Don’t judge a book by its web site!
Aug 05 2010
People are always asking me how they can choose a reputable rescue to donate to and are sometimes not happy with the answer I provide: Choose a GFAS accredited rescue (of which there are only a handful) or choose a rescue near your home that you can visit and check up on regularly. (A great way of visiting and checking up is known as “volunteering” 
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Well, folks aren’t always satisfied with that answer. They see pleas for help online constantly, and would like to believe that a nice web site is proof that a rescue is well-run and well-organized.
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And here is her blog. Totally intelligent, coherent, sensible. Who wouldn’t agree with what she has to say?
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I mean, Kristin Chambers can spell and everything. She sounds totally together. OK, she IS a Parellisite, but there are many of those who take good care of their horses (many of them find it is the only thing they can do with their horses, who have learned how to avoid ever being ridden!)Â
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Heck, Kristin has even been mentioned positively here on the blog. She’s the one who found Clever Allemont in the kill pen and helped him get to safety.
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But yet…she slipped over the edge, as so many do, and is now up on animal cruelty (and child abuse)Â charges. And the only red flag online was the lack of updates. The blog stopped updating four months ago. The web site is mostly out of date for the past year.Â
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What is interesting is that I cannot find a single mention of this in the national news. I found one tiny little blip in the local news. Fortunately for those of you looking to avoid funding hoarders, this blog is the news!
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As per usual, Kristin’s hoarding was funded by many grants from the ABR board. People, again, can you just wise up? Local rescues. Or rescues with GFAS accreditation. That is where you send your money. Not to every “OMG THE TRUCK IS COMING!” screamer on the web.
P.S. Speaking of rescues biting the proverbial dust, yes, I have received Celeita Kramer’s “help me or I start shooting horses” e-mail from many of you. Honestly I am sick of giving that crazy-ass nut job any further publicity. If you don’t know who I am talking about, read this excellent blog entry detailing some of her issues here. I will feature Celeita again when she (a) gets arrested or (b) agrees to surrender ALL horses and get OUT of rescue. Not before.
For those of you who love to shop on ebay, click below and check it out. Angel Acres is featured this month and all you have to do is click here and check out all of the great items up for sale with money going to benefit Angel Acres. Happy shopping!
For those of you who love to shop on ebay, click below and check it out. Angel Acres is featured this month and all you have to do is click here and check out all of the great items up for sale with money going to benefit Angel Acres. Happy shopping!
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66 comments to “Don’t judge a book by its web site!”
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Wow! Talk about close to home! I’ll keep my ears open fugs, & let you know if I get anymore information.
They also have a facebook page, just search under Winding Road Equine Rescue. I promptly “unliked” it today!
http://www.coffeycountyonline.com/
That’s the only thing I found. This must be an absolute mess, because in Kansas, it takes a LOT to get the authorities to even so much as look at a possible neglect case, and I have NEVER heard of them confiscating animals! I’ve had a friend try to rescue horses in Kansas, after three were already dead of starvation, from her drug-using ex and they still made her return the horses to him–and they died. Sheriff did nothing except make her return them. I can’t imagine how bad this case must be.
Does anyone know where the animals went and the details on the ones who were rescued? Hate to see them all go through auction again, and I know people in the area….
I’d like to know more. There’s a thread on ICERS, I just didn’t have time to read the whole thing this morning.
the pictures are beyond sad..
I hope this is a wake up call for ANYONE that has more than 20 critters TOTAL… GET HELP NOW!
Yeah, I’ve said it so many times…want to start a rescue? See how you do with three to five horses. Try that first. If you’re doing spectacularly, you might get up to 10 in a few years. Not in a year or two. If you are taking in 10 new ones at once, you’d better be married to Tony Curtis, LOL.
The VAST majority of WELL RUN rescues have 20 or less horses in their care at any given time. There are exceptions but not many.
Before we moved & I had to stop, I did rescue, but I only took 1-2 horses at a time because that’s all I had space & funds for. If I ran across horses that needed help immediately and I didn’t have room for them, I knew enough people willing to help out that I could call and they would take in a few. I’ve always preferred doing the private rescue thing myself…my own time & money taking care of feed, hay, vet, farrier, training, etc…
Whoa Nelly, I have more than 20 horses and they are just fine I can tell you!
Course I am not a rescue.
But there is no limit to how many horses you can cope with, everyone is different…..
Is Shiloh considered a “good” rescue? The horses on their blog seem happy, and the pics are always cute. Just curious what you think of them.
-Gryph
I think they’re great or they wouldn’t be advertising here. I wouldn’t take ads from anyone that I had qualms about.
Very true. I’d forgotten you HAD the link until after I hit submit. Sorry about that!
-Gryph
Can you post the link where there are pics? I guess I’m not sure where you are looking…
Yeah, I’d like a link to the pictures, too, if there are some
We have 64 horses. We’re not hoarders though, just responsible TB breeders who retire our horses after their racing days and always take back any horse sold or claimed. Do we need help? Yes! We have at least 20 who would be great trail, show or jumpers, but the good homes out there are few and far between. Hubby says I’m too picky.
Nope, not too picky, just careful about where my babies go and I keep track of them after they leave. Believe me, in this economy it would be a lot easier to rehome horses if I wasn’t so careful, but then who knows where they would end up. Thus, it’s a struggle, but we keep feeding and caring for all of them. Oh yeah, we love them. 
I can’t image managing 64 Terrorbreds. Kudos to you if you can pull it off.
Having one is enough for my bank account and peace of mind. He does live the life of luxury while I wallow in misery all day. Never an ounce of gratitude for my hard work – Just feed the mouth. Wouldn’t trade him for anything.
Where are you located? I could be in the market for another OTTB like mine. He is a rare one.
Email: drsgjunky at comcast.net
I wish I knew you, Silverhope. 64! I saw so many of mine leave on the truck…
I love TBs, forever.
Do you know? Then how come you saw so many of yours leave on a truck? >.<
I’m glad to hear that you are so careful about where your horses go. I have an OTTB that I rescued from a neglect situation and was able to track down his original owner. He was so thrilled to hear that one of his horses had a loving forever home that he would never be sold from. My horse has had some hard-knocks in his life, and he has a hard time trusting anyone but me but he’s been the biggest blessing of my life. I love TBs & always want to have at least one! He can do it all
We do endurance racing, western pleasure shows, jumping, trail riding, etc. He’s the most honest horse I’ve ever met!
I agree…to get anything done in Kansas situations have to be awful! I moved to Kansas from New York, and the difference in care is night & day! Out here people think I’m nuts because my horses get fly masks, blankets, supplements & daily grain! People seem shocked that I don’t just stick my horses out in a pasture & call it good!!! 2 of our horses would be fine with no grain, but one is an old grey with bad cancer who needs grain & supplements to keep weight on, and the other is my TB who even WITH grain, beet pulp, alfalfa cubes & supplements STILL looks skinny…they would never last on just pasture!
I live in Kansas and I too fly mask, fly sheet, hose down, blanket and feed supplements as needed – as do most of the horse people I know – all living in Kansas and Missouri. But this is not New York City – we are a rural state overall, and horses are considered livestock – and no question I see horses in pastures that I wouldn’t dream of keeping my horses in, and know that there are horses not getting fly masks and grain every day – and while I do not care for mine that way, these horses appear healthy and fine. Be careful what you wish for – if everyone had to meet a small groups idea of what constitutes good care, that could be a very slipperly slope indeed. Good care covers a wide berth. I am not supporting abuse, but just because the neighbors cows are not wearing fly masks and fly socks – I don’t consider them not cared for.
While I have not personally seen a horse abuse case near me, so I have no actual knowledge of how bad the situation is before the authorities step in – I think it is a problem across the country that often they do not step in when it seems common sense that they should.
Hmmph…her letter from the court also mentions child abuse/neglect! Sad…
I know most of you aren’t anywhere close to Massachusetts but any who’re in northern NA or southern NH look up NEER. New England Equine Rescue. They’ve got fosters and small stations all though ma and NH and are approved. Thier websites a little spotty but volunteer’s do everything. I am one of those volunteers. At NEER North we just got back this adorable, well behaved little pony mare who had several shards removed from her lower jaw from a broken tooth. The last vet she saw who supposedly removed it all.. didn’t.
http://www.newenglandequinerescues.com/ <— Main page link.
http://neernorth.com/ < — Neer Norths Updated, more current site.
If anyone has any questions about NEER North, Neer in general, don't be scared to email me at simplyrenegade@aol.com. I've fallen in love with the horses and people here and give any time I can to lend a hand. They're totally worth it and federally recognized.
The Contry Cares program from Country Supply, (now horse.com), ended a while ago. I took the link down immediately from the rescue whose web site I am responsible for… that was Hint # 1 when I went to this site to see. Ahem.
Wow, this one spiralled down FAST. How do you go from inviting the public to an event at your facility — scheduled for JUNE 6 — to total confiscation in August? Truly scary. And from a formerly “proven good” rescuer.
Really makes you wonder what the full story is.
The “Family Day” event was June 2009 (not this year). Like someone else said, not updated in quite a while.
Wow… just goes to show you that no one is safe. You get sucked in and can’t or won’t draw the line and then you are overwhelmed and underfunded.
What a sad, sad situation…
I REALLY would not call that a nice website. Ick – very amateurish. But then again, most equestrian websites are hopelessly um, frumpy I guess would be the kindest way to put it. At least it wasn’t infested with gifs and embedded MIDIs!
I cringe at the ones that have a lot of “whinnies.” How are you supposed to sneak a peek in the workplace?
Also rainbow horse angels, with flappy wings. Eeeek.
Or that 3/4 view walking horse gif that’s EVERYWHERE. Seriously, the online horse community is stuck in Geocities:1999.
I swear I really wish Celeita WOULD just go ahead and shoot those horses! Maybe that would finally get some real action on shutting her down! They are suffering on and off as her fortunes rise and fall (or maybe just all the time as she uses funds for other things?) so a swift gunshot would not be their worst possible scenario. Come on Celeita, you KNOW you want to! What does it take to shut that crazy witch down??
I do the website for Rolling Rock Rescue & Retirement in WI (www.rollingrockrescue.com) and I am always amazed at how many people will judge a rescue by its website. The compliments are always nice, but anyone can create a website and make it look legit. Please do not judge a rescue by its website — it’s a good start, but make sure you thoroughly check it out. We encourage anyone who brings in a horse or wants to adopt/foster a horse to check with the local humane officer – she does a check at the rescue at least once a month per the owner’s request. We have been told by a number of people that we come highly recommended and check out — sometimes we ask who or what they check, sometimes we dont, but the point is they checked. Check blogs, visit the rescue, and if possible, talk to people in the area or others who have adopted/fostered horses from the rescue. If the rescue doesn’t sound right (evasive answers), feel right and you’re just not sure — walk away!! And for those who think rescues are “throwaways” – we have gotten a number of expensive, talented, healthy horses in whose owners just did not want them sold over and over.
Their website looks nice from first glance. However, anyone can put a website together without too much effort. The front page of the site is cluttered and has too much verbage. Some information is repeated. It says it hasn’t been updated since May of 2009.
A couple of things that tip me off to bad sites are
*random photos
*photos that are mislabeled or that have no description at all
*too much wording, like the writer is rambling and trying to cover something up. Have you ever known a person who lies all the time, and when they talk they never shut up so that no one else can get a word in to call them out?
Good to see that the authorities are doing something about this.
This reminds me of a website a friend sent me asking me to take a look at a horse because the truck was coming. Sure enough it was for Rebel Equine with Sam’s phone number plastered all over it. I can’t believe Sam is still “in business” using the same old tactics and inflated prices. It looks like there are people out there that still don’t know about her.
Oh yeah. But it’s a pretty small operation. She’s not making the $400K a year that she was back in the CBER days!
Thanks for this topic today, there are a ton of people claiming to be rescues and they ARE NOT!!!!
Like I said the other day, if you cannot, at the very least get non profit status and proper licenses, then don’t ask for money and don’t collect animals. Don’t take in animals that need expensive rehab and then ask for money to cover the bills, hoping you will get enough.
Every fricking hoarder always always always says they rescued the animals. Hell I’ve even had a puppy miller claim to have rescued her dogs! “Rescue” I would like to see some answers from: Beyond The Fence Line in Wisconsin. Nice website, asking for money, where is your non profit status and Class E license????
Super place to adopt: Midwest Horse Welfare Foundation. They do a class A job, take super care of the horses and absolutly keep track of the horses that have been adopted. Check them out. And by the way, the Humane Officer sees this place at least once a month!
Seems that Ms. Kramer has a pony that I know very well. Trinket. Not sure how she ended up there, but she is not the saintly pony she is made out to be
Totally off topic – but this is a must watch. Cathy, you would be doing a great service to not only the American taxpayers, but also the wild horses by possibly blogging about this. And while I usually listen to conspiracy theories with a hefty grain of salt, there is too much here that is just that believable.
IMO, the BLM tops the list of worst, most corrupt “horse rescues” on the planet. And guess what folks – we pay for this crap with our own hard earned income. And my apologies to all the BLM employees who really do care about the horses – you`re not the problem. The problem is greed.
It`s a long watch, and disturbing at best, but well worth the time – particularly part 2:
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/mustangconspiracy/
What can we do as taxpaying citizens to stop this abuse of mustangs and taxpayer resources? Because that’s how we are going to get the BLM to stop the abuse, if we can. The taxpayers are going to have to raise hell. To me this is an outrage! It makes me want to go out and adopt one.
I’m sorry, but I disagree with you guys on this one. Yes, i believe that there is some things the BLM could be doing better, but considering the resources they have they aren’t doing to shabby. There was an article written on this blog last year I believe called “Much Ado About Nothing”…if you read that, it’s pretty much my beliefs to a T on mustang adoption/roundup/whatever.
I went to change.org and there are several petitions about the plight of the mustangs. I intend to sign them all and send a letter to my respective congressional reps. Sorry to be off topic but this stuff really bothers me.
Its the barn behind the white marble.
Sad that theres Child abuse too, children are our future everythings.
You wonder if she got so caught up with the animals that she forgot she had another responsibility, too?
Kinda OT, but not really.
If you are a breeder of ANY animals, PLEASE use caution when rescuing!
One of my favorite Persian cat breeders (small breeder of SUPER high quality cats raised in a loving family setting) lost EVERYTHING by “helping”. Apparently a mill was busted, and she took in 2 adult cats to nurse and rehome. This good deed has punished MANY owners AND good breeders in the Tennessee area. These apparently healthy, although filthy and undernourished, adults brought first ringworm into my friend’s home. Then coccidia killed FOUR litters, 2 in utero. THREE champion queens died. Kittens that appeared healthy when sent to their new homes were found to be deathly ill, costing the new owners THOUSANDS. Some kittens were returned under the breeder’s guarantee. She isolated and treated EVERY animal in and around her home, and STERILIZED her small house with bleach and hours of scrubbing, and scrupulous cleanliness regimes for her family and any visitors.
She ended up losing her business, her home, every single one of her beloved pets. She returned her young future breeders to their breeders when they were recovered (according to 3 vets who checked them). She no longer breeds as she lives in an apartment where she can’t own any pets. So her two rescued dogs have also lost their home.
A year later, and FIVE MORE breeding queens have died, one just after giving birth to her first litter. Two more excellent small breeders have had to close due to losses of breeding stock and having to repay buyers. Some of the kittens who had ringworm, now adults, are STILL exhibiting symptoms despite CONTINUOUS treatment and health checks. Reduced immune systems mean many of them are susceptible to every kitty cold that comes along. Two families recently went through bouts of FELINE HERPES that was dormant all this time. All the cats survived, but it’s more lifelong medical cost and misery.
The breeding stock lost will affect the quality of future generations of Persians, and have SERIOUSLY impacted the outbreeding of the breed, as all these breeders were breeding “doll nose” Persians, which do not have the smooshy face (and health problems) of the extreme faced Persians.
We never heard if the kitten mill owner/abuser of the original cats even went to court, and if so, how much punishment they received. I am encouraging the local kitten owners to contact the court if the case is still going on to help show the prosecutor and judge just how much damage those people have done, not only to them, but to the breed as a whole.
So if you breed ANY animals, PLEASE make sure you can COMPLETELY quarantine any rescues you bring in, and even then, know that it may not be effective enough. The repercussions of my friend’s one act of kindness are still causing waves in the breed.
Mills are BAD!
Yikes. Sounds like maybe those kittens had some “super bugs”. I guess that’s plausible in a mill. I’d be curious to know if there is any good data on super bugs from mills. Coccidia and ringworm alone shouldn’t have done that… I saw some fairly nasty stuff (pretty virulent coccidia, ringworm, and mange) when I lived in Okinawa, but it was all fully treatable if you got aggressive enough with it. I will say that sometimes, a lot of vets won’t get aggressive enough with things they’re not used to seeing bad cases of – to the detriment of the affected animal. If this lady trusted her vet implicitly this could have been a factor. Case in point, I picked up a cat over there with terrible mange. It was horrific. Really wish I’d taken pics of the before. Vets gave me some incredibly ineffectual stuff for this raging mange infestation. Finally, I got him Ivermectin injections from a vet tech friend who had hands on experience with the nasty “bugs” that strays on Okinawa get. Ivermectin can be dangerous for cats, but it killed the mange. This cat didn’t have a reaction, but it was a real possibility.
I have to admit I have not read all the comments …. yet. But I will personally vouch for Beauty’s Haven Equine Rescue http://www.beautysequinerescue.org . The people are completely honest and the farm is immaculate. Theresa Batchelor who runs it is an angel on earth. It is located in Morriston, Fl which is pretty much downtown nowhere but they are above board and completely honest. They do follow a bit too much on ABR which along with Facebook has become quite the place for some disreputable people and scammers. But, they are a bit too humble as they do not advertise for adoptions enough and they do ask for donations enough. They are the rescue that saved a mare that I found neglected by a two-time Fugly award winner, Amber Hyder. Angel Acres as Kathy featured above is also very reputable. I have to say that if you ever come across Sterling Silver Equine Rescue, currently listing a PO box in Hollywood Fl as their ‘home’….run… RUN LIKE HELL!!! They are NOT and NEVER have been an approved 501.c.3 although they claim they were with falsified documentation when I donated a tractor to them along with a 6′ bush hog. I’m an idiot. But even though they have an open pending investigation ongoing by the Florida state attorney, they still advertise for donations and yet they do not own a horse. Not one single horse. At one time they did but that was many years ago. Sterling Silver…..what a freakin’ nightmare. They put their kids through college with donations! Anyway….now I will go back and read comments. THanx Kathy for the topic today. A vital one and one that I hope I will find other contacts that ARE reputable on the east coast for networking and coordination efforts.
If anyone finds out where the horses are going, please post it. I’m in Topeka which is less than an hour from her. I have plenty of land and I could help out one or two of the horses,
http://www.windingroadequinerescue.org/articles/republican021508-1.pdf
Check out her past article. How disgusting to talk about how horses come to you as victims of neglect. Now you continue the cycle. I see that the paper says the confiscated horses are being treated in an undisclosed location.
The sad thing is that there were red flags raised by some other local rescues in the area and it was ignored. The person who continued to push this matter even had the Sheriff’s office called on her today regarding her own care of animals and had to do a walk through with them.
It was all attributed to “sour grapes,” over a deal gone awry and Kristin’s diehard supporters, including another respectable rescue who helped bring about the 3x Mustang situation, continued to defend this rescue until now.
Of course now all are backing away from this horrific situation and declaiming any knowledge of “how it all could have gone so horribly wrong.”
I should probably also mention that red flags were raised, including on ABR, although not in the method I would have chosen but which many are forced to resort–that of multiple ID’s because they are repeatedly banned. This person bounced around from forum to forum telling her story, but because of the lack of credibility associated with the multiple ID’s, her story was largely discounted. Many of us took note at that time that if someone was trying that hard to get their story out there, it was obviously not for the simple reason of bashing and wondered if Winding Roads Equine Rescue was going to turn up in the news in the future for that very reason. Unfortunately, it did.
Thanks to the person who continued trying to get this matter to the attention of the authorities and not giving up.
Ah yes, the ‘website looks nice’. Reminds me of when I found the website for the ‘rescue’ yard my friend and I were meant to do 3 weeks of work experience at. It claimed to have ’23 acres, set in beautuful countryside,’ and looked all nice and seemed a good place to go. Got there and it was a dingy, dirty,(I know yards can’t stay completely clean but this place pushed it) hellhole run by an absoulte dragon of a woman. I’ll stop here before I end up making a I giant rant post. Bascially my friend and I decided to leave after a week, especially after I got quite ill whilst there, due to the ‘conditions’ I was in, there wasn’t even any hot water for washing hands and we often got stuck moving muck buckets, and the break room was also where people smoked, I was there in Janurary when we’d had a particuarly bad cold snap so I was out in very cold temperatures, and even with many layers on I still couldn’t keep warm, the ‘break room’ was freezing even with heaters, there was a pack of dogs running around, the two larger ones were fine and just tended to mind their own buisness but the rest were terrier types and they were all over you when you were eating, they were allowed to crap on the yard and it was just scopped into the corner, one puked on the benches we eat at and it was just cleared up with tissue.
I ended up taking a day off as I was so sick (very rare for me) and then my mum asked me if I wanted to continue, I said no so we ended up back at a cattery I’d done work experience at whilst in school. I did mention this place before, as it was the one that kept a stallion on yard who was a ‘rare colour’ but an absoulte bastard, and we were told if we dealt with him to ‘just be firm’ when I’ve had no grounding with stallions. The other one was an evil little pony who’d ‘take your fingers off, don’t go near him’
I fostered a rescue for 18 months and it was a wonderful experience. He was a former jumper that had a career-ending injury at a show, and was trail sound (vet suggested that if the ground was forgiving and he wanted to trot, okay but walking was probably better). He was a charming horse with wonderful ground manners and everyone who handled him thought he was da bomb.
I knew that it would be 2x the expense: Food, stall bedding, “tack and equipment” (halter, blanket), flyspray, dentist, vet, chiropractor, shoeing (though he was barefoot, so the expense was actually about half what it would have been had he worn shoes).
BUT … that second horse resulted in at least FOUR times the work: The cleaning, dumping, turnout, blanket on/off, grooming. If I had had a helper, it would not have been quite as noticeable, but I did it myself and I was VERY busy. Got my exercise, for sure.
If anyone is considering starting a rescue or fostering one or more horses, keep the workload in mind. It increases geometrically ;o)
ok OT…but I saw this ad on craigslist this morning and it seems like we just covered this same thing. Slightly different health problem…same plea for help. Anyone know if this is the same girl? http://spokane.craigslist.org/grd/1883426004.html
CW, the gal in that ad doesnt seem to be begging for $$ for vet bills….obviously her Mom is making her dump a horse that is going lame.
Perhaps someone who could be much more tactfull than I would be should send her an email telling her what is almost certainly likely to happen to this horse down the road if she dumps it. Never mind the fact
that she will never get $600 from anybody (not even the meat man) for a horse that is going lame with an undiagnosed medical problem.
Jeez…she sounds like a clueless kid…her Mom sounds like a jerk.
Oh dang, no way to email them. Only a phone number……
It would almost be worth a visit/test ride/vet check to see if “going lame” is due to shitty farrier work who’s word they appear to be relying on that “mare is slowly going lame”. Wouldn’t be the first time……
If my memory serves me well, back when I worked at the Feed store in WV I sent a “care package” of donated items ( like halters, some medications etc.) to Crossed Saber or SWAP. No money was donated but the care package. I sent a couple other “care packages” to other rescues when I could. What a shame.
In response to the cat breeder story ….
It kind of bothered me. First of all, some of the lessons learned here could be applied to the concerns of this board.
If you have a hobby breeding cats, how is it possible that it would make you so broke that you had to move to an apartment and get rid of your rescue dogs? Why did those dogs have to suffer? I just can’t get my head around the idea that someone could make a living breeding cats. If it’s not a hobby, it should be. Most horse breeders can’t make a living at it, either. Income comes from boarding, training, horses in racing, or selling services, not just the sale of young stock. If you are trying to make a decent income only selling young animals, you probably are breeding too many (thus, the mills!).
It sounds like your friend was WAY over her head financially. I am sorry, but if you have some cats die, which I agree, is a tragedy, it should not make you destitute. In horse terms, if you can’t pay for the colic surgery, have the horse put down. Not a decision anyone wants to make, but if paying a vet bill puts your entire life in jepoardy, don’t incur it. If you can’t afford routine vet care, please don’t own too many animals. And certainly don’t breed them!!!
If paying back what someone paid for a kitten makes you bankrupt, wow, you charge too much for a cat.
I agree breeding mills are evil, rescuing from a mill is laudable. But if your story is a cautionary tale, then no one should do it?
I have four cats, I love cats. I even bought a purebred cat once. But it’s a cat. Difficult decisions might need to be made to protect the population and your financial well being.
It just upset me that she got rid of her dogs because her cats made her broke. I would never move somewhere that required me to get rid of my dogs — there are alternatives.
I defer to the importance of breeding this one kind of persian cat — I abhor those persians with their
weird noses, maybe your friend was making a difference. But I think any responsible breeder of anything
should be able to weather a storm of contagious illness in the breeding population without going belly up.
I guess it’s like if a wave of EIA went through an important show horse barn and killed off the champion mares and stallions …I am sure people would be outraged and upset the breed lost a lot of rare champions … but you know, so many horses go to the sale barn that were champions, or could have been. In the grand scheme of things, it still happens every day.
I might need to put on my flamesuit for this, I am sure many people don’t agree. Just to clarify, I don’t think breeding cats is wrong, I don’t think you shouldn’t take a cat to the vet. I am sure this person suffered greatly with her tragedy when trying to do good. It’s just that when I read this, I wonder how it is that you could go broke in this situation.
So this is OT but kinds of not. My husband and I are moving soon and we’re going to have a fabulous barn that in a few years is going to be set up for multiple horses. I do NOT want to start a rescue. What I WOULD like to do is be a foster home for a local equine rescue. But reading about the whole cat thing REALLY made me wonder how safe it is and whether or not I should even work on setting up for it? (ie, refurbishing four stalls instead of two, creating two one acre pastures instead of one, etc). Do rescue horses usually come in deathly ill and infect other horses? I have my own horse and I really don’t want to worry about him getting sick from strange horses. Thoughts? If I DID want to start rescuing (one or two, at a time, tops) how do you get into it? I mean, if I wanted to rescue a horse to rehab, feed, care for and find a nice home? If you already have a blog on this feel free to give me a tag or link! I’d hate to wind up like this chick by doing too much at once.
From what little info is available so far, I see this story as more of a cautionary tale for rescuers than as the “typical hoarder” that surely, -we- could never become. It can be very hard to say no to that additional animal (horses or otherwise), that really -does- need a home NOW. Especially if it’s an exceptionally good-natured one. And clearly, as has been noted before, a person’s financial and/or health situation can change very quickly – got to do the best you can by the horses before they deteriorate under your now sub par care. Not easy stuff for a person with a mind warped by stress and depression, so it probably helps to think about the unthinkable, just in case.
ONe should ALWAYS put incoming stock (if traveled a good distance with other unkonw horses or animals) into quarantine and Vetted before introducing it to the herd or group. Even if the animal came in with a health record via a Vet and states the animal is free of any contagious disease. Quarantine also ensures of any ailments that the animal may have picked up during transportation or what have you. Cleanliness of the quarantined are is also key and care of sanitation of such.
Horses coming from a rescued situation or an auction house should also be quarantined for a time (minimum of 10 days) It just pays to be careful.
http://www.wibw.com/localnews/headlines/100485054.html
Here is a report from today with a few photos.
For DLSD info go to dsldequine.info DSLD or ESPA as the disease is called is painful, dehabilitating, incurable at this point and probably genetically linked. This site has lots of info on diagnosis, management etc.
There is a support group for owners of ESPA affected horses on yahoo groups. There had been some limited sucess in managing symptoms in many affected horses by following a diet and herbal and suppliment protocol developed by a vet, Dr. Kellon.
The horses I saw pictured sure look like they have the condition. Dropped pasterns are common, but not the onlyu symptom. Go to the site to find out more. Different horse present with different symptoms, and the condition does not affect all horses in exactly the same way. There is a list of common symptoms and lots of pictures on the site. EPSA can be confirmed at necropsy by tissue studies of the neucial (sp) ligament from the horse’s neck.
I owned a DSLD/ESPA registered Peruvian Paso mare (euthanized at age 19) I have her son who has also showed signs of this condition. He is currently painfree and pasture sound, but he does not work whatsoever- either under saddle or in harness for fear of stressing him and bringing on a “flare-up.” Some vets now believe that this disease, syndrome or condition is similar to Marfan’s Syndrome, which is a genetic condition that affects connective tissues and organs in humans.
Big Fucking Whoop!! The animal abuser is now only being charged with 1 count of animal abuse!!! I guess you can starve 80 plus horses and get away with this shit. Yes I am mad!!! What a crock of you know what!!!
I agree. That is a crock of fucking shit. I could not have said it better myself!
This is what is being posted by the powers that be in this Kansas County!! What the hell!! I am beyond pissed now!!
Here is the email and the charge against Kristin.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Access to case information is available at the following website: https://www.accesskansas.org/county/courts. This site provides you the charges court date information and lists what is happening the case as well as a summary of documents filed in the case.
Court calendar information is also available at: http://www.franklincoks.org/4thdistrict/coffeybydate.html.
Ms. Chambers is currently charged with one count of Cruelty to Animals, Neglect, Injure. Her next court date is September 21, 2010 at 10:30 to appear with her attorney.
Due to budget cuts and hiring freezes by the State of Kansas, this 4 person office is now down to 2 people. Accessing the above sites will provide you with faster information and relieve some of the response time it takes for this office for inquiries where the information is also available online.
Have a great day.
Debbie Poire
Clerk of District Court, Coffey County
P O Box 330, Burlington KS 66839
phone(620) 364-8628 fax (620)364-8535
http://www.franklincoks.org/4thdistrict/index.html
I guess Kansas can’t do anything right. Even the Clerk of District Court, Coffey County can’t even get a working link up. Or do they not want the general horse loving public to see what their freakin county is up to!!! Sorry all I am really Pissed!!! What a bunch of
Bull SHIT!!!!
Fugly, Rainbow Meadows is now trying to place 45 of these horses. 30 have been place by the sheriffs. They have less than 21 days to place them or they “may be” sold at a sale ( that is how the court order was written) Is it possible to do an update on this story? Let folks know that it is time to step up for the horses.