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Another abandoned horses story that the anti-slaughter zealots will say is fabricated by bloodthirsty horse killers, no doubt.Horses dumped near Molalla to be auctioned off [link]
Officals haven't been able to ID the owner of 11 malnourished animals
Steve Mayes | Sep 6, 2008
MOLALLA—Investigators still don't know who abandoned 11 malnourished horses Sunday in a rural area south of Molalla.
Efforts to identify the horses' owner have been unsuccessful, said Jack Noble, an Oregon Department of Agriculture brand inspector. The animals will be sold next week.
A property owner who lives near where the horses were found is caring for them, said Morgan Guthner, livestock deputy for the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office.
"It looks to me like someone dumped the horses in the middle of the road," Guthner said.
Abandoning livestock is not illegal under Oregon law, but the owner could face animal neglect charges, Guthner said.
Most of the horses have small green rectangular tags with four black numbers attached to their rumps, but the purpose of the tags is unclear, Noble said.
The horses will be sold at auction Wednesday. The sale begins at 10 a.m. at the Woodburn Livestock Exchange, 597 S. Pacific Highway in Woodburn.
The horses can be viewed one hour before the sale.
Rump tags sound like standard auction stickers to me.
One can infer that if you buy a horse at auction that is malnourished, you may be subsequently charged with animal neglect for having that animal in your possession.
Interesting. What other reason to dump them might there be?
If 30% of these horses belonged to boarders, and all 82 horses were malnourished, don't you think someone would have done something sooner? I know I'd be raising a ruckus.78 Horses Removed from New York Farm [link]
Pat Raia | Sep 5, 2008
Seventy-eight allegedly malnourished horses are currently residing in foster homes after animal welfare authorities removed them from their former home last week.
According to Finger Lakes Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) Investigator Scott Mazzo, these horses are among 82 that had resided a property in Troupsburg, N.Y. Four of the horses were euthanized at the scene, he said.
"The surviving horses are also in need of medical and other rehabilitative care," Mazzo said.
Charges in the case are pending.
The seizure was the result of an investigation that began when authorities received a complaint by the owner of a horse boarded at the property.
"It looks like about 30% of the horses were boarders," Mazzo said. "We're trying to match the horses with their owners now, and we will release the horses to their owners as soon as we possibly can."
This is the largest equine seizure in the Finger Lakes SPCA's history. The agency is seeking financial and material donations to defray the estimated $20,000 cost of the horses' first month of care.
It makes one wonder if all of the horses were indeed malnourished, or if the seizure occurred due to a small number of horses in poor condition.
Screencaps show one severely malnourished horse, and two others that are thin but not starving. One I would consider moderately underweight, and the other somewhat underweight (very little of this one on the video).
Neglected horses rescued from Fruitland [link] Tania Dall | Sep 5, 2008
SPOKANE—Three malnourished horses from Stevens County are being nursed back to health in Spokane after being rescued by Spokanimal.
Investigators say the horses were found neglected in Fruitland in southern Stevens County in what Spokanimal says is one of the saddest cases of animal cruelty its ever seen.
The horses were rescued Wednesday, one of them so malnourished it had to be carried on to a horse trailer by rescuers.
"I believe four of us were able to lift her up onto her feet, and that should never be the case," rescuer Denise Fairbank said.
Starved, underweight, and scared is how rescuers found the three horses Rocky Stallion, IB Spotless and Cinderella.
"It was the right thing to do," Fairbank said. "I couldn't not help."
Spokanimal Executive Director Gail Mackie feels this situation could have been much worse.
"This appeared to be a cruelty situation of great magnitude," Mackie said, adding that a fourth horse had been found dead.
The horses are slowly recovering at Spokane Sport Horse Farm after their rescue on Wednesday. All three were showing varying degrees of malnourishment with the worst off being Cinderella, who should be weighing about 900 pounds but weighs only 450.
With the price of hay going up and winter just around the corner, Spokanimal worries more horses will be abused or abandoned.
"With hay being $200 or more a ton, I'm afraid that this is going to be a more common occurrence as the winter goes on," Mackie said.
The Stevens County Sheriff's Office is investigating this case but had few details on the matter Friday afternoon.
Meanwhile all three horses are adoptable but it will take some time to nurse them back to health. It costs $30 a day to take care of each animal so if you can help with any donations or if you're interested in adopting any of these horses you can contact Gail Mackie at Spokanimal.
I'm waiting to hear more on this case ... I fully support prosecuting the guilty, but I hesitate to condemn without proper information. I did not get a chance yet to review the audio from the footage, just snagged some screencaps.
* UPDATE can be found
here
Horses shouldn't be seized without due process.Owner gets horses but faces charges [link]
Bill Scanlon | Sep 4, 2008
The 28 horses allegedly neglected by a Jefferson County rancher have been returned to him, but he still faces charges at a trial slated to begin Sept. 25.
John McCulley is charged with 27 counts of animal cruelty arising from allegations that he neglected, but did not physically abuse, the horses on his property northwest of Arvada.
The horses were returned last week after the Jefferson County district attorney's office lost its appeals of a judge's decision that sheriff's deputies illegally entered a door to remove the horses.
County Judge Charles Hoppin "found that it had been an unlawful search and seizure," said Pam Russell, spokeswoman for the district attorney's office. "We were on the property legally, but it was illegal to go past the door to take the animals."
Meanwhile, Hildy Armour of Colorado Horse Rescue applauded McCulley for recently agreeing to let someone adopt one of the horses. "We're pleased," she said. "He did a very nice thing."
McCulley did not return telephone calls Thursday.
Russell said when deputies arrived at the ranch about a year ago, they found that there was no food for the horses.
A veterinarian testified that the horses all were thin.
Makes me wonder about the case of Turn 3 Ranch, where vets found 56 of the 69 animals seized in ideal or near-ideal condition, yet the county seized the farm with a warrant obtained based on false accusations. Adding to the insanity, a judge gave the animals to the county when the defendants (yet to be tried on the charges against them) could not come up with a $134,000 "ransom" for trumped-up maintenance costs, and the county later auctioned the "rescued" horses (many in worse condition than when seized) for pennies on the pound.
(Learn more about the Turn 3 Ranch case.)
Someone with no other options?Who's Abandoning Horses In South Fort Worth? [link]
Mark Johnson | Sep 4, 2008
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 News) ― The Humane Society of North Texas says it's seeing a disturbing trend recently.
Somebody is abandoning neglected and malnourished horses at an empty lot in South Fort Worth.
During the last several weeks, five horses have been dumped at the lot, which is near Highway 287 and southeast Loop 820.
"Each horse that we've received has had some sort of problem," said Tammy Hawley, director of the local Humane Society. "Underweight, poor farrier care, injury or combination of all those together. They've all had problems, so we think it's somebody that's trying to stay out of trouble. They're dumping them, there trying not to get caught with them in their possession."
The most recent horse to be found, a mare, was spotted in the lot early Thursday morning. It was in the care of the Humane Society within an hour. The horse is badly malnourished and has several injuries, which Hawley says suggests a long period of neglect.
Of the five horses the Humane Society has recovered so far, one has died and two have been adopted. The other two are recovering and could be eligible for adoption soon.
Sad story, and not one we won't be seeing more of.
I've learned not to jump to conclusions, when it comes to the media reporting a story about animals—especially horses.Couple face animal cruelty charges [link]
Jim Schultz | Sep 3, 2008
A Round Mountain couple have been charged with multiple felony counts of cruelty to animals after Shasta County animal control officials removed a herd of horses from their property earlier this year that they claimed were malnourished and neglected.
Brent and Kay Painter appeared in Shasta County Superior Court for arraignment late last week, but it was continued until Sept. 19 so they could hire a lawyer, a Shasta County prosecutor said Tuesday.
Shasta County animal control authorities rounded up 17 Arabian horses in February from the couple's Terry Mill Road property after receiving complaints that the horses were being neglected. Painter, 58, has been charged with nine felony counts, while his 56-year-old wife is charged with six felonies. Six of the nine criminal counts against Painter accuse him of depriving the horses of food and shelter while three also accuse him of unlawfully and intentionally killing three of his horses.
The couple could not be reached Tuesday for comment.
According to a lengthy report, the horses were seized in February, noting that workers with the county roads department had to plow deep snow from the roadway and driveway to remove them from the Round Mountain property.
"Most were too weak to make it through almost 2 feet of snow, up the steep driveway to get to the trailers," the report said.
The 87-page report said that nine of the horses were in an open range field that was covered with about 3 feet of snow and that several of the horses were "visibly shaking" and pawing in the snow trying to find feed. Eight others were found in snow-clogged pens, the report said.
"All of the horses in the pens were emaciated in varying degrees," the report detailed, adding that there was no visible feed in any of the pens.
There were plastic tubs in seven of the pens that were filled with snow and slushy water, it said, but noting that one pen had only snow and no drinkable water.
None of the pens, the report said, had any protective covering.
Shasta County Deputy District Attorney Mike Hemker said Tuesday that Painter faces about eight years in prison if convicted of the animal cruelty charges, while Painter's wife is looking at about five years in prison if convicted.
Eight years in prison ... more time than some child molesters ... because someone did not observe food and water in a horses' pen? What if they "observe" my horses in the winter, pawing at the snow between morning and evening feedings?
The photo shown did NOT impress upon me that these animals were at the brink of starvation. What manner of qualifications did the author of this "lengthy report" have? Many animal control officers have NO experience with horses and other livestock, and it isn't required of them. The majority of their work deals with dogs and cats.
So, I decided to read the many comments on the story.Posted by mountainobserver on September 3, 2008 at 8:45 a.m.
The picture in the above story was shot the day after the Animal control (otherwise known as out of control idiots) seized these horses and any person with a brain at all can see the condition for an Arabian is excellent. Several local residents were present when Animal control came and objected to their fraud and deceit in this situation. If you beleive this story, then you don't have a clue about government nazis tactics and the TRUTH. The barn on site was full of good quality hay and all the horses were in sheltered areas so they were protected and had water. So get the facts from the locals that were there--not the district attorneys office who now is trying to blow a smoke screen to cover their out of control government butts.
Posted by nomeg15 on September 3, 2008 at 8:56 a.m.
I would like to know for sure if that picture was taken the day after they were seized. If it was, then that is not neglect. They are healthy size for Arabians. What you see there is a wooly winter coat and dirt. If this is neglect then my neighbors should lose all of theirs and be locked up indefinately but after numerous calls, they still have their horses. Neglecting horses or an animal is horrendous and offenders deserve to be punished but I would like all of the facts.
Posted by horseman1 on September 3, 2008 at 9:32 p.m.
I have read again the comments about this "story" and it appears there are lots of mixed up bits & parts that do not fit the "story". I would sure like to know the real facts involved here as it does not make good "horse sense". I get the distinct feeling that the "story" as reported to the public is hardly the tip of the iceburg and that there is a whole lot more to all of this than the Shasta County District Attorney would want known, ie, claims of good hay, good physical condition,bad conditions,a incompetant caretaker--Arabian horses are not a inexpensive item to aquire , let alone lose in the fashion described here. Something is not RIGHT HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by mountainlover on September 4, 2008 at 11:50 a.m.
I went on a search about this Mr.Painter on the web and found that he's been involved with "Racing Arabians" since 1970's, has owned several top running horses that were in the "money',sold several horses to Patrick Swaze,Wayne Newton,and several other big name "race" breeders. One of his stallions was prominate in the race world and is on the "who's who" of race sires in the US since 1980, so I think there's a whole lot more to everything than I've seen so far in this story or the comments.I think someone with this kind of background would be very upset by the "caretaker" issue and "Animal Control" by what is stated here so far. I think the "tip of the iceburg" comment above is appropriate to say the least.
Another case that should be followed to see how much is media hype.
When someone literally cannot afford to feed their horses, at what point does it become a crime?Santa Fe Shelter Tries To Save Malnourished Horses [link]
KOAT.com | Sep 3, 2008
SANTA FE, N.M. -- A horse shelter in Santa Fe is trying to save a pair of once-starving animals.
One Santa Fe horse shelter is offering help for horses. The shelter said they are used to the phone ringing at least once a week.
"But last July and August we've been getting a call about every other day," Helen Gaussoin said.
One of the more recent calls was about four horses in need.
"By the time she called us about a week later one of them had already died," Gaussoin said.
There were two of the survivors.
"Their veins and bones stick out. This horse, Dee, is about 500 pounds underweight. Kate needs to put on at least 300 pounds," Gaussoin said.
Gaussoin said it was the worse case she had seen so far. "It was just another New Mexico owner who couldn't quite keep up with their upkeep."
It is the kind of story Gaussoin said she's heard all summer long.
"It all comes down to we simply can not afford to keep this horse," Gaussoin said.
Part of the problem is the price for feed has gone way up, what use to cost about $9 a bale last summer costs more than $11 this summer.
"It is really hard to explain to people why the price is what it is," Gaussoin said.
Tom MacDonell owns San Marcos Feed and said prices are up by about 30-percent.
He said he's meeting desperate animal owners and soon expects to see more sights like this.
"I think it will become a trend. Right now, there is probably more horses for sale than I've seen in a long time," MacDonell said.
Back at the shelter, the focus is on the two new arrivals.
"We'll just try to get them as healthy as we can," Gaussoin said.
The plan is to nourish them back from the brink all while they hope no more horses hobble in -- in the same kind of condition.
The horse shelter in Santa Fe is always looking for donations and volunteers.
I feel for these horses, but also for the owners who have little recourse ... if you can't sell them, can't feed them and can't afford to have them euthanized, what do you have left?
There is a need, but there is also a great risk in starting a rescue. When donations dry up, how do you feed the horses?Rising costs increase horse neglect cases [link]
Rocky Mount Telegram | Sep 3, 2008
Rising fuel prices and increasing financial hardships have caused a dramatic increase in the number of abused and neglected horses across the country.
Feed prices continue to increase, forcing some longtime owners to sell some of their horses at prices well below their value. This has led to a flood of first-time horse buyers, many of whom don’t always realize the time and expense required to properly take care of a horse.
“These first-time horse buyers — who God bless them mean well — probably have wanted a horse since childhood,” says Elizabeth Loftin, who runs Healing Horses Ranch in Castalia. “But like the old saying goes, ‘If it seems to good to be true — it probably is.’ These buyers rush in without researching why these horses are suddenly available so cheap.”
Loftin and Daniel Paschall recently formed Safe Haven Equine Rescue, where they care for their seven horses and eight rescue horses, two of which they have adopted as their own.
“The Rescue is blessed with healthy pastures, shade and gorgeous sunrises and sunsets — and we’re blessed with the knowledge of how to care for the horses that come here,” Loftin said. “The only thing we’re lacking these days is the financial capability to continue to grow if something doesn’t change very soon.”
The rescue group is run almost solely on donations, but with the uncertain economic times many people face, those have been slow in coming. But a local store placed a donation jar on its counter, an area horse owner donated some feed and a retired professional rider donated horse supplies.
“It was a tearful union of giver and reciever as I realized she was giving all she had,” Loftin said. “We have become great friends, and I consider her a full partner.”
Loftin said the next step for the group is to find an attorney to help them organize as a nonprofit 501(c)3 organziation. But she also holds out hope that a big donor will some day emerge to help the group.
“I know there’s someone out there who can heal our financial problems — we just need to reach the right person,” she said. “But Alfalfa hay is our biggest need at this time to store up for the winter months.”
Hope won't fill an 800 pound animal's belly.
What we've been saying, verified.Tough economy, legislation presses horse industry [link]
Joe Scott | Sep 3, 2008
Peggy Goeke said she has a couple of foals from a good brood mare and a hand-picked stallion.
"They have a lot of good breeding and good talent behind them," Goeke said.
Horses like that used to fetch anywhere from $5,000 to $8,000, she said."I'm not selling them for $200," said Goeke, of Warren County. "That's giving them away. Most of us are just hanging on to them."
The economy has hit the horse industry hard. The price of grain and feed has skyrocketed along with the price of fuel. Fewer people are attending horse shows and competitions. However, horse experts also point to the closing of the nation's only horse slaughterhouses in Illinois and Texas as another bad development for horses and horse owners. Legislation in those states banned the slaughterhouses, and there are no others in the United States.
Meanwhile, horse rescue facilities are full and most are not accepting more horses.
"They can't afford it," said Goeke, of Prosperity Farms Equine Center.
"The average American doesn't understand animal husbandry," said Tom Lenz, an equine veterinarian for 35 years and chairman of the Unwanted Horse Coalition. "They romanticize the horse. It's a very emotional issue."
That romantic notion also leads inexperienced owners to buy and breed horses, said Sheila Short, of Warren County, who is a member of the Missouri Equine Council. The council promotes the interests of the Missouri horse industry.
"Five years later, they're out of money and trying to get rid of those horses," Short said.
Horses are classified as livestock, but most Americans see them as pets, Lenz said.
"One of the biggest opponents (to slaughtering horses) is (actress) Bo Derek," Lenz said. "She doesn't understand there are ranchers and farmers in the Midwest and the problems they face."
Similarly, politicians react to that emotion rather than listening to people in the horse industry, he said.
"They look at what their constituents want," he said. "Their constituents don't want it, so that's how their vote goes."
Most major horse associations support the Unwanted Horse Coalition. So do most horse owners and trainers.
Previously, if a horse was too mean, lame or old, it could be sold for up to 50 cents a pound at a sale barn. Then, it would be taken to a slaughterhouse in Texas or Illinois. The process was overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Along with the economic crunch, removing slaughterhouses also removed the base price for a horse. That has led to a glut of low- to mid-price-range horses that owners are trying to get rid of, Short said.
She said removing the slaughterhouses had a ripple effect on the price of other horses, as well.
"You take away that foundation, and there's nothing under it," she said.
It's affected not only low-end horses, but the mid-range horses, Short said. People used to get rid of lower-end horses and upgrade to a mid-price-range horse. But if they can't get rid of those lower range horses, they can't afford another horse or have no room for another.
Overpopulation of horses also has a devastating effect on horse owners who are dealing with job or pay loss due to the economy, Short said.
It costs about $200 to euthanize a horse, Short said. But compare that to the $500 to $700 that a hauler at one time paid for a 1,000-pound horse, and the economic reversal has a profound impact, she said.
More than one-third of all horse owners have an annual income of less than $50,000, according to an American Horse Council study.
"If you're faced with the option of feeding your children or feeding your horse, which are you going to choose?" she asked.
As a result, some owners of unwanted horses sometimes simply leave the animals out in the pasture with no food, water or care.
"It's out of sight, out of mind," said Teresa "Dood" Lee of Warren County, who barrel races and works with the Warren County 4-H equine program. "It takes a long time for a 1,000-pound horse to starve to death."
There also are issues with carcass disposal. Horse owners no longer can simply bury them. Renting the backhoe would be an additional cost, anyway.
Sometimes, the owners abandon them at state parks, trail rides or even horse shows.
"I had one guy in my shop, he had a 10-year-old horse that had never been broken. It was basically a pet," Lee said. "He said, 'Well, if you don't take her, I'm gonna shoot her.' I said, 'Don't shoot her. Keep looking around. Take her up to Amish country.'"
It used to be that horse owners took such horses to the sale barn in Mexico, Mo. If no other buyer bid a higher price, a hauler would pay from 70 to 80 cents a pound.
"Now, they don't sell at all," Lee said.
"I think it's affected the bottom half or bottom third of the horse market," Lenz said. "The richer owners will continue to buy the upper-end horses, and the economy won't affect how they treat them."
Usually, horses that grew too old, were mean, or ill went to processing plants in Illinois or Texas, where they were slaughtered and shipped to countries such as Japan or France, where horse meat is eaten.
"Some cultures don't eat pork," Lenz said. "I don't think we should judge whether another society is right or wrong because of the meat they eat.
"Besides, what difference does it make to the horse?" he asked.
However, currently thousands of horses are shipped to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico. Due to higher transportation costs, the price they pay for the horses is drastically reduced.
But legislation is being developed to stop transporting horses for slaughter altogether. That would put even more pressure on the horse industry, Lenz said.
"If that passes, it will really complicate things," Lenz said.
Lenz said he can't see any more slaughterhouses opening in the United States because of all the rules and regulations against them, not to mention adverse publicity.
But there is a solution, he said.
"The issue is exactly the same one we face with dogs and cats," he said. "We still euthanize five to 10 million dogs and cats every year."
The solution is education and awareness with an emphasis on preventing overbreeding, just like the dog and cat industry, he said.
For horse owners, it's going to require a change in attitude.
"Rather than breeding your mare, buy a horse. Rather than buy a horse, adopt one. Rather than discarding your horse, euthanize it," Lenz said. "The horse industry hasn't thought that way before."
Eventually, he foresees low-cost euthanization centers for horses, similar to those available for dogs and cats.
He also wants to study where unwanted horses come from.
"I've visited the slaughterhouses down in Mexico, and you'll pick out the old horses, the sick horses and the lame horses. Then, there are these healthy horses, and you wonder, 'How did that horse go from being a $5,000 horse to being a $100 horse?"
Until all horse owners get the message that breeding horses that don't have special skills is a problem, slaughter plants and euthanization are a necessary part of the solution, Lenz said.
Necessary to the base value of ALL horses. Devaluing a low-end horse from at least $500 to $0—or even a negative figure of -$500 or greater when considering disposal costs—has had a cataclysmic affect on the horse market.
Update on Florida case.Neglected horses up for adoption [link]
WOFL FOX 35, Orlando | Sep 2, 2008
MARION COUNTY, Fla.—A collection of ponies, miniature horses, full-sized horses and donkeys will be available for you to adopt beginning Tuesday, September 2.
The animals were seized at the end of May when Marion County Animal Services found them starved and neglected.
Starting today, citizens can adopt up to two ponies or horses each.
Interested adopters will need to provide proof that their residences are zoned for housing livestock and animal services will need to know the current number of livestock and acreage where the animals will be living.
The adoption fee is $75 per animal and will be accepted in the form of cash or check.
There are 99 ponies and miniature horses, 11 full-sized horses, two miniature donkeys and two full-sized donkeys available.
XP—Authorities make an effort to adopt them to good homes rather than sell by the pound ... what a concept!
