are keeping horses for 25-30 years and adoption demand is not sufficient. We have limited [success] selling horses 10 years old... In three years we have sold 2,700 of these horses.” According to the BLM, this fiscal year it is costing $26 million of their total $37 million budget to manage the wild horse program including paying for the holding areas. This level of funding is not sufficient to support summer removals from the range while maintaining lifetime holding for older unadopted horses. Aside from major funding increases to the BLM for more holding locations, there appear to be few alternatives. According to Gorey, the option of not gathering up excess horses is not viable. “The impacts on vegetation would be an ecological disaster,” Gorey said. “We are mandated to maintain healthy herds on healthy lands. There is a concern for the general welfare for animals in and off the range.” Some critics of the BLM contend that cattle are grazing and taking up forage that should be available for the wild horses. “By law cattle are authorized on public lands for grazing,” Gorey said. “Cattle grazing is authorized on 160 million acres versus 29 million acres for wild horses and burros. We regulate cattle grazing through the permitting process. Livestock grazing is half of what it (legally) could be.”
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) Executive Director Jeff Ruch disagrees. “Parts of the public range in Wyoming resemble the most devastated stretches of the Sahel in Africa,“ Ruch said. “As long as ranchers can use political chits to keep the maximum number of cattle on the range even in drought-stricken areas, the downward spiral in Wyoming will continue.” On the Web site www.equineadvocates.com, is a similar view. “The truth is that there is no wild horse over-population problem. There is, however a tremendous wild greed and avarice problem.”
In 2007 Congress temporarily shut down horse processing plants in the U.S. Previously, federal inspectors monitored the plants to ensure humane killing. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP), the nation’s largest horse doctor group, fought this ban. According to horse welfare groups, if the BLM sells horses with no restrictions, most likely buyers will ship the horses to Canada or Mexico to processing plants. These countries do not have the monitoring for humane slaughter that is required in the U.S. With the rising cost of fuel and the rising cost of feed for horses, there is a greater reluctance for horse adoptions. The Mustang Heritage Foundation (MHF) and the BLM have joined forces to present several events that are meant to increase the adoption of mustangs. MHF has a goal of 1,000 mustang adoptions in 2008 resulting in estimated savings of $1.3 million. Betty Burlingame, owner of Rockn Bee Equestrienne Center in Torrington adopted a mustang. “Mustangs are very intelligent,” Burlingame said. “We just can’t let them be killed every year. These horses are our national heritage.” Burlingame said. “Euthanizing horses in the U.S. is probably the best solution for now.”
Dr. Tom Lenz has attended the Mustang Challenge, participated with mustang round ups, has visited BLM holding areas and has visited a U.S. slaughterhouse before they were shut down. “My personal opinion is that horses over age 11 or those that have been passed over for adoption three times should be dealt with at that time,” Lenz said. “They should be euthanized or sent to a processing plant. It is not practical to fund more mustang sanctuaries.” Lenz says that managing the mustangs is very political. “Most of the public has a mystical attachment to wild horses due to watching movies – that is not very accurate. It is tough because the BLM is caught between the emotional public and the practical.” Dr.Stephen Kerr, owner of Bear Creek Veterinary Services in Torrington agrees with Lenz. “Part of the problem is legal law suits from some animal rights groups,” Kerr said. “The mustangs seem to do good on the ranges but they can not eat it down to dust in drought situations. It is becoming common with no outlet for domestic horses for many of them to be dumped/abandoned due to the rising cost of feed. I don’t like to see animals euthanized just because there are too many of them but there are fewer and fewer adoptions.”
To decrease the number of mustangs, BLM is using a method of birth control called Porcine Zona Pellucida (PZP). “PZP is an experimental drug approved for use by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS),” Gorey said. “The use of the drug is limited. It is administered to mares that roam 29 million acres of land. The drug has to be readministered and is only good for up to two years. The efficacy of the drug for use on a widespread basis is not a viable option for the near term.” HSUS is working with the BLM to improve the drug and the means of applying it. Since 2004 the BLM has administered this pelleted vaccine to a total of 1,808 mares on 47 of its 199 herd management areas but significant reductions in population increase has not been noted. With the need to remove 7,000-10,000 wild horses and burros from public lands every year, only around 4,700 of these are being adopted... there is a need for an additional 1,900 or more holding area spaces for wild horses each year. The BLM has said they need more funding for more holding areas. It appears the possible courses of action are to overpopulate the rangeland, pay for more holding areas, try other ways to increase adoptions, euthanize or sell horses with and without restriction (which might mean possible inhumane slaughter). “Watching a horse slowly die from starvation or disease is not only distressing, it’s cruel,” said Bonnie Beaver, former AVMA president.
XP
This is a case I formerly profiled on the Skinny Horse of the Day blog.
Update:Arrest made in horse cruelty case [link]
NEWSCHANNEL3 | Aug 15, 2008
Michigan State Police Troopers have arrested a 57-year-old woman from Burlington on a felony warrant for animal cruelty. State Police say that the warrant was issued from the Calhoun Co. Prosecutors office after Troopers investigated a complaint of starving, neglected horses at the woman's Burlington Township residence. During that July 25 investigation, Troopers discovered five horses on the property in poor condition. As Newschannel 3 reported on July 31, those horses were moved to a rescue shelter run by EARTH Services. Police say that the horses had been eating the bark off of trees and their own manure and were found to be in an advanced stage of starvation before being rescued. The horses are now said to be doing well, and police say that two additional arrests are pending in this case.
If I can be the devil's advocate for a moment:
• many horses with ample food available will eat tree bark
• many horses, especially young ones, eat manure at times
Neither of those factors should be used alone as an indicator of neglect.
We shall see how this case develops. In the footage, I saw one very thin (and toothless) mare, and at least three horses in good weight. I'm not sure if I agree with the procedure of taking all of one's horses if one or two are not doing well. History has shown that in some cases, these animals are sold or killed before the accused goes to trial on the neglect charges, which does not seem right at all.
XP
Slaughter opponents contend all of the abandoned horse stories are fabricated, made up by those "few" who want slaughter reinstated. What do you think?Equine expert talks about unwanted horse problem, Aug. 18 [link]
Soaring costs of feed, fuel and hay have worsened the problem of unwanted and abandoned horses in Missouri and across the nation. Veterinarian Tom Lenz will explore the problem in an Aug. 18 talk at the Animal Science Research Center (ASRC) on the University of Missouri campus. "Because of the closing of horse slaughtering facilities and cost-related factors, there has been an increase in unwanted horses pretty much all over the United States," said Dee Cooper, MU Extension livestock specialist and program organizer.
Lenz, a 1975 graduate of the MU College of Veterinary Medicine and past president of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, will discuss the types of horse that become unwanted, the reasons they become unwanted and possible solutions. His talk will cover euthanasia, carcass disposal, rescue and retirement options, and the efforts of the Unwanted Horse Coalition.
The problem hits close to home in Missouri, which ranks third in the nation in equine numbers. "Recently, a southwest Missouri farmer went to a sale barn to collect a horse, and when he went to load, his trailer was full. Someone stuck horses in there that they didn't want," Cooper said. "It is clear that people are becoming desperate. This topic is very important for everyone to be aware of." The program also will feature Marci Jennings, MU Extension equine specialist and instructor, who will provide information and answer questions about the MU equine program.
XP
Euthanasia considered for rescued horses.Unless homes found, some rescued horses in El Dorado County may be euthanized [link]
Cynthia Hubert | Aug 15, 2008
It seemed like a storybook ending. Dozens of neglected animals rescued from a Somerset ranch found sanctuary at the Grace Foundation in El Dorado Hills, and most were adopted into good homes. But for seven of the rescued horses, the ending may be anything but happy. The nonprofit Grace Foundation has been unable to find permanent places for them, and now is facing the prospect of seeing them put to death. "We put so much time and energy into these animals," Grace Foundation founder Beth DeCaprio said. "It's gut-wrenching to think what might happen to them." The horses were part of a group of 47 animals seized in April by El Dorado County Animal Services. They had been living at a Somerset ranch where they apparently had been neglected for years. The county, which contracts with Grace to board livestock, transferred the animals to the foundation, where staffers and volunteers nursed them to health and found permanent homes for most of them. But seven horses remain unadopted, and neither the county nor the foundation can afford to keep them permanently, officials said. El Dorado County is being forced to consider other options for the animals, including putting them to death, said chief animal services officer Linda Haller. "Our first goal, as always, is to see the horses get adopted into loving homes," Haller said. Other options include finding horse lovers or another rescue group to "sponsor" or "foster" the animals. "Our last resort would be humane euthanasia," she said. Haller said the county already has invested thousands of dollars in the horses, though she declined to be more specific. The county wants to find a permanent solution to the dilemma by Sept. 1, she said. The seven remaining horses "are all wonderful," said DeCaprio, but two are largely "pasture pets" because of injuries, and others lack proper training. Keeping them at Grace, which currently has more than 100 horses, most of which have been abused or neglected, is not a realistic option without financial support, DeCaprio said. She said it would cost the foundation about $1,400 a month to continue caring for the horses. Grace is struggling, she said, in part because of soaring gas and hay prices. "Just two years ago, we were paying $10 a bale for hay. Now it's $20," said DeCaprio. At the same time that basic costs are soaring, she said, people appear to be abandoning horses and other livestock. "They're just opening the gates and letting them out," she said. DeCaprio regularly gets inquiries from people who no longer can afford to care for their horses, she said. "They've lost their job or their house or just had to cut back, and they don't know what to do about their horses," she said. "They are luxury items today." DeCaprio said she is "devastated" at the notion that the horses rescued from Somerset might now have to die. "It's a very dark day for horses in our economy," she said. "I never thought I would see a day when we had to think about euthanasia."
XP
South Carolina case update. Slightly different versions.Expert: More of SC ag official's horses starved [link]
MEG KINNARD | Aug 14, 2008
Remains indicate horses starved [link]
MEG KINNARD | Aug 15, 2008
Analysis of horse remains found on property managed by a former South Carolina agriculture official’s family indicates that some of the animals likely starved to death, according to a report released Thursday. Bone marrow fat levels in horse skeletons excavated from properties managed by James Trexler’s family were low enough to show the animals died of starvation, forensic veterinarian Melinda Merck said. She examined horse bones recovered earlier this year after authorities found malnourished horses on property belonging to Trexler, his mother and his brother. Bone marrow fat levels 60 percent or higher are considered normal, Merck said in her report. A horse leg bone excavated from the Trexlers’ land in Sumter measured around 31 percent, while part of another skeleton found at the family’s Richland County property measured less than 1 percent. “When the bone marrow fat is low, it indicates the animal died of end-stage starvation,” Merck wrote, adding that an animal could starve even with normal bone marrow fat levels. Remains from at least eight horses were examined from the two properties, including from several adults and a foal just a day or two old. One grave was at least 2 years old. Twenty-three malnourished horses were discovered on South Carolina properties leased by Hazelene and Terry Trexler, and five more were found on James Trexler’s property. Authorities seized an additional 17 horses linked to the Trexlers from a Richland County property. All three have been charged with multiple counts of ill treatment to animals. Hazelene and Terry Trexler also face animal-cruelty charges in Georgia, as well as charges they moved horses that had been quarantined. “Bone marrow is the last thing to go when you are starving,” Kelly Graham of the Humane Society of South Carolina said Thursday. “First weight loss, then muscle, then internal organs and then fat in bone marrow. So we know for certain by the percentages from the samples we took that these animals died from starvation.”
XP
Long article on the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program cash crunch.U.S. may slaughter thousands of horses [link]
Ginger D. Richardson | Aug. 15, 2008
Budget woes threaten West's wild herds
Last weekend in Show Low, 19 mud-splattered wild horses and burros found a new home. Theirs was a journey that started weeks ago on the open ranges of Nevada, California and Arizona, and ended Sunday in private trailers bound for places like Dilkon, Springerville and Snowflake. These wild animals, the ones that were adopted, are the lucky ones. Many others are facing a far more uncertain future.
The Bureau of Land Management, the federal agency charged with managing the herds of wild horses and burros that roam the western United States, announced recently that it is considering euthanizing thousands of the animals in its care.
It would mark the first time the agency has taken such action. And the proposal, which will be discussed again late next month, has ignited an emotional firestorm that has drawn in conservationists, ranchers, celebrities and politicians.
The crux of the issue: whether slaughtering healthy horses is an appropriate solution to a looming budget crisis. The cash-strapped BLM manages an estimated 33,000 wild horses and burros on public rangelands and cares for an additional 30,000 in short-term and long-term holding facilities around the country. It says it is facing problems on several fronts, including:
- A lack of space at its corrals and pastures.
- Skyrocketing hay and grain prices that have made it more expensive to feed the animals.
- An economic downturn that has prompted a sharp drop in the number of adoptions.
But one of its proposed solutions, cutting the herds by about 6,000 horses, isn't sitting well with conservationists and agency critics, who say the federal government has mismanaged the Wild Horse and Burro Program so badly that it actually created the crisis.
"They have been rounding up horses by the thousands, when they know there isn't enough of an adoption market to support it," said Virginie Parant, director of the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign. "They manufactured this (emergency), and they knew full well that they didn't have a long-term solution to this problem."
Rising costs
The BLM administers more than 264 million acres of public land, mostly in the 12 most Western of the states. It is responsible for everything from fire protection to wildlife management and has an aggregate annual budget of roughly $1 billion.
The agency has been in the business of protecting wild horses since 1971, when Congress passed a law declaring them the "living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West." Its current budget for the Wild Horse and Burro Program is $37 million. The agency uses that money to conduct regular roundups of the wild herds, to find suitable homes for as many of the animals as possible, and on feed and veterinary care.
The recent adoption in Show Low is one of dozens the agency will hold throughout the country this year. At each, as many as 30 or 40 animals will be auctioned for a starting bid of $125. Successful bidders can choose to take home a second "buddy" horse for $25. They generally range in age from 1 to 5 years. All have been given vaccinations, and most are social enough to come right to the edge of their pens for a pet or a treat.
Trainers volunteer their time at the weekend events, placing saddles on the animals, or showing off those previously adopted, all in an effort to persuade those who stop by to take one home. The volunteers don't like to talk much about the euthanasia proposal. To them, it's an unpleasant prospect they hope doesn't become reality.
"All I can say is that maybe if a lot of people get upset about it, then a lot of people will get on board to do something about it," said KJ Koch, a Queen Creek resident and trainer who donates his time to the agency. "We do a lot for people outside this country, so how about doing something here for something that is near and dear to our hearts?" But it's not clear what, if anything, can be done.
The BLM estimates it will have to spend more than $26 million on holding costs this fiscal year. That's more than three-fourths of the Wild Horse and Burro Program's annual budget.
Program pinch
The cost of caring for the animals has escalated to the point that there isn't enough leftover money to do all the other things essential to the program, including conducting future roundups, said Tom Gorey, a BLM spokesman in Washington, D.C.
The roundups are essential, Gorey said, because herd sizes can double every four years. If the animal population gets too large, it can lead to overgrazing, soil erosion and other long-term damage to public lands. Other methods of population management, such as birth control, are not feasible on a widespread basis, he said.
"This is the only way we can control the population," Gorey said. "And if we let the herd explode, they'd finish up foraging and then go outside that area. It would lead to an ecological disaster."
The lack of cash is causing strain in other areas too, said Roger Oyler, a specialist who works with the BLM's Wild Horse and Burro Program in Arizona. He says the agency would like to do follow-up "compliance" checks on everyone who adopts animals from the agency. And although the BLM still investigates any time there is a complaint about a specific adopter, routine checks have fallen off sharply to about 30 percent. "There just isn't money because we're spending too much on feed," Oyler said. Federal officials estimate that rising energy and feed prices have increased by as much as $4 million in the past year alone.
Ranchers and horse enthusiasts are feeling the pinch, too, the BLM believes, and that's likely the reason that adoptions have fallen by almost 18 percent in just two years. "Ideally, we'd like to adopt out as many as we are taking in," Gorey said. "But it's just a soft market right now."
Poor management?
BLM critics, however, say the economy and a drop in adoptions aren't the real problem. Instead, they say the government has grossly mismanaged the program and put competing interests, like cattle ranchers, ahead of the horses.
"To say that there is an overpopulation of horses on the land is wildly debatable," said Parant, who added that there are about 33,000 wild horses grazing on public lands, compared with millions of head of cattle. Parant and others believe the BLM has erred by conducting so many roundups in recent years. They say that public lands could be better managed and that the agency should be working to bring water troughs and other resources to the animals on the range, rather than putting them into holding pens.
'Short end of the stick'
"The horses really get the short end of the stick because they don't make any money for anybody," Parant said. "The problem for the BLM is that people really want the horses to be out there."
Some members of Congress, including Arizona Democrat Raul Grijalva, have expressed concern about the BLM's management of the program, as well. Grijalva, chairman of the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, co-authored a letter in July to the agency's deputy director of operations, asking that it hold off on any decision on the euthanasia proposal. "You may be aware that the BLM's inability to administer the budget of the Wild Horses and Burros Program with any trace of fiscal accountability is a long-standing concern and must not be used as a death sentence upon these celebrated symbols of the American West," the letter stated. It also asks the BLM to answer 15 questions about the program, including how much it would cost to euthanize the animals and why the agency continued to round up horses, given the softening adoption market.
Upcoming audit
The BLM says the agency has done its best to manage the program in an appropriate manner, given its budget and other federal mandates. It says it must balance the wild horses and burros with additional public-land uses, including cattle grazing, oil and gas development and recreation.
"We strongly disagree with that (mismanagement) characterization," Gorey said. "We've been diligent in exercising our responsibilities."
Gorey did say that the agency is committed to not moving forward with euthanasia or other long-term changes until after the Government Accountability Office completes an audit of the program. That report is due Sept. 22. But something needs to be done soon, Gorey said, because maintaining the status quo isn't possible without more funding. The agency doesn't have plans to ask Congress for money but has said its budget would need to increase from the current $37 million to $77 million by 2012 to keep the program as is. "Some decisions need to be made in the near future." Gorey said.
XP
Pony apparently abandoned by owner.Stray pony unclaimed after several weeks [link]
Peter Burke | Aug 14, 2008
A Boulder Creek woman who found a stray pony last month has yet to find the owner despite her best efforts. "If my horse got loose, I’d be freaking out," said Boulder Creek resident Diane Hamilton, who found the Bay Roan pony. "It’s like losing a kid." Hamilton found the pony, which she calls the mystery horse, on Mitchell Drive near the campus of closed Redwood Elementary School in Boulder Creek on July 18. Since then she’s posted signs, contacted local feed stores, veterinarians, stables, farriers and local horse people she knows — with no response. Hamilton also listed the pony on Craigslist, the Santa Cruz County Horsemen’s Association Web site and Bayequest.com while filing reports with three animal services agencies in the Bay Area. There have been a few inquires, but all have come up dry, leading Hamilton to believe that the pony probably was abandoned by its owner. "You don’t just lose a pony, that’s the thing," Hamilton said.
Abandoned horses are a rare occurrence, said Henry Brzezinski, general manager of Santa Cruz County Animal Services Authority. However, they could become more common with the current state of the economy, he said. "Just today there was a foreclosure at a home where some animals were abandoned," Brzezinski said. Hamilton said she will not keep the pony, which is even-tempered, sweet and seems to be fully trained. She has at least one suitor lined up who wants to adopt the unnamed pony.
More...Number of abandoned animals soars as foreclosures rise [link]
Alia Wilson | Aug 15, 2008
When Diane Hamilton and her neighbors discovered a wandering pony in their Boulder Creek neighborhood three weeks ago, they immediately put up signs with their contact information. "I've heard about dogs and cats getting lost, but a horse?" said Hamilton. "Who loses a pony? Seriously?" Hamilton said she figured she would find the owner in a day or two but no one has claimed the horse since she found it July 18. "I don't think anyone's looking for this horse," Hamilton said. She hopes to give it up for adoption to one of the stables or families that have shown interest after seeing her missing pony signs and Craigslist announcement.
It's not clear what happened to the pony's owners, but the Santa Cruz County SPCA was given three large animals in the last month because their owners' homes were foreclosed upon. In fact, officials from Santa Cruz County's SPCA say there has been a 30 percent increase in surrendered animals as a result of foreclosures in the past month. "People are losing their houses and are being forced into apartments, but a rental that allows pets is very difficult to find in Santa Cruz," said Lisa Carter, executive director of the SPCA. Despite a 20 percent drop in adoption rates, Carter was able to find homes for the three large animals, which included a miniature horse and a goat and a donkey that came from a Merced shelter due to overcrowding and foreclosures there. "It's been a tough last six months," said Carter. "The economy is hurting everyone, including the animals." Overcrowded animal shelters and rescue operations at maximum occupancy throughout the state have been contacting Carter in hopes of finding shelter for animals that run the risk of being put down. The SPCA's policy on killing animals is only to do it when they arrive too sick to be rehabilitated or are too aggressive to be safely placed in a home. Carter hopes that the new law passed last week Assembly Bill 2949, that will require anyone who encounters an abandoned pet to immediately call Animal Control, will help crack down on animal abandonment.
Jessica Kipp, barn manager of Willow Pond Ranch, a sanctuary for rescued horses, says that because their budget is so tight, the ranch cannot open up the 17 stalls that they have available. The ranch has 15 rescued horses. "We're being hit as hard as everybody," said Kipp. "We can't take any more in unless someone is willing to fully sponsor their horse but that isn't usually the case for owners." Kipp said between the price of hay doubling, farriers raising their prices, and people's homes foreclosing there's a definite theme of economic hardship.
Hamilton, who cannot afford to take care of the lost pony, can only hope that the owners will turn up or she can give it to a farm that contacted her about adopting and training the horse. "The pony is probably better off being somewhere else than where it has been," said Hamilton. "It's negligent on so many levels."
XP
Another case out of New York.Horses seized from Cherry Plain stable [link]
James V. Franco | Aug 15, 2008
Authorities seized 17 malnourished and neglected horses from the Black River Stable in Cherry Plain, Wednesday, and animal cruelty charges are pending. According to Brad Shear, the executive director of the Mohawk & Hudson River Humane Society, his organization was working with Thelma and Mary Wadsworth for a year trying to improve the conditions of the stable to no avail. "During our investigators' first visit, we gave the Wadsworths a feeding and care plan to improve the condition of the horses," Shear said. "Conditions were poor for these horses a year ago, but over time they were deteriorating." Humane Society investigators visited the stable nearly once a month for a year and gave them a sustainable and workable feeding and care plan. The stable provides trail rides, pony rides at parties and a day camp. "Although the horses were in terrible condition, they appear to have still been in service for the owners to make money on their trail-riding business," Shear said. Animal cruelty charges are pending in the case.
Another story on this case:
Horses removed from Cherry Plain farm [link]
PAUL GRONDAHL | Aug 15, 2008
The quarter horses and ponies were allegedly so emaciated that their ribs, backbones and hips seemed almost to be poking through their hides. Some of the 17 neglected and malnourished horses seized Wednesday from the Black River Stable in Cherry Plain, Rensselaer County, had lost up to half their normal weight, said Susan Bloser, manager of Horsefeathers Farm in Canastota, Madison County, who is caring for 10 of the animals. Investigators with the Mohawk & Hudson River Humane Society had tried unsuccessfully to work with the owners to improve the conditions of the stable prior to the seizure. Animal cruelty charges are pending against owners Thelma and Mary Wadsworth, whose business included trail rides and pony rides at parties. "They were bad. One horse was so weak he could barely stand," Bloser said. "I think the owners were just overwhelmed." Bloser is feeding the rescue animals carefully, five times a day, with small amounts of special feed, soaked alfalfa cubes, sugar beets and a weight builder supplement. She said it will take about four months to nurse the horses and ponies back to good health and then they'll likely be put up for adoption. "This is stretching my feed and hay bill, but we believe in no horse left behind," Bloser said. Donations are being accepted for the care and feeding of the 17 seized horses being rehabilitated by horse rescue volunteers.
XP
