You’re not a business if you can’t keep your inventory alive!
Dec 28 2010
Here we go again…yet another backyard breeding, knuckle-dragging, low life, horse-starving loser in…you guessed it! East Texas!
VIDEO IS GRAPHIC…
Examiner article noting that four carcasses were found and piles of bones
(Sorry, good Texans, but you know you have a big state with a lot of asshats in it. You know this is true. It’s not your fault, but damn…a lot of really shitty people hang out in your state.)
And we’re not talking a little skinny. We have horses here that look like Grace. Oh, and – shocker! – people had been reporting this place for the PAST FIVE YEARS. From one poster: “I DID REPORT IT!!! So many times the sheriff’s office told me there was a gag order on it and they could NO LONGER talk to me!!! I lived next door to these horses, I have hundreds of photos of them and a log of how many days they went without food, etc. I contacted every animal agency in TX that would listen to me!!! I wasn’t the only one to report it either. Luckily, the new SPCA office got involved and I sat down with them for hours last week and was able to share my information!!!” Yeah, I believe you, too. Gag order my ass, what is that even about?
Oh, and then someone else noted, “Local Law Enforcement would call the owner and give her a heads up they were coming to check on the horses. they also told her to make sure there was water and hay out therefore they could say “she was trying”.”
Uh-huh. This is why my head just about explodes every time someone says horses were “illegally” seized or that they were being persecuted by the eeeevil authorities. Are you freaking kidding? If law enforcement errs at all, they err on the side of PROTECTING the asshats, especially in these towns where everybody knows everybody and the horse abuser is your drinking buddy. It is hard everywhere to get horses seized. The odds of your horses being seized without any actual cause are right up there with the odds that you will spontaneously combust while sitting in your armchair watching the Maury Povich show.
It wasn’t easy to find out the name of this particular asshat, but I did it – thanks to the DFW Animal Rescue blog, the owner’s name is Linda Michael and the farm was called Legacy Farms. The news article claims charges have been filed, but so far old Linda’s just got a failure-to-yield ticket on her record, even though horses have been dying out there for years. Linda, of course, is in the “horse business,” a term that is so misused it makes my head hurt. She supported herself by selling horses (I guess the ones that did not die first, go figure).
I dug around quite a bit, and didn’t find anything on Legacy Farms, but maybe one of you knows something. One news article gave the address as 9742 Pierce, but I cannot find any such address in the property tax records for Smith County, so I’m wondering if that is a mistake. I look forward to hearing more of the story from you locals, and KUDOS, KUDOS, KUDOS to the neighbors who reported her for FIVE FREAKING YEARS and would not give up! You saved fifty lives, you know. Good for you!
The horses will be available for adoption through the SPCA of East Texas. Interested individuals can email horserescue@spcaeasttx.com for more information and an application. Care and rehab of the horses could cost thousands of dollars. If you’d like to contribute to the cost of caring for them, you can donate online at the SPCA of East Texas website.
For you PNW’ers, the year is winding up with a great low-cost castration clinic courtesy of Tacoma Equine Hospital. Call 253-535-6999 for more information about getting your colt/stallion involved or volunteering – they need volunteers for the day! This will take place on December 31st.
228 comments to “You’re not a business if you can’t keep your inventory alive!”
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I think someone erred calling it a gag order but I *think* it’s somewhat standard for the authorities to no longer talk to the individuals reporting (insert crime here) while they are investigating. I was told the same thing when I reported someone to the Animal Welfare Board for my state.
I’m glad that person took all that documentation. Hopefully the prosecuting attorneys will be interested.
I know your head is ready to explode…but I’m going to add some fuel for the flames. You know when people are suspected of abusing/neglecting their kids DHS/CPS makes an APPOINTMENT to go check on the child? Nothing like 24 hours notice to hide your bad shit and make it look like everything’s squared away!
I tried to complain to the ASPCA after the AWB didn’t do anything. They referred me back to the AWB. It REALLY sucks when no one will do anything. Next step if the SPCA didn’t do anything would have been to submit the photos to the media. Would that actually accomplish anything?
*ahem* “I lost my job, I’m getting divorced, I broke a nail, I didn’t know any better, they’re old…” Which list of excuses do you think this lady will be giving?
Legacy Farms: Our legacy is letting your horse’s bones bleach in the sun
“Let the strong survive”…maybe she was too kind and gentle to manually cull the herd so she let them cull themselves. Bitch.
I’m very surprised how CALM all those horses are, no one is particularly wild. Maybe she thought they could live on love. Like the guy at the end of 28 Days with the house plant…I spoke to it, sang to it, I loved it, gave it light, and it DIED…Did you give it water? Lots of Chestnuts too.
Kudos to HSNT, and the persistant people who saved all those horses.
Of course they are calm, starving horses dont have the energy to do anything but be calm. You give this same group of horses the proper feed and put them back into this pen together it would be a entirely differant group of horses.
Maybe I’m misunderstanding but I don’t understand an agency not wanting to talk to a reporting party once an investigation has begun. I understand that they are not able to give the reporting party information about the investigation but I’d damn sure want to know if they had more information to give me. They may have acquired more information that would make my criminal case stronger. Just saying….
Reminds me of a 9 year old boy in our church that was a foster child. He had about 8 1-inch bald spots on his head from cigarette burns from his father. The foster mom said the abuse came from the father because, “That’s how he was raised!” What Evil Logic is that?!
That is REALLY messed up!!!!!! That poor poor child, passed from one abuser to another. The foster care system in this country is SCARY (I know there are many saints among foster parents, but there are also many abusers).
So, these “church going” people were bringing their abused child to church, confronted about it, and then justified it!?!?!?!?!?!? I am sorry, to me this is MUCH WORSE then the abuse these poor horses are subject to.
What did the church do about the abuse!?! Ignore it?!? Are they obligated by law to report it like a teacher would be? I tried to look it up, but the only thing that kept coming up was church child/sex abuse scandals.
Really, it makes me sick that a child that was obviously the victim of abuse would not be helped in a house of worship. What is the point of a community church if it ignores the plight of its weakest members
No, No, … The boy was a Foster Child of someone in the church…he was taken from his family because of the father’s abuse. Guessing his mom was abused and unable to take care of the child…don’t know…
The other problem, with both foster children, and foster horses, is that the older they are, the more baggage they bring with them, and the harder they are to place. Finding this herd, might be 5 years too late for some.
That little boy was a super sweet kid. Nowadays the style is long hair for boys, he had to have long hair but the other boys did not, so he always had to explain himself….There is a special place in Heaven for Foster Moms!!
I think what she was saying is that the child’s natural father did the abuse and that was why the child was removed and put into foster care.
It is sick when people make the excuse that they abuse/molest/neglect their child because that was how they were raised. My question would be “Why don’t you break that chain of abuse/neglect/molestation?” But that is just me.
EXACTLY. I was raised in a very abusive household and I am bound and determined to give my kids a loving, nurturing environment where they can thrive. I am so f’ed up by how I was brought up that I am terrified to ask for help (it took me two years of therapy to be able to look at someone in a conversation and say “I’m sorry, could you please repeat yourself?” or “I didn’t understand what you said” – no lie). It’s so bad that when I fell off my horse at 19 and had a concussion I was hysterical thinking someone might call my parents. I landed my ass in the ER last night because I was afraid of what my husband would say (and this has more to do with my parents than my husband) if I told him I needed a doctor because I was too dehydrated to MOVE.
WHY would I want my kids to live that way?! I may never be “normal” but my kids will be a heck of a lot closer than I am!
Appsolute…….I think OakDressage1 meant that the foster child was abused by his biological father….not the foster father. But, I may be wrong, that is just the way I read it. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong, OakDressage, LOL…..
I think the foster parents were just reporting what the father had done.
Something about this story wasn’t sitting quite right with me – I hate when I can’t find confirmation of stories like this from independent sources. All the stories seemed to be quoting the same source website! But I found an update from Dec 23 that convinced me they might have gotten things right: http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13730587
My “favourite” part of the update:
“The horse’s owner Linda Michael represented herself in a custody hearing. Michael argued a pond, poisoned three years ago, caused the deteriorating condition of the animals.”
Um… yeah. Sure. And you did… what, exactly, about it? Grrr…
Oh, and that address does appear on Google maps, if that means anything
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=9742+Pierce+road,+texas&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl
There’s a “Linda Sue Michael” listed as having records available in Lindale, Texas (from that weird “intellius” site that keeps appearing when I do a search on white pages for her). Couldn’t confirm whether it was the same person, though, or what her tax address is.
The “Suzanne Transier” neighbour, mentioned by name as one of the whistle-blowing neighbours, does have an address at the next property over (9807 Pierce Road; google’s satellite image shows it as the next building down the road). So that’s another factoid confirmed.
Here’s hoping the horses all get the care they need!
“The horse’s owner Linda Michael represented herself in a custody hearing. Michael argued a pond, poisoned three years ago, caused the deteriorating condition of the animals.”
Is she saying that the horses wouldn’t drink the poisoned water (which would indicate that she’s too lazy to fill a trough of NON-poisoned water for them – a lot to ask, I know), or that they did drink the poisoned water and that’s what caused them to be so thin (which would indicate that she’s too lazy to fence off poison pond and too cheap to pay for a vet – again, asking a lot of someone)?
When I hear about these cases and the stupid defenses that the ladies make for themselves, it always makes me imagine replacing the horses and their owner with human kids and their mom. “The only reason my kids have been sickly is because they got into some poison over the past three years.” Or, “My kids just couldn’t find anything poisonless to drink for a long time so they dehydrated and got sick!” Everyone knows that’s inexcusable. If you’re a mom to kids OR animals, that’s kinda your freakin responsibility to make sure they have plenty of nutritious food and drink and that, here’s the tricky part, none of it contains any poison!
Another case of the amazing horse-emaciating poison! She and Jason Meduna should get together and see if they can find the real reason their horses are all dead…kind of like OJ looking for the REAL killer of his wife.
Give me a fucking break.
HA HA HA!!!
I too thought the “OJ looking for the real killer” gimmick was freakin’ hilarious! What an asshole.
Not only is it a ridiculous excuse to begin with, but right there she *admits* that their condition has been deteriorating for at least three years.
Off topic, but Fugly readers in Michigan please keep your eyes and ears open for Bane, the police dog that went missing on November 13th and has not been seen or heard from since.
More Information
http://www.findbane.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Find-Bane/167996853232123
http://www.facebook.com/findbane
I know a bunch of people that live in the town Bane went missing, so I forwarded all that info to them. They’re all pretty outdoorsy, maybe they will find him in the woods.
Legacy Farm I found in Lindale,Tx is a tree farm.. Different last name.. Same area.. Humm..
There was a mare right next door to us that I and many neighbors called on. And called, And called. I called Blaze’s Equine Rescue and they already had her on file. I don’t believe anyone ever did anything. This was about four years ago. She isn’t there anymore but there is a new QH there. He does look OK.
One day I was feeding our guys, and my friend said that old mare has been standing in the same spot for two days. I went over, in my pajamas, yet, to see why. Here, the poor thing had a thorny vine literally wrapped around her hind legs! She COULDN’T move! Jane got a pair of long handled cutters. I went in with her (I didn’t know her at all) and explained to her that if she stood still I would free her. I had those cutters between her hind legs and everything. She NEVER moved. After she was free, she stood for a moment, then walked away, but stopped. Looked over her shoulder at me. I swear she said “thanks”. Then headed back toward her shed and water.
I just moved to Texas, and what the hell is up with all of the dogs in the roads around here?!? Everyday I see dogs out wandering on the highway or dogs dead on the highway. Sometimes chickens, too. Oh, and a new dead cat every day. A lot of times they have collars on, so they are unlikely to be strays, and whenever I stop to try and pick them up they either run away and hide before I can get stopped or scurry away from me. Honestly, why get a dog if you plan on letting it run loose in the damn road.
Welcome to Texas. I regret to inform you that you have not so much moved to a new state as you have entered the time machine of the demented which operates as an express lane back to the prehistoric Neanderthal age – not only so far as animal welfare, but in child welfare, neighbor relations, the ability to find reliable farm help (or other services for that matter) and in that, for many of the undomesticated inhabitants, the “law of the west” still rules (Hey, who needs judges and courtroom…right?).
And in case you’re wondering…yes…I live in Texas…have lived there for 39 years. I speak from a lifetime of experience. You didn’t REALLY think the cost of living was so low here just because we’re generous…did you??
This pretty much sums it up.
Where exactly are you from in Texas? Cause this state varies WAY to much to throw out accusations like that one. I live north of Dallas and have never had a problem with dogs or skinny horses ( minus coyotes). I will say that i lived in East Texas ( Nacogdoches ) for a semester of school.. and THAT wasn’t Texas. I’m not sure what it was… but it for sure wasn’t the Texas i know.
I live in semi-rural upstate NY and we have the same problem. In the towns, dogs are kept more or less inside, but as soon as you get into rural areas you start seeing them running free or worse, tied out to trees in the front yard all day so they can choke themselves trying to kill passerby. A lot of people have the “Merle’s Door” philosophy- “My dog should be a FREE and INDEPENDENT creature!!!” but I maintain that a “free” running dog is free to be hit by cars, mauled by wild animals, etc… to say nothing of the human safety issue when they attack people. Me and my (leashed) dog never leave the property without pepper spray.
I moved to Texas in 2004. I saw more dead dogs on the roads in six WEEKS than I saw in 40 YEARS in PA. Dogs down here are disposable. Or so it seems….
This is interesting, considering I grew up on the edge of rural PA and still consider that state the armpit of the Northeast. Of course, what I hear about Texas is always worse.
Okay, enough with the Texas bashing. Again, we see dumb f**** from EVERY state. No one state has cornered the market on stupidity, cruelty, or laziness. Every equine event everywhere you can see all of the above. Let’s keep the bashing to the asshat of the day and jerks who do nothing about it.
I bash a lot of places. Really. No one is being singled out here.
It wasn’t you. You made a nod to the good folks in Texas.
Here’s the Yankee dissing the South…
I find it’s not “Texas” or “Alabama” or whatever state that is bad. I was in Texas for a while and I liked the state – hated how the individuals I met treated their horses/dogs/etc.
My dog is from Arkansas – she is part of a transfer program to bring dogs from southern states up to New England. I was a foster home for a while for dogs coming up from Alabama to be adopted. Dogs aren’t spayed or neutered, maybe they’ll get fed, maybe they won’t. Black dogs have almost no chance of being adopted and throwing a litter of puppies into a river tied into a sack is pretty common.
There’s a culture in a lot of parts of the country that animals are disposable. That’s why when you come to New England the people from other areas of the country (that are usually warm year round and don’t require all the extra work, I think!) are horrified at how “spoiled” our animals are.
It’s not just Texas.
“No one state has cornered the market on stupidity, cruelty, or laziness.”
You’ve never been to Texas, have you? The story above is pretty typical of the way Animal Control works here. I called animal control at least 10 times about my neighbor’s pit bulls who somehow always mysteriously escaped from their yard and terrorized the neighborhood. They would always “send someone out to talk to them.” One day the dogs got out and tried to climb in the open windows in my house to get to my dogs . My mom called 911, and 2 police officers showed up and the dogs attacked my mom in front of them. The cops shot the dogs and killed both of them. So what did the neighbors do? They got 2 more pit bulls. At least they keep these 2 in the yard instead of letting them run around everywhere.
I should also note here that these are the same dogs that somehow managed to squeeze underneath the fence separating our yards, and fought with one of my dogs (and lost!) in my own yard. Guess who got yelled at because my dog beat up their dog? Forget the fact that their dog dug a fucking hole under the fence, came into my yard, and attacked my dogs, it’s my fault for having ‘mean’ dogs.
All 3 of my dogs were strays that I picked up either on my street or at work. I’ve also brought home 5 strays that I can think of off the top of my head that I’ve found homes for. The only good thing I can say about this state is that the way horses are taken care of (when they’re actually fed, you know) is a lot better for the horses than up north. I honestly moved down here thinking that horses preferred living in stalls, needed blankets if the temperature got below 50, wouldn’t feel loved if they weren’t groomed every day, etc… Now I’m the proud owner of 2 horses who spend their days out at pasture rolling around in the mud, I don’t even own blankets for them, and they get groomed about 3 times a week.
“Forget the fact that their dog dug a fucking hole under the fence, came into my yard, and attacked my dogs, it’s my fault for having ‘mean’ dogs.”
I really recommend checking on the local laws regarding a situation like this, if you haven’t already. If you lived where I do (SC), you would have been able to shoot that dog dead and it would be 100% justified. You would not be charged with any crime and you would also be immune from any civil action by the owners too. In all likelihood they would also be fined for letting their dogs roam. Of course I’m not saying you should shoot any loose dog you see, but you and your own properly confined animals don’t have to put up with being menaced by dangerous loose dogs either.
Perhaps your neighbors would finally learn to keep their dogs on THEIR property then!
Yeah, don’t mess with Texas! It’s not fair to pick on retards.
I agree there are jerks in every state. I have several cousins who live in Texas. They absolutely LOVE there dogs. They are apart of the family and revered higher than people LOL. There dogs are the world to them. You see these big mountain guys cooing and rubbing these dogs like it was a long lost love:) I myself was born in Grapevine Texas. Didn’t live there long but have a bit of family there. I don’t know maybe it is the way people are raised. But my whole family and extended family are total animal lovers.
I moved from PA, too. And yeah, more dead dogs in one month here than in 33 years in PA. I do like how happy and friendly people seem to be. Of course I love the climate, and I love that getting in and out of cities is so easy. I just went to see the ballet in San Antonio, and it was no biggie to get there and park. In Philliy it’s a nightmare. However, the loose dogs on the highway are really breaking my heart.
It’s like that here in Georgia with dogs and cats too. Chickens even. It really sucks.
Hmm, I live in Houston and frequently travel to Dallas, Austin, and New Orleans on Texas roads and haven’t noticed this.
I would argue it’s probably similar in many other states once you get a little ways off the beaten path. Texas does have some rather unsavory rural areas, though I’ve found similar places in Indiana, Illinois, and Louisiana (other places I’ve lived).
Granted, the first month I moved to Houston, I was driving out to the barn (on I-45, a VERY major highway) and noticed two goats tied up in the back of a pickup truck – just standing there, tied up just like a dog in an open bed pickup. I was like, ahhh, welcome to Texas, haha.
Overall though, I have not found Texas to be as crazy as everyone makes it out to be (and I’m a relatively liberal young person raised in the northern Midwest). Perhaps it’s just because I stick pretty close to the metropolitan areas (as I said before, I’ve found most states have some pretty unsavory characters that often get weirder the farther you go from city centers).
I live in South Austin, about 8 miles from the capitol building. I drive to the barn for work and head east out of the city. All of the dead dogs, cats, chickens, etc start within about 5 miles of my place. I would be much less shocked if I were out in the desert, but to see the Texas stereotypes in action so close to civilization… WOW.
And then you have me, the weird yankee girl with the goat that walks on a leash and rides IN the truck.
At first, I was shocked that it wasn’t a bunch of pinto colored horses– but now I am just saddened to see that they are all just plain old brownish colored horses. I hope that they get homes.
I was, also unfortunately, expecting krazy colored things (where they had so many conformational issues couldn’t tell if they were horses or something else). Glad to see that even though they are skinny, they still look like nice horses.
Lard knows I love this blog, but as one of the gazillions of garden-variety Texans who don’t torture horses for fun and profit, I grow weary of the anti-Lonestar zeitgeist, so I gotta reprazent. Are there psychos and fuckwads here? Sure. But is it entirely accurate to suggest that Texas somehow stands alone as the world headquarters for abusers? I kinda think it isn’t.
What I’d like to see is, I’d like to see the scientific study showing that there even exists a similarly populated geographic region that does not contain a commensurate percentage of human stains. Seriously. I’ll move there. Human stains bum me out.
I think you find less egregious neglect in heavily populated areas…simply because it gets SEEN. You can’t HIDE horses.
I don’t see starved horses in Los Angeles but I can find them all day if I drive to Bakersfield.
Samething here in western wa. In populated areas and big boarding barns all horses are nice and fat, because you can’t hide a horse. It’s nearly impossible. But go into less populated areas or areas that have thick trees and few streets, that is where issues may lay. Because if they can’t be seen, they can’t be reported. But if their seen and they know it, well chances of them not feeding, watering, trimming or giving vet care to Sugar is highly unlikely. But if there on a one way dirt road surrounded by thick and dense trees and no one knows that they are out there, now that is a different story. And sometimes said abuser is really drinking buddies with the captain of the police department, or friends with animal control, etc.
The other thing you have to think about is that in the more highly populated areas, horse care (board, etc) is more expensive, as are the horses themselves. Therefore, people who can’t actually afford horses or don’t know much about them are less likely to get one just on a whim. I moved from the Tri-Cities in eastern WA to Vancouver BC, and I see a HUGE difference. In Kennewick (especially east Kennewick) I saw horses kept in backyards and starved, horses abandoned on golf courses, public land, and freeway medians. But board is ridiculously cheap, hay is cheap, and horses are abundant (and cheap), especially at the Hermiston sale just half an hour or so south.
Here in Vancouver, board is EXPENSIVE!! It was HUGE sticker shock for me. Horses are also (generally) more expensive, although in this economy people are getting desperate to get rid of them. But in general, people take better care of their horses because they are more valuable to them. Not to say there aren’t jackasses here… there are… but your average horse owner owns one or two horses, boards them, and treats them like royalty. In Kennewick… wow. I saw so many farms (even amongst my own “friends”) that were overloaded with freebies and cheap horses that they eventually ran out of hay for and dumped on the next person.
Especially in the city – I grew up in town – where you can’t just get a horse and stick it into your back yard you kind of HAVE to board. So it’s definitely harder to decide you want a pet horse and stick it in your backyard to starve. Even though I’ve seen some shitty boarding facilities since I’ve been a horse owner claiming ignorance (what? They need FOOD?!) has never been a reason for horses looking like crap.
I watched the whole video.
The law enforcement officers are top of my list, they should, automatically, now lose their jobs.
The Humane Society should make it a point to go after, not only the abusers, but the enablers too.
A lot of the time the law enforcement either drags their heels or actually helps a bit, but are maybe not that enthusiastic. That I can live with but I’ll just bet you that one of the officers was related to this woman in some way…..
There is NO excuse for what that video showed. The majority of those horses looked like potentially good, useful animals, not the low end Krazy Color train wrecks that we usually see.
I grieve for them, I really do.
I must say, though, and if you can Cathy, could you pass the sentiment on?
This was just about the very best engineered rescue I have ever seen. The way they loaded that presumably, unhandled foal should be used as a text book demonstration on how it should be done. The way they gently brought the horses in was….well, beyond word, really moving.
The first thing that they did was give the horses back their dignity, not many people would think to do that.
It was all so calm, so gentle, so dignified.
Well done to all involved.
I agree everyone in this case should lose their jobs. 5 fucking YEARS before someone does SOMETHING! If it wasn’t for the 5 YEARS part I’d blame it on the budget or something, but 5 YEARS and you couldn’t find the money or someone else to investigate?! I bet that she knew someone from the police or even in the AC and they were bull dogging everyone stating that everything was fine. The Humane Society should go after the enablers as well. Because they would have had to KNOW what was going on. I hope the SPCA took pictures of the teeth of the skulls to show just how old that the horses were. I hope that they even took some bones for the elusive ‘poison’ and to prove malnutrition played a part not the ever mystery poison. I hope they show the tree to the judge, I really do and ask the owner to explain why so much of that huge tree had been chewed away. I would llloooovvveeee to hear her excuse why. I hope they draw up blood work for every horse to rule out anything other than her being an ass hat and not feeding. I hope the judges orders 1. For her to pay the SPCA for all total expenses that they incured for caring for her horses. Including hay, medical care, trimings and any training that these horses need. 2. Life time ban from owning any horses or any animal for that matter. Both are a long shot. But I hope the neighbors are there with their evidence (testamony) and the SPCA shows the pictures. I would love to be a fly on the wall. How is she going to explain away her lazyness to feed and care for her horses? I hope the judge throws the book at her and actually punishes her with hard time and large fines. No more of this wrist slapping. I hope the Humane Society looks into who knew to see if they can’t have some charges filed against them. SEND A CLEAR MESSAGE! You enable you face the law like the person who abused and/or neglected their animals! NO MORE EXCUSES!
But the SPCA did wonderful when it came to gathering the horses. No chasing, no ATVing, just no pressure and just walking behind them and encouraging them to move forward in a non threatening way. Plus it probably helped that they smelled all the hay. And I loved how they put the foal in the trailer. No losing of patience, no pushing or shoving, just quiet coxing with a butt rope. Both are text book examples of how it SHOULD be done.
I was thinking this the other day – do you think that if part of the punishment for being an asshole and having to have your animals seized was having to pay back every penny of the expense (including the hours of pay for the individuals coming out) would 1. make people think a little bit harder about being a dipshit and 2. enable law enforcement to take action sooner?
I mean seriously, the state and feds can garnish your wages for taxes, etc, why not take it straight out of your paycheck to pay to having to save your animals? I think hay is cheaper than having to pay for 50 of your horses to be seized, fostered and eventually placed.
Let me shed some light on what is at play in regards to large animal welfare here in Texas-
In the vast majority of counties in Texas, it is a small contingent of sheriff’s deputies that comprise the Livestock / Large Animal Control department. There is NO special training required and no continuing education or departmental education. Many of these officers end up on this detail with no more credentials than having had a pony or been in 4-H / FFA for a few months while growing up.
They do not WANT to seize horses…and the counties do not WANT them to seize horses. Especially in the current economy with county and state budgets cut to the bone. It costs the counties money to seize horses and livestock….a lot of money. After seizing, they have to pay to move, house, feed and have vet exams done on them. Then there is paying vets and other “experts” to appear in court to render testimony if needed. If it is a large seizure, they will likely have to lease someplace to house them until a custody hearing. Even though, in the end, these costs become a monetary judgement against the owner from whom the animals were seized, collecting on such judgements has proven to be a long and arduous process…often taking years. Few owners pay voluntarily.
Essentially, if there is one scrap of hay, one kernel of feed, one blade of grass…you’d have better luck nailing Jell-O to a tree than getting the county animal control officer to seize the animals…even at a BCS of 1. Often, it requires threats of bringing down a media nightmare on their heads the likes of which they’ve NEVER seen, to motivate them to act (yes, I have actually used this..no, it was not a threat as I had media ready to roll and calling the ACO’s office all day…and he seized the horses before the sun went down that day…I can be really frickin’ nasty when it gets down to it…).
The good news is that once horses or livestock are seized, it is EXTREMELY rare that the owner gets them back.
See, I think you just posted a VERY accurate report…totally meshes with everything I’ve heard about how it is in Texas.
Note that Sakinah IS a Texan and is saying this. No, it’s not that all Texans are idiots, it’s that some Texans are idiots and the law does not do much to stop them down there.
But that’s not localized to Texas. That is what I’m seeing all over. I live in Canada, and it’s the same here. The SPCA is not willing to take horses until the press gets wind – it’s too expensive to keep them, care for them, etc.
Animal Control knew about the rescue I took in a few weeks ago for close to a year, even had her in their care (she was at large) for several weeks and warned the owners she was underweight and needed her feet done. After they picked the horse up, do you think AC ever went back, even once to check on her? No! Did they get the SPCA involved? No!
The owners finally approached me to take in the horse – but then started getting wishy-washy about signing a bill of sale… so I called AC and then since there was a “foster home” all ready lined up AC said they’d have SPCA step in and seize the horse and bring it to me! I luckily got the horse out without having to do that, but my point is no one was willing to do anything until I was ready to take in the horse at no cost to them.
Again, my point is it’s not just TX with the “reluctance to seize” issues.
For some reason I can’t comment on the video (something’s up with the computer), so could someone please comment and than the neighbors for fighting for five years to help these horses? They’re the TRUE saviors here. I’m glad the SPCA in Dallas stepped up, but we need the public to know how incapable the local authorities were. That’s part of the moral here–that we can’t give up!
Yeah I hope the neighbors read this. WE LOVE YOU GUYS. Seriously. And I know the last thing anybody wants is drama with the immediate next-door neighbor so kudos to you guys for having your need to do what was morally right override the easy way out.
They deserve a metal and a trouphy. Neve gave up. Brovo! Really. We love people like you!
Fugly…in one of the comments in one of the articles, I found that Linda Sue Michael previously lived in Wood County. You can find a lot of previous court history about her here: http://judicial.co.wood.tx.us/judsrch.htm.
Example:
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The Software Group’s Wood County JP Civil Case Search By Party Header
In the JUSTICE OF THE PEACE PCT. 1
Wood County, Texas
Cause No. SC05-0133-1
QUITMAN ANIMAL CLINIC VS. LINDA MICHAEL
Filed on 08/31/2005
Case Type: Small Claims
Current Status: Filed
Defendants
Defendant Attorneys
Michael, Linda
9724 PIERCE ROAD
LINDALE, TEXAS 75771
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Attorneys
Quitman Animal Clinic
P.O. BOX 657
QUITMAN, TEXAS 75783
Yeah, that’s her. Same address.
Her jail time for “ISSUANCE OF BAD CHECK” in 2005 (complete with link to view her mug shot)
http://judicial.co.wood.tx.us/Scripts/UVlink.isa/wcdp/WEBSERV/JailSearch?action%253Dview%26track%253D246518114
She’s HAWT!!! (Not.
)
Sad but I’m Kinda Likin’ The Haircut!!!!! That kind of razoring ain’t cheep!!!!
Wow. So that’s the face of someone who can let her horses starve to death. How do you get to that place in your life? Or is it some in-born characteristic? I just don’t get it.
Can’t pay your vet with a valid check (for a small amount), what on earth makes you think you can have 50+ horses? Sometimes I would love to know what goes on in people’s head……. Or not.
Wow, that’s terrible.
Can someone from Texas answer a question for me? The scrub that’s in all of these fields, what is it and why don’t they eat it, at least in preference to the bark of trees?
It is cedar and weeds the horses will not eat.
That is beyond pathetic. And five bucks says the owner isn’t skinny. I hope they throw the book at her. And I hope the surviving horses all find good homes.
Nope, she’s not. Court records show her at 5’6 and 180 pounds. It’s online.
Maybe if she got off her ass and took care of her horses she just might shed a few pounds….
I’m just sayin’…. O,o
That’s usually my thought on it…and sorry, that’s not fat-bashing, that’s a fact.
Barn cleaning definitely helps me stay in the same size jeans I wore in high school…it’s perfectly good exercise. Keeps you from having batwing arms, too!
LOL! SO TRUE about the batwing arms! But we call them Bingo arms… Shake your hands and shout “Bingo!” and you’ll know what I’m talking about.
Horsework doesn’t make you thin, though. I’m fat myself and my problem is that I don’t eat right. But horsework since I moved to a new house with more land HAS made me stronger and keep me from getting Bingo arms…THAT has been great!
Yeah, I’m not a current horse owner (because, shock of all shocks, I know I can’t afford one right now!), but having them never stopped any of my family from being fat. Of course, our animals never got neglected or starved.
Last January we moved to a new barn and we clean our guy’s stall. I’m convinced that because of all that fresh air I didn’t sick that winter. First time ever without a cold. All thanks to horse poo. Staying thin? Not so much, but I didn’t gain any weight!
Big-Virtual-High-Five for the Witnesses that continued to log and report these horses for FIVE YEARS!
There is a Dressage trainer/judge in my area that can afford any horse on the planet but chooses to take rescue horses and trains them in Dressage and re-sells them to loving owners.
This Fall, I saw a First Level Freestyle show with the cutest pinto pony who seemed to love his job and the applause. I introduced myself to the rider/owner later and said that pony had the audience around his finger(hoof). She said he also was a rescue and had many offers from people to buy him.
With so many loving homes for horses, why do authorities allow this to continue? The health of this herd has gone down for five years, about 25% of the horses’ useful life. And further, it makes more work for the animal re-hab-ers who have such big hearts but limited time and resources available.
5 YEARS!! Good for her for sticking with it. Must have been heart-wrenching to watch those poor horses starve to death, year after year. I’m hoping that these Asshats will be thrown in jail and never allowed to own animals again, but I’d bet on me farting gold bricks first…
http://36andsingle.blogspot.com/
Yes, 5 Years! What were the authorities thinking – Horders are Horders whether is it cats, dogs, or horses!! The authorities should loose their job for this one too!
This is rhetorical; we’re all thinking it, and we all know why: Why does it take so long for anyone with authority to do anything?!
If people knew there would be consequences, that there would be a public flogging (figurative, but I’d prefer literal) for such evil behavior, don’t you think they’d be less likely to continue to behave badly, at least to such a degree?
Grrrr…..
But that’s meeeeeeeeeean! We can’t be mean! They might not do it again if we did something mean!
She puts the ‘sin’ in ‘horse business’. Those poor animals.
Semi-OT: I’m glad I don’t live in TX. My local shelter is not only high adoption, but has facilities for outdoors animals and has responsive humane officers. They just seized a shitload of neglected/starving animals, including four horses and sixty chickens (!) from a local hoarder. Fourteen cats were locked in a bathroom.
Someone simply made a phone call to their cruelty hotline, an investigation ensued, and animals were seized.
http://www.lollypop.org/orgMain.asp?ssid=&storyID=777&orgID=3&sid=
Their horse program isn’t that great – their focus is more small animal. They don’t train or ride and adoptions are occasional rather than frequent. But the horses are very well cared for and handled daily. Their walking path is open to the public, and it passes the horse paddocks — everything is easily visible.
Why are there so many fucking assholes out there? What is wrong with these ppl? Will there ever be a day when such trashy ppl get thier due?
Giving kudos to my local animal control in Tri Cities, WA I phone a couple of months ago to report a pony with elf-like hooves who was laying down most of the time. They called me back the same day and I know went to the property within 24 hours, within a week that pony was on it’s way to recovery. I’m sure there are local instances when things did not go so smoothly but for this pony YAY! Thank you to those who try your best to do this terribly difficult job with all of the red-tape that must be involved.
EXCELLENT. And THANK YOU!
This is the problem when an area DOESN’T have proper Animal Control/Animal Welfare/Etc. employees in place. Don’t get me wrong – I am NOT bashing S.O. in general, but I am saying that they get overwhelmed when it comes to animal cases, they don’t have the training to properly handle them, and they just plain don’t know what to DO in situations like this one. That’s probably where the “heads up” story came from, if that’s true at all. If anyone – from sheriff to animal control officer – goes out and sees someone TRYING to feed an animal, it is hard to get charges to stick since you witnessed food and water available at the time you were at the property.
If the HSUS would get off their ass and start being more than a greedy sack of shit, maybe we could get local Humane Societies in some of the smaller areas. If that organization just gave SOME money to shelters across the nation, perhaps animals could get help faster.
But, what do I know? I’m just a dumb law enforcement agent.
Without the HSUS, I’m pretty damn sure they’d still be sitting there dying.
HSUS is NOT affiliated with local level animal shelters and humane societies. HSUS is a PETA run business.
http://humanewatch.org/index.php/site/post/understanding_hsus/
Oh that is complete BULLSHIT. Good Lord you’re gullible.
Like I said, I’m just another dumb Animal Control Officer. Clearly I have NO idea about any of this shit.
You are clearly not familiar with the HSUS and their value in large scale animal seizures. I have been on such a seizure with them which COULD NOT have been funded locally. The horses would have all died, literally, without the intervention of a national, well funded organization.
You may be a fabulous animal control officer locally, but I think you are too easily believing internet hysteria and rumors about an organization I suspect you have not worked with hands-on, OR you had a bad experience with an individual asshat from HSUS, of which I will agree I have met a few, also.
Sorry Cathy, I am with Antlers on this one.
I am not even in the country and I have heard bad things about HSUS.
They seem to be on a par with our RSPCA which is very rich indeed, but little of it ever gets to grass roots!
They do a lot of campaigning, they get laws changed, sometimes even for th e better, and they hang on to all (ALL) of their money. At local level all the RSPCA shelters all have to raise their own funds, they get nothing from HQ.
Yes, they stepped in this time, all these horses had somewhere to go.
How quickly would they have helped if they had to stump up for all their keep?
Even though they could well afford it.
Do not wish to start a “knock HSUS” fest, but they are not the best thing since since sliced bread, and shouting that they are will not make us agree with you.
Maybe it -could- have happened on a local level if HSUS channeled funds appropriately throughout the country. A friend of mine, in another state (also an AWO/ACO) had HSUS step in and help them impound quite a few animals. HSUS tossed them a small fee to help care for the animals…..once they had their shock footage and story, they dumped everything onto the local shelter and left.
Or how about all the dog raids that they “help” with, only to turn around and dump the animals at shelters that still use gas chambers to euthanize?
Look, I’m not trying to start a pissing contest, I was just trying to state that HSUS is not in any way affiliated with local shelters. Donating to HSUS doesn’t give your local AWO’s and ACO’s and Sheriff any help with their budget, unfortunately.
If people are upset about their local animal control and welfare laws, then do something on the local level so that things WILL change at the local level, and your town/city can stop flailing around until a bigger organization has to step in. Just think – if the local animal welfare situation was better, in this scenario, maybe things could have happened a lot faster.
I work for a very large Humane Society and we handle large raids/impounds on our own – thanks to our local support. It DOES make a difference. That was my only point – start local!
HSUS is NOT affiliated with PETA. Good Grief. They were part of a seizure in my state that included 360 dogs and 70 plus horses. They do their job.
I am not clear why people are so against them. Is it the pay to the administration? I just don’t get why people think there should be no pay for jobs. If you think they take a lot for admin, then check out the Red Cross and a few others who use millions and millions for admin and advertising.
They make people aware of the abuse out there, and they get involved in HUGE operations that save many animals.
If you are an Animal Control Officer, then you know what is out there and how hard it is to get help and should be thrilled with anyone that helps even one animal.
People are against them because of a smear campaign initiated by animal-abusing asshats who think animals are their property to do whatever they wish with.
It’s that simple.
Oh, and because Wayne said radical stuff when he was in his 20s like…well…just about anybody did in college.
Maybe you didn’t notice while you were watching the video, but HSUS is the group that stepped in the help with the rescue with the local group realized it was beyond their scope and ability. Without HSUS’s involvement the horses probably would have remained exactly where they were and the groups that took custody wouldn’t even have had that opportunity. So they don’t give a ton of money to local shelters- it’s not necessary that that be their function in our nation. Somebody needs to be able to step in and help with national emergencies, somebody needs to be able to head up campaigns and work for animals on a national level. They have their niche and they belong in that space, working to help all animals from horses like these to puppy mill dogs to ‘endangered’ endangered species.
Does HSUS have offices or work throughout the country or only in specific areas? I’d love to see more HSUS – at least one per state – to step in when so-and-so knows the top dog of animal control and is allowed to do whatever they want. I actually stopped donating to them about five years ago when they couldn’t do anything after the state animal welfare agency refused to do anything. The poor mare I was calling about wound up laying down and dying not too long after.
Why is it that when you see a TB looking skinny it’s not quite as disturbing as seeing an air fern breed (like most of the paints I know) looking like crap?
I think HSUS could do more in the way of immediate help for animals. From what I understand though is that they are trying to make it harder for people to just go out and get a pet. I agree with that personally. Way too many people are all “Oh that kitten/puppy is soooo KYOOT!” Go look at a lot of those same animals once they get out of the cute phase and they aren’t neutered or spayed. They are either running rampant in the streets or they are chained up and forgotten in the yard. While they are at it, they should make it harder for people to have freaking kids too. People need to prove they can provide for these lives before they go fucking them up.
If I recall correctly, the Humane Society was originally conceived as an anti-cruelty org. that focused on animals AND children. Black Beauty was a very important work that really got people thinking about their treatment of “God’s helpless creatures,” which included little kids.
Anti-HSUS hysteria has been going around for quite awhile. On a related note, Rural-Americans everywhere are thoroughly convinced that the HSUS, PETA and the gubmint are ALWAYS looking to take away their pets and livestock on a whim – just watch: any time legislation gets proposed about minimum care standards, RFID tracking of meat animals, CAFO limitations etc., the crazy ass hicks and their favorite politicians start circulating emails, commercials, etc. about how UNAMERICAN it is, and that there will be inspectors at your farm EVERY DAY and they’re just waiting to confiscate your animals and force you to eat tofu.
I don’t make this shit up – I have talked with many people who actually believe this crap. People of reasonable intelligence who should know better. Unfortunately they lack critical thinking skills.
I opposed RFID because it wasn’t just for meat animals, it was supposed to include horses too. It was also more than just having a tracking device inserted into their neck, which I’m still not sure is safe. You also had to report all movement of every animal, even if you went for 1/4 mile trail ride off your property. I don’t understand why a horse owner needs to be tracked more carefully than a sex offender. The penalties for non-compliance were $1000 per animal per day. Other penalties written into that law included the right of the government to enter your property without a warrant, “depopulate” every living thing on your farm if they had a suspicion of disease, they had no requirement to prove anything, and the farmer had no right to have testing done and no right to appeal. IF the farmers of this country fear the government, who is to blame for that?
I like your thinking. It is very much like mine. Where I live the pets (cats and dogs) are either left to run loose and to there own devices or chained up in the back yard with the hopeful daily meal thrown at them and if they are lucky, water too if it doesn’t rain. Not to mention not spayed or neutered running around with baggy tits or a hard on for any bitch in heat. But the people, now that is just another topic or maybe not far off from the animals in which they keep. Our county’s demographics are changing rapidly. Ten years ago there was a 80% white population and 20% black, Hispanic or other. Now that 20% has nearly doubled. Couple that with the income/poverty levels of said people and you will see which group is the definition of irresponsibility and sheer lack of controlling their own economics. Add into the equation that this same group is well aware of the free resources available to them but only choose to utilize the ones that put money in their pocket (food stamps and welfare funds) but have at their disposal: free health care, free transportation, free housing vouchers, hand outs for their utilities AND…last but not least, FREE BIRTH CONTROL. It is that very last freebie that they do not choose to take advantage of like all the other freebies, but would make the biggest impact on the lives of everyone. I also know that while I was doing my part driving these people to and from their medical appointments that the young mothers and mother-to-be were never offered to natural childbirth classes ( I know, I asked). Of the 100′s of (Medicaid) recipients I transported in a 4 year period , most of which had multiple children in succession were given an epidural without ever being asked. Well, holy shit! Why not have another kid if the first one never hurt? and another, and another… I come from the age of natural childbirth. Having an epidural was an OPTION, unless medically necessary. I say put that little 15 year old in a sound proof room and let her scream out those labor pains. Then when she tells all her friends how much it sucked to give birth, they might think twice about fucking around in the first place. I say show all 13 year olds a video of a (too) young girl giving birth un-sedated, un-medicated and with out an epidural. They will have something to fear and will keep that wooden nickle in it’s place. When will it end???
Okay. I’m off my soapbox~
Well, G-damn, thanks for informing me that I’m doing it ALLLL wrong. What the hell is the matter with me, that I sit here at my job, worrying myself sick over how I’m going to pay my mortgage and come up with the money next year to put into my employer-forced HSA account, so we can buy DH’s hideously expensive/extremely necessary med, my daughter’s B.C. pills and oh yeah, any other health care we might need before we hit the massive deductible? Shoot, I could be doin’ absolutely nothing all day except sitting back and collecting unemployment, food stamps, welfare checks and free health care. I’m the biggest idiot on Earth, I guess.
/End sarcasm.
My friend told me flat-out, that if we’d had the health insurance this year that we’re about to get, she would have quit her job and gotten her major surgery done courtesy of Uncle Sam, ’cause theres no way in hell she could afford it otherwise. What a FUBAR system we’ve got going here.
“AND…last but not least, FREE BIRTH CONTROL. It is that very last freebie that they do not choose to take advantage of like all the other freebies, but would make the biggest impact on the lives of everyone.”
You might be able to blame that one on religious belief. The majority of the Hispanic population of the world is very Roman Catholic and although the traditional Catholic teaching was always against artificial birth control, we can all blame Paul VI for putting it in writing with the encyclical Humanae vitae in 1968. Speaking as one who was born in the Roman Catholic church and will die in it, this way of thinking is going to be next to impossible to change without serious compulsory education of the masses. Intelligence on this topic is going to have to trickle upwards, not downwards.
*like*
(seriously, can we get a “like” button?)
Find me a plug in for that and I’ll install it!
I can’t find one ANYWHERE to like comments. Only to like the original post.
If the seized horses look that bad, it makes you wonder how many horses have died in the five years it took to get around the Good Ol’ Boys Club. And if she does ever actually get charged for her blatant neglect, then the enabling members of the local law enforcement should get charged right along with her.
On a side note, here are some fun (aka incredibly dumb) ads for anyone looking for a mini that will let you sit on it or for a TW that will let you vault off of it (from the same seller of course). Awesome!
http://www.horseville.com/php/view.php?id=268610
http://www.horseville.com/horses/horse269144.html
And to think that these careless owners are also reproducing mini careless owners as well! Oh who cares fido became a speed bump we’ll just go out and get another one! Way to teach your children how NOT to be responsible for animals. That animals can easily be replaced *sigh*, when will it end?
Was to arabtrainer. Apparently the blog didn’t want to connect the responses XD.
I live in the heart of Texas, and what you say is true. There seems to be more than a fair share of yahoos in Texas. It astounds me the number of horse owners that I know that support slaughter, for example. They think that slaughter is the answer to starving horses. I hope they are seeing this.
Oh they think slaughter would have kept this from happening. Um, no…
OH, I hear THAT argument aaaaalllllllll the time from people who drink the AQHA/APHA/ApHA kool-aid.
A relative of mine is a Palomino breeder, has bred many nice horses who place at Congress, Palomino World Show, etc etc etc. His son is like, “Well, what DO we do with the horses who are born sorrel, can’t lope, or don’t have any cow??? Sending them to kill is so much kinder than just dumping them at auction to die of hunger or thirst in the Kansas sun!”
I pointed out how many things were WRONG in that statement, and he said “You have good points but Good luck convincing any professional horseman otherwise, because they ALL believe that way.”
I told him that any breeder with hopeless young stock should just cowboy up and shoot ‘em in the head and bury ‘em in the back 40. Gawd.
They do not ALL believe that way. His beer drinking buddies do – this does not encompass ALL professional horsemen/women. Ugh.
I am a professional horseperson, and I don’t believe that.. neither do most of the other professional trainers and breeders that I know. What a ridiculous statement for that guy to make! I spoke with a vet a few months ago who tried to take the pro-slaughter stand with me. She at least admitted that I made some good points that she had never thought of before.
Oh, I know – but a LOT of ‘em do, especially in stock horse circles, where it seems that even the people who “love” their horses only allow themselves to love the “good” ones.
This isn’t 100% of the folks by any means, but it IS a prevailing attitude in that world, I think.
Also, I do remember when the bottom fell out of the Arab market in the 80s, Lasma donated a BUNCH of nicely-bred but definitely substandard (for them) geldings to 4H’ers. Some were downright FUGLY, some were really cute, but at least they didn’t go to slaughter, and they were LOVED. No papers, and we weren’t supposed to know where they came from…
I have no idea if anything like that could happen today on such a large scale.
OMG why why why don’t they realize that just as many horses are going to slaughter as before the plants shut down??? These problems are not caused by the plants shutting down, they’re caused by IDIOTS (and other, harsher names).
Anywhere populated by more uneducated and untravelled people, you’ll have more animal neglect/abuse, domestic abuse, and other crappy stuff. I’m sure there are statistics to bear this out. Yeah, there are PLENTY of “Nice Country People” out there who’d spend their last DIME on their mutt (my vet tech sister sees this every day), and the odd crazy PhD like the Iberian Pegasus lady featured here a couple weeks ago, but oftentimes, ignorance begets cruelty.
Add in groups of people who are PROUD to be ignorant (isn’t Texas the state that wants to take Thomas Jefferson out of history books cuz he weren’t no real Christian?), and you’ve got all kinds of disaster for animals and children.
I’m going to have to agree with you here, even though it feels kind of judgmental. I grew up in the Seattle area and everyone I ever knew spayed/neutered their pets, fed them, you know- basic “life sustaining” stuff. (Obviously that isn’t quite as common knowledge as I once thought…) Now I live in Denver and WOW are there a whole lot of ignorant, uneducated, scummy people who own animals out here. It’s illegal to have pit bulls in Denver, so every total and complete tool who WOULD have gotten a pit now goes out and gets a Boxer. They then outfit said boxer with those horrendous backwards link torture collar devices (who EVER came up with choking a dog so that it would stop pulling?! Stupidest. Idea. Ever.), don’t neuter them, clearly don’t socialize them properly, and then act shocked when they get in huge raging fights at the dog park. A while ago, a few dog park patrons had to pull a guy off of his dog because he was beating him with his belt AT the park because he was jumping up on people. I really like to see the best in people, but honestly, I’ve been here 6 months now and I feel pretty jaded. I will never, ever, ever take the PNW for granted again!!!
“They then outfit said boxer with those horrendous backwards link torture collar devices”
I HATE THOSE THINGS. I know exactly what you mean. Ugh.
Is this what you are talking about? If it is I have one for my dog. Bully breeds (and yes, boxers are a bully breed) have a really high pain tolerance AND they’re stubborn, so you need something that will be very clear when communicating. I have one of these collars but I ONLY use it when we have company over. My dog only weighs 55lbs but it is ALL muscle. Not that if he weighed 15 lbs it would be any better for him to be jumping on people, but that’s beside the point.
I refuse to throw my lot in with the “thugs” who get these collars to make their dog look “tough”, because that’s what some of them do, I just wanted to let you know that these collars are a training tool. For the owners who buy these collars (usually after using a limited slip collar) as a training tool to be used when it’s needed and not just “because”, it’s responsible ownership.
I mean, would you want to come to my house and see my Amstaff (another Bully breed) running to jump on you? Probably not…
I don’t use the pinch collars but I know people who do they aren’t as bad as they look there’s less surface pressure than with a chain choke collar. Some dogs will pull till they’re gagging on a regular choke. My adopted mutt had scars from a regular chain collar. I used to baby sit a pitbull who was walked in a pinch collar and if you put it on your arm to feel it it’s not bad but he would strangle himself in a choker. I always liked the Halti best for a dog that pulls it’s more like a bridle.
Yeah, I use the Gentle Leader on my dog and it’s the same principle. A halter for dogs. I also like the look of those soft, wide “martingale” collars people use on whippets & such. They look pretty innocuous.
I just looked at the word “halter,” and for the first time in 30 years of being around horses AND a bachelor’s degree in English, it suddenly dawned on me that that’s what it does: it HALTS. It’s literally… a halt-er.
I agree. I’ve seen the halti collars…those look humane to me.
I do NOT however profess to be a dog expert. I only know what I’d want around my own nose or neck.
Dog training collars vary like the “artillary” in horses mouths. Some dogs DO work best on a pinch; for others its overkill. Pinches do exactly that – they pinch (yes, I’ve tried them.) Unlike slip collars or “choke” collars they can’t choke a dog and are much easier to learn to use properly than a slip collar. Its like chains over noses – some horses need that, others need no chain over the nose. When used properly the dog does the corrections – no yanking or jerking like you do with a slip, and far less chance of injury or spinal misalighment. (Proper use is the key in any collar really, but so much harder to use a slip properly.)
I trained under one co-inventor of the GL – they are NOT the same tool as the Halti; the GL offers much more precise control; like the pinch, some dogs (and owners) need this.
I had to throw in my 2 cents here. I have owned two Springer Spaniels, which are mid-sized (43 lbs.) very pretty, long-haired hunting dogs, if you don’t know (think large Cocker Spaniel). You would not look at a Springer and think, OMG, that dog is gonna eat me or pull my arm out of the socket. Well, no, they won’t eat you, but in my (abeit limited) experience, OH YEAH, they will too pull your poor arm out, and yourself into the road along with it! Both of my girls have been absolutely awful pullers. I think it is their inbred drive to be out in front of hunters, flushing game. I took the first through obedience school and was taught how to use a chain collar. She did “okay” with it in the ring – we passed – but for regular walks, it was still a battle. I bought a gadget that had two strings which ran from the front of the collar, behind her front legs, and back up to the neck part, where they joined at the leash. It worked pretty well but she pulled so hard the strings eventually broke. I thought pinch collars were the Devil’s creation and it never crossed my mind to get one. At that point, we lost her (only 16 mos. old – severe epilepsy, it was awful). Doggie #2 arrived many years later and is much better-bred, along completely show lines. She’s extremely sweet and gentle. That did not stop her from also wanting to haul us around like a madwoman. I tried the chain collar and patient training. *Gasp* *Choke* *Drag* I tried the Gentle Leader. *Deep Hatred* *Running Away Instead of Wanting to Walk* *Rubbing Muzzle Raw* (Seriously, there was blood) I was embarrassed at failing as a trainer, but afraid for my children, who she was dragging around. Finally, in desperation, I consulted her breeder. She said, “You have my blessing. Put her in a pinch collar.” (This is a woman with 30 years “in dogs.” I trust her implicitly.) And guess what? I have a Happy Dog. She does NOT run away from it, she does NOT choke and gasp, and she does NOT pull like a freight train. She has never, not once, cried out in pain while wearing it (6 years now). I have rarely ever had to use it correctively; as Noob says, she does it herself. And YES – I HAVE put it around my own neck and given it a yank! It doesn’t feel good, obviously, but neither does it make me scream. (Need I point out, I also have no hair on my neck
)
It’s funny that this topic came up because just the other night I had the dog in the car and made an impulse stop at PetSmart. Sunny loves to go in there, and all I had handy was my emergency leash and choke chain collar that I keep in the glove box. Well, she coughed and gagged and made herself miserable all around the store, despite my reprimands (yes, it was right behind her ears like it’s supposed to be, too). I think this is spot on, re: pinch collars: “When used properly the dog does the corrections – no yanking or jerking like you do with a slip, and far less chance of injury or spinal misalignment.” I’m definitely a converted believer!
That’s a very good point.
When my dog was young, i started her in a regular collar and soon I was waterskiing behind her, and it was *coughcoughcoughdhokechokechoke* the whole time, and she totally ignored it. A choker collar produced the same results, just with more chokechokechoke. I couldn’t even get enough slack to tug on it. Then I went to an actual obedience trainer, who hooked me up with a GL. AWESOME. We use it for every walk, and I NEVER jerk on it, and Trixie gets very happy when she sees it come out. She is a very sensitive and slightly neurotic, very passive dog, and the GL just works great for us as long as I remember “tactful hands.”
When I was a kid, OTOH, I trained the neighbor’s fox terrier many, many tricks gently using the choke collar they left on her all the time (WTF??) and a lot of cheese.
Just as some horses do just fine in a snaffle, some dogs go great with only a leather collar, and that IS the ideal I should think. But also, some horses and riders work beautifully in advanced bitting combinations that look quite .. exotic… to some of us, and I suppose it’s the same with those wackier collars on dogs….
To illustrate my belief that it’s the person holding the leash/halter/reins/etc and not the tool itself that is a problem, I’d like to explain about my dog. She’s a 6 year old spayed yellow lab from hunting dog lines (not the chunky, no leg conformation lab type!). This also means that she has a strong drive to retrieve, very high pain tolerance, is ridiculously clever and very high energy.
When I had to move to an apartment that didn’t allow big dogs (she’s 75lbs) I asked my parents if they would be okay with keeping her temporarily until I could find a place that didn’t have a weight restriction (turned out to be about a year). My parents are very nice people who have known my dog since I got her; they have a good sized house and large yard, which would be a great temporary situation for my girl. They are quite familiar with my beliefs on proper animal care and I spent a considerable amount of time showing them how to properly interact with my dog and what commands she was familiar with.
Long story short, when I got my dog back, I was horrified. My extremely well-mannered, polite, fun-loving, fearless dog was a complete nutcase. She was terrified of everything, 15 lbs overweight, had started growling at people if they came near her food, would literally gag herself on her collar when walking and wouldn’t respond to any command I gave her. She had a strange strip of hair rubbed off across the bridge of her nose. Yeah… My previously wonderful family had, out of ignorance, abused my dog big time. That hair that was rubbed off on her face? It was from a Halti and a Gentle Leader my parents had gotten because they couldn’t control my dog on walks. (May have been because she only went on a walk once every one or two weeks, ya think?!)
After a ton of work and time, she is almost back to her former self, but she is still extremely head-shy if you try to put on a collar (though treats and clicker training are really helping!) and can only be walked safely in a body harness or pinch collar, otherwise she pulls until she starts gagging and retching. Put the harness or pinch collar on her and she walks happily on a loose leash; I never have to use any force with them, so it doesn’t bother me to use them with her. To me, it’s like an expert rider using a double bridle vs. a snaffle – in good hands, the finesse you can achieve with a double bridle is better than what you can get with a snaffle because of the way the tool is designed.
So moral of my story? It’s the hands behind the tool that make it harsh or not.
In certain situations I have no problem using a pinch collar or harness, though they would not be my first choice for a dog, but I will not suggest a Halti or Gentle Leader to anyone anymore than I would initially suggest a pinch collar. They are not, in my opinion, any more humane, they simply have a nicer visual appeal.
Your post makes perfect sense to me. It would absolutely be the hands. I have seen people jerk dogs around like you wouldn’t believe…well yeah, you would.
I’ve noticed a few comments talking about how Gentle Leaders didnt fix the problem and actually did more harm than good. It is most definitely the hands behind the tool that can either achieve the desired results or inflict harm.
My first dog was a Saint Bernard. Very sweet and loving, but she also had the potential to drag me around the neighborhood because of her size. (She weighed about 150 lbs give or take when she was full grown.) One day, when she was a couple months old, my mom brought home a Gentle Leader to see if it would help with her pulling problem. It worked for my family. We were gentle with her and only got firmer as needed when her actions warranted it. There were never rub marks on the bridge of her nose. Over time she learned that she couldn’t get away with anything and acting up wasnt worth it. The gentle leader just became a reminder to her to behave. She walked by my side with a slack leash and I rarely had any problems with her.
I got my dog long before I got my horse. As a horse crazy girl with a vivid imagination, I used to pretend my giant dog was a small horse and would treat her as such to some extent. I demanded the same respect when walking her, as I do from my horses when leading them. Even though she was a dog and not a horse, she taught me many profound lessons that still aid me in my daily life and journey with horses. My giant fuzzball of a dog was my best friend, and I miss her greatly. She passed last February after living a long life.
I am not a dog trainer, nor do I claim to be, this was just my experience with a Gentle Leader and good hands.
Yes, Halties etc look humane, key word LOOK. Dogs generally don’t mind a pinch collar or choke chain, but in my experience many dogs, perhaps most, hate hate HATE halties. Think about it for a moment, what animals were halter developed for? Horses and cattle, animals that are far larger and stronger then humans. Dogs are smaller and weaker then horses, meaning that while the amout of force applied is the same, the effect is far different. When a dog wears a haltie it is because they have not been taught to walk on a loose leash, something most dogs are capable of learning. They haven’t been taught that very basic skill because their owners haven’t taught them it. Their owners are generally very bad at paying attention to what their hands are doing, so guess what happens when they get a haltie because someone told them it was more humane then a pinch collar? They yank that poor dog’s nose around constantly! No wonder some dogs go nuts pawing their haltie, trying to get it off and generally look very miserable. Because it’s supposedly ‘humane’ people don’t pay attention to what is going on, and most people are very bad at recognizing when their dog is unhappy. Even when the dog is pawing frantically at their face or scraping their face on the ground trying to get the haltie off, or running with their head pulled sideways constantly the owners just ignore it, thinking that the dog will get use to it, or that it’s still better then a pinch collar. Now, imagine what would happen if some giant with unquiet hands walked a horse in a halter the same way people walk dogs in halties? I think you’d be screaming your head off about it!
Now, pinch collars do have the unquiet-hands problem too, but to a lesser extent, and evidently in a part of the body that dogs generally do not mind as much having yanked around as much. They (and choke chains) are still generally missused (and I really hate choke chains, as they are dangerous!), but the dogs that regularily wear them look much happier then the dogs that wear halties. They don’t usually fight them or try to get them off. They have their negatives, choke chains especially (an supervised choke chain can kill your dog, even if you just turned your back for a moment), and if missused can cause serious injury, don’t get me wrong, but the dogs in general look much happier wearing them then they do wearing halties.
Personally, as far an ‘quick fix’ devices go I prefer the Easy Leader
http://www.pickofthelitterdogtraining.com/EasyWalk.jpg
because it pulls from the chest, not the nose, and is far less desturbing to your average dog then the haltie. But many owners missuse it and put it on backward so the leash attaches from the back instead of the front, which defeats the purpose. (fortunately this does not hurt the dog in any way, but it doesn’t take care of the pulling problem either!). Also some dogs may ignore it and need a stronger deterant.
For some dogs a haltie may be best, but for the majority of dogs I’d actually rather see a pinch collar on them. Of course, a soft collar and training to walk loosely on leash is best!
Ladies – you get all over people who you think are ignorant, so you might want to be a bit careful about displaying your own. I’m going to guess that those “backward link torture devices” are known as “prong” or “pinch” collars. Fitted and used correctly, they cannot choke a dog and are no more a torture device than most training/control aids. They are, in proven fact, more humane and more effective than a “slip” or “choke” chain, which can permanently damage a dog’s trachea and requires a competent trainer to use effectively. Yes, many people use them incorrectly, but that does not invalidate the tool, only the idiot on the end of the leash.
Put it on your neck, give it a yank and tell me it’s humane. Better yet, send pictures!
i did this at the feed store where I used to work. I put one on out of curiosity, I didnt have to pull it very tight to feel the prongs dig into my neck and to know how it would hurt if I did so. After that I never condoned the use of such collars. I used to wear a thin choke collar as a necklace (I had small keys on it for charms and such as a political statement kind of thing) and it wasnt quit as painfull when gently pulled but would hve done some serious damage if pulled hard on or yanked a good one. If I had to choose between the two, give me the plain chocker chain. They release much faster and much easier than the pronged ones.
No pics – I’m not an exhibitionist. Not sure why I’m bothering to say anything, you’ve already made up your mind, but maybe some of your readers can learn a thing or two. Before I ever put a pinch collar on my dogs, I tested one by putting it around my arm and giving it a good yank. It doesn’t feel good, but it’s a quick and clear attention-getter for a stubborn or over-excited dog. Fit it correctly, use it correctly, and it is not cruel. Fit it too loosely, get the wrong size prong, or use it incorrectly, and it will be ineffective. Get it wrong enough, fit it too tightly or use it as punishment and you need to step away from dog training.
I’ve seen dogs injured by slip chains, by standard buckle collars, and by gentle-leaders (a sort of halter for a dog). Most injuries associated with those types of collars are caused by the dog pulling or lunging hard against them. I’ve never seen a dog injured by a pinch collar that was fitted and used corectly. It takes very unusual circumstances or serious idiocy to injure a dog using a pinch.
Rather like the stud-chain on your beloved Zenyatta. I doubt it was just for show, and I noticed that you weren’t up in arms over it. I would guess that a yank on a stud chain is far more painful to a horse than a yank on a pinch collar is to a dog.
I did note that I did not see any need for the stud chain, but I understand it’s “policy” on a lot of those farms.
I always think it’s interesting that you can get horses right off the track and stop using chains on them immediately with very few issues. Including most of the studs! *shrug*
I am under the firm belief that if you haven’t changed a major opinion in the last 5 years, you should check your pulse because you might be dead. (A very popular saying these days in the medical world, and hammered in to us by our professors.) I haven’t already made up my mind, thanks, and a lot of the posts do make sense to me. I read this blog because I always learn new things, and I thank you for introducing me to proper uses of these collars. I really can’t hold it against poor springer spaniel owner over there, although if your shoulder hurts you should consider PT :-p. (Shameless plug) Although I have never actually seen one used in a manner that appeared acceptable (including the mexican gang bangers, but also the soccer moms at the park), it sounds like a lot of people do get results out of them without hurting their dogs. But one question… how do you know the skin on your neck is more sensitive than that of a dog? Thickness of skin doesn’t correspond to decreased sensitivity, and generally mammals are mapped out so that the closer you get to the head and face the higher the number of nerve endings per area there is. I’m not buying that whole “mothers pick them up by their necks” argument either. Mothers lack those crazy opposable thumb contraptions, and picking them up by the neck is a necessity. The mom probably doesn’t really care if it hurts as long as she can move her pup to safety.
Its not a matter of how thick the skin on my neck is vs the skin on the dog’s neck – it depends on the individual dog’s pain threshold.
I was at a show visiting my sister – I had my pitbull on his pinch along; I could walk him using my pinky on that pinch. Sis asked me to ex her dog – an English Cocker Spaniel – so I put my boy in his crate and put his pinch on the cocker, thinking I would be able to control him as easily as the pitbull. Boy, was I ever wrong. Despite the pinch, that cocker nearly pulled my arm from its socket! Sporting dogs are bred to have a high pain tolerance. I would bet his skin was no thicker than my pitbull’s, but he never felt that pinch.
Retract claws, then post on blog my friend.
Yeah I actually have put one of those around my neck… and pinching is not a whole lot better than choking in my opinion, especially on the neck. What is the point of putting it around your arm or leg to “test it out”? The sensory input is totally different in those areas than it is on your neck. Different strokes for different folks I guess, but I grew up with a boxer and my roommates in college had a pit bull, and without the use of any sort of choking or pinching device I taught them both to walk with a slack leash in the “heel” position. We went through a LOT of treats and it was time consuming and a little frustrating at times, but it seems to me that you should be even more wary of getting into a physical strength contest with any sort of bull dog. They already know how strong they are- I focused on teaching them self control and making it a mental exercise for them.
Yeah, again, I AM NOT A DOG TRAINER…but common sense says, why can’t you teach a dog not to pull? Isn’t it just a respect issue, like teaching a horse not to pull? I have seen many, many horses trained to lead quietly in a plain halter, including studs who’d worn chains, etc. all their lives…if you can teach a HORSE that is 1000 lbs, why can’t you teach a dog that is less than 100 pounds? The prey drive? But they pull just as hard in flight as in pursuit, don’t they?
“why can’t you teach a dog not to pull? Isn’t it just a respect issue, like teaching a horse not to pull? I have seen many, many horses trained to lead quietly in a plain halter, including studs who’d worn chains, etc. all their lives…if you can teach a HORSE that is 1000 lbs, why can’t you teach a dog that is less than 100 pounds?”
You CAN teach a dog not to pull. And for SOME dogs the tool that works best for teaching is a pinch.
Not everyone is a Karen Pryor – if we all could click and treat train we wouldn’t need snaffles or chains or pinches. But we’re not, our training styles and strenghts vary – so what works for one may not work for another, where one trainer may require a more intense correction for another trainer it would shut their dog down. Some breeds require ongoing training (most do) while others not so much. Can they all be trained to not pull? Of course! But how we get to that point and how we maintain that point is individual – right down to the training collar.
We have a rule for our dog that we never put anything around her neck that we wouldn’t put around our own necks. That includes shock collars, chokers, and those awful backward link things. I wish owners were required to see how it feels- especially on a thinly furred dog like a Boxer. And getting shocked on the neck?? How barbaric can you get, yeesh.
The skin on my neck is rather more senstive than the skin on my dog’s neck, which is why I tested the pinch on my arm, instead. My dog is also thin-furred, similar to a Boxer, so I found an appropirately sized pinch for him.
If you can train your dog to be calm and well-behaved, walk on a loose lead, etc…without resorting to a pinch, kudos to you, just don’t forget that the dog’s temperament and history make a difference, too.
That makes me sad about the boxers — they are awesome, gentle, sweet family dogs.
If the “torture devices” are prong collars, I just want to clear up a misconception. If used correctly they’re safer than other collars and excellent training aids. (It doesn’t sound like they’re being used correctly in this situation!)
Most dogs can learn to walk nicely on leash with positive training. But there are some dogs that need gentle corrections. One example is large dogs with strong prey drives that may be fine most of the time but take off suddenly when they see something they want to chase.
I was dubious about prong collars at first but research shows that, because they distribute pressure evenly around the neck, they’re safer than slip or conventional collars for dogs that pull hard because all of the pressure goes to their throats. Necropsies on dogs trained with prong collars showed no damage, while dogs trained with other collars sometimes had broken trachea bones. The next time you’re in a pet store put one around your arm or leg and give a pull, and then do the same with a slip collar, and see which one is more gentle.
The collar should sit high on the neck, below the immediately below the ears, and fitted snug. They should only be used on dogs that have a good training foundation, not in lieu of work and practice. They should not be used to impel forward motion.
The scariest collars are the head halters — those can really fuck up a dog’s neck.
Just out of curiosity – the people who feel prong collars (assuming they are used correctly) are inhumane can you please tell me what kind of dog you have?
My Amstaff is about 55 lbs, all muscle and he will practically pull my arm out of the socket on walks. Gentle leaders don’t work, and he will yank on a slip collar and strangle himself as an alternative to walking beside me.
In all honesty, when properly used, like any other training device, these are not bad. The prongs are NOT sharp, they don’t stab the dog. They are blunt and you can feel them but it’s a quick pull and release, you don’t yank on it and let the dog choke. Not an awful lot different than putting a stud chain over a horse’s nose.
I put it on myself (locked in the bathroom so my kids wouldn’t get ideas) and gave a good yank. It pinches but it’s not like I was writhing on the floor in pain. I used it on myself the same way I’d put it on my dog – it’s about the same pain as touching an electric fence, minus the chest ache when you let go.
Tell you what though, whatever got that collar yanked on I probably wouldn’t do again.
Absolutely! My dog had some neck issues that had to be worked out over a few months after being subjected to the combination of clumsy, uneducated hands and a Halti and GL.
OK, I see that the prong collar does have its place in the hands of a knowledgeable dog person.
Unfortunately most of the time I see it used to
a) look really MACHO on a pitt/mastiff/bulldog/Rottweiler
or
b) look really MACHO on a pitt/mastiff/bulldog/Rottweiler
or
c) look really MACHO on a pitt/mastiff/bulldog/Rottweiler
And of course the owner (usually a ghettobilly holding up his pants with one hand) is just dragging the poor canine down the sidewalk.
I gotta admit you made me laugh. WHAT IS WITH THE DAMN PANTS…no one wants to see your shorts, trust me, NO ONE…you are NOT hot.
Looks of good comments about good use of pinch collars. Yes, they do have their place, and are not necessarily a ‘torture’ device, though they certainly can be. They develop a habit in dogs, of being aware of the handler, and giving to slight pressure.
One problem: Someone trying to use them, because they have weak hands may not work, as they need to be ‘squished’ quite hard, to open them, to put them on.
In this case, a halti/gentle leader (two different things) may be the better choice.
There is a widespread bellief, that a study exists: , where autopsies were done showing that pinch collars cause less tussue damage than regulr collars. Someone mtioned this study, abouve. However, it is my understanding, that this maynot actually exist. Many ppeople have tried to find this study and hav
study does s could give me the ‘address’ of this stufy, I would appreciate it.
Kathy, why punks hold up their pant with one hand: someone told me this:
In prison peole’s belts are taken away. These guys are ‘pretending’ they are in prison, to look tough. That’s ‘tough’. Sorry. My words do not show up here for many minutes (or ever) after typing them. Sorry for mistakes. I cannot see,k therefore, correct them.
vickye failed. If the person who mentioned tiis study can give me the exact location, I would appreciate it.
It started in prison, as a way of saying that the man who was sagging them was availible for some companionship (in return for ciggarettes etc) if you know what I mean.
I have no idea how it went from that to “I’ma tough homeboy”, however.
“Ghettobilly”….ha ha…I love it. I just dont understand what is so sexy about walking around with your pants hanging off your ass and holding them up with one hand so you can walk? Makes me want to go and pull down thier pants and then watch them try to run. ha ha
Exactly! Pinch collars are a tool. I used to know a weim that walked perfectly on a pinch collar, no pressure needed. If his mom put his leash on just the buckle collar and he was very unsure of what was expected, it wasn’t the right routine and he liked routine. Put a haltie on him and he’d fight and whine almost incessantly, no matter how carefully it was fitted.
Well, I DID throw in a disclaimer about “nice country people.” And there are many “suburban” folks who get cute baby animals and then get tired of them, or dump the pets when they start having children (!!!!) or move, stuff like that….
But generally speaking, ignorance begets abuse. I see it here in SE Indiana as well. Plenty of Amish puppy mills, forgotten pit bulls tied to a tree out back, unneutered aniamls running loose…. and don’t get me started on the kinds of weird things I have to gently correct with the 4H’ers.
You need to visit some of the neighborhoods of Detroit and Flint if you want to see a multitude of ignorance, neglect, and abuse of animals. And don’t even bother to call Animal control if your neighbor is abusing 1 or 2 animals. It isn’t a rural problem.
I believe it was in Texas that the schoolbook committee, which stamps the “thumbs up” on approved text books for public schools, decided that Obama’s name should be written “Barack H. Obama” because Hussein was too inflammatory, even though he used his full name when he took the oath of office.
I am SO irritated at these textbook folks that insist on history being rewritten, slanting facts to fit THEIR perception of “ok.” Like the commemorative stamp for the heroes at Ground Zero. The original picture of three presumed-to-be-white firefighters raising the American flag they found in the rubble was just three guys in helmets and T-shirts, covered with grime. The commemorative stamp had to represent diversity, so one of the men pictured was black. Something not right about changing history to depict a politically correct view of “the way we wish things had been.”
I literally got chills watching that video.
Tacoma Equine Hospital has been overwhelmed with both people wanting to take their studs to the clinic and others offering to volunteer. It sounds like there should be a day full of excitement (well, maybe not so much for the geldings) on the 31st. They told me on the phone that they are doing 9 horses and 3 minis, although they had only planned to do 10 horses total. Hopefully they or another hospital will plan to do another Gelding Clinic in the near future.
I like the fact that she didnt even try to dispose of the body remains.That really made me sick.
I agree that these were some great horses screaming for a real forever home.
Oh, I doubt the bitch even knew they were dead! That would entail going out there and checking on them which she quite obviously wasn’t doing!!!
Somewhat OT – Here’s a rather unfortunate filly you could throw into a few dozen blog categories…
http://montana.craigslist.org/grd/2115669964.html
Roach back, insanely messed up front pasterns, and look, she’s a Grulla! ._.
And of course they’re pawning off their mistake to someone else, because she’s totally not going to end up at the kill pen if she doesn’t snap her leg standing in the pasture. I can’t imagine she could make it to 2 years without going completely lame.
Bless that poor fillies heart. I think they just need to send her off cause all they are doing is setting her up for the KBer. Really what are the chances of some one taking her and keeping her as a yard ornament all of her life?
I really hope some one takes her and PTS the poor thing, she just looks like she is hurting.
EWWW, but FWIW, I don’t think she has a roach back, I think she has severe pain.
I wondered about that too because looking at the pic just made me think, “Wow…that poor creature looks miserable!”
Could be, I’ve never seen a more uncomfortable-looking thing in my life. Even if it isn’t a roach back, her front legs are more than enough reason to put her out of her misery, and never breed her parents again =/
Good lord what do her parents look like?? Oh wait I know they’re some sort of super cool color.
How much can I bet there was never a Vet out and no x-rays taken? Probably has pediatric degenerative joint disease. Or some other congenital joint problems. Poor thing looks miserable. I bet the poor thing wont make it to its second birthday before having to be humanely put to sleep.
I watched the video, and was just sad. There had to be quite a few dead horses, as I counted four carcasses and about 6-7 individual skulls.
I love their videos on YouTube… they really do a great job with them. I hope more and more people watch them and see what is really going on out there. The guy, Rowdy Shaw, I’ve seen on another video of theirs about dog fighting, which was just heartbreaking and made me cry (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CcM8wcspmM). If you’re ok with having a good cry, then definitely watch this one.
Did everyone see the latest on the AAA rescue seizure? There’s a video of the latest hearing, and it’s explaining why NUIC was euthed. Also has pics of all the horses seized. Sad stuff. I think the AAA supporters should all watch it! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIvUjQMio1I)
Oh man were you not kidding about that making me cry! Look at that evil demon-dog pit bull, and what was he doing when he was being carried in a strange place with all those strange people, all torn up and suffering horribly…what was he doing, I ask? Wagging his tail and acting like he was meeting old friends and was real glad to see them too! Poor pup, I’ll bet you a million bucks and a steak dinner he’d have turned out to be the best dog ever. Look at that face and those eyes, that right there is why I’ll never have a dog until I can have a rescued pit bull.
That dog broke my heart. You could tell all it wanted was to be loved. At least he knew love in his last hours. What a sweet face he had.
Wow, yeah, I’d probably euth that stallion too. From what I can understand his penis was necrotic to the point where he couldn’t urinate, it was just leaking out through the side above the dead part. They’d have had to amputate it. I’m a girl, and it’s making me cringe.
Oh my God, I cannot see how anyone in his or her right mind could not see the horrible shape those horses were in! And for heaven’s sake, to fail to get any sort of vet care for NUIC and his penis problem is plenty good reason for prosecution. Was the lesion a cancer of the penis or some sort of venereal thing? At any rate, probably fixable/treatable at first sign of a problem, but in that poor shape, NUIC no doubt could not have survived surgery.
Christina V. (owner of NUIC and AAA) kept going on and on about how it was Pigeon Fever in his sheath, and he was almost entirely healed – they had no right to put him down, blah blah blah. She also said it was her personal horse, not the rescues, but on her own webpage it said “He lived in a stall until I received him in Aug. 2008″ and he’s listed under “Permanent Residents”. That woman is so full of shit.
That poor horse. He had to have been in so much pain.
anyone else think the rescue fellow with the beard and ball cap was kind of a hunk? Real men rescue horses
)
YUP! I was watching and totally thought, “I hope I get to marry a man like that.”
That is so sick!
Off topic:
I was cruising craigslist and thought this deserved to be on here.
http://www.aqhastallions.com/colors.html
This is on their stallions pages.
This kid looks like she is going to fall off!
The first one is the one that gets me… The little girl sitting in the saddle with no reins (and no lunge line either!), clinging to the horn and squeezing her eyes shut because she is scared. No helmet PLUS no way to control the horse. Good god.
I’m pretty sure she’s smiling. You are reading your own pre-conceived notions into her expression.
However, it’s still dangerous as heck, even for an adult, and crazy for a person who can’t reach the stirrups.
Oh come ON… the mom has her hand resting on the kids leg!!! That kid can’t fall off!
You people will complain about anything!
/sarcasm
Sweet Jesus!! All 3 pictures are bad, but the first one literally made me gasp!! That is child endangerment if I have ever seen it! Who puts a small child on a horse with no halter, no bridle, or any way to control it, and turns them loose!?!?! Those poor kids will be lucky if they live to be 10 years old with genius parents like those. God, some people REALLY should not be aloud to reproduce!!
To borrow a phrase from the UK, I’m gob smacked by these pictures. The first one of the little girl on the paint is mind blowing! I thought there was someone leading that horse but when I saw there were no reins, nothing at all on its head OMG! My husband’s neice has been in a big snit with me over the fact that I would not let her son on my horse because he refused to wear a helmet. My hard, fast and unbreakable rule is no helmet, no horse!
Im from Canada, but Id call this one in to CPS /CYF as you call it. I believe this is their toll free number for the Claysville area, Call 1-800-932-0313 to Report Child Abuse
if not they will tell you what is. More credible if an American caller contacted them esp from PA. This is blatent child endangerment, and I think FUGLY followers need to step up to the plate after coming accross these travesties. All Calls are confidential, just email them the website which is full of these shots showing children, and toddlers in harmful situations to sell stallions, arghhh
*snort*
WE know this is super dangerous, but to the casual observer, it’s just a lucky kid growing up on a farm riding horses with her hair blowing so freeeee just like in that Flicka movie.
I wouldn’t even waste my time calling the authorities. Anyway, isn’t it so weird how sometimes these kids really do seem to have some guardian spirit (probably cussing all the way) keeping them from dying? Like the idiots who’ve kept their horses in barbed wire for 50+ years and never had a problem?
I’m not excusing any of this, because really, chances are that something bad WILL happen, but I was only sayin.
Some ironic wall post on her facebook page, this will be about her own kids one day
Varners Quarter Horses “My neighbor/friend was in a horse accident and is in ICU in a coma, she and her family need our prayers”
To me this is the worst kind of child abuse, inciduous, brazen, stupid, out of greed, there is no excuse as in the abuse of the foster kid mentioned earlier. She even has a stallion and kids photos page on FB
I was a little stunned to learn that these horses belong to LORETTA LYNN!!!!! AND they are VERY proud of these pictures.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Varners-Quarter-Horses/401039843893
Shakes head!
So… this post reminds me… I’d like some advice from you guys. I post on another forum, which I can’t post links to because you have to be a paid member to see it. Recently a member posted pictures of her visiting nephew, who is still the age where babies pretty much resemble potatoes… able to sit up but not walk, etc., on her horse, bareback, no one near him, looks like there may be a halter but maybe not. Out in the middle of a snowy field propped up on the horse while admiring adults stand back and take pictures. The description explains that the baby being on the horse is the first the horse has been ridden since his retirement.
In other words, it’s every bad parent cliche from the Fugly blog. So, there are like 10 replies which are all “Oh how cute” and no one even suggesting this might be unsafe. I know from past experience on this forum that if I say anything I will have 200 women all up in my grille telling me what a bitch I am, and it won’t make any difference anyway, because no one will listen. Actually I’m a little tired of being known as the bitch of this particular forum because I believe horses should be handled with respect. So, how bad a person am I if I just keep my mouth shut? The baby obviously lived through this experience and there’s no reason to believe it will be repeated since the sister lives in another state. I just feel like my head’s going to explode from the stupidity if someone doesn’t do something.
If you know from experience what the reaction would be, you’re not a bad person for picking your internet battles. Actually, you might be going a ways to preserve your sanity. But, and here’s the stickler … is the money you’re paying for this blog worth the frustration of this? Do you really want to belong to an online community where you’re actually considered the bitch for espousing some common horse sense? If you can’t safely say “I don’t think your infant belongs on a 1000-lb prey animal without safe guards and these are the normally accepted safeguards” without expecting to be attacked, why continue visiting?
Obviously, that doesn’t apply if the forum membership is part of fees paid for something else, but seriously — how frustrating! More power to you if you still feel you can continue educating without losing your sanity.
Edit: not blog, forum — online forum. Sorry! Still, though, I have to admit I mistrust paid forums.
Hook ‘em up with some links of sites about kids who died from traumatic head injuries from horse falls (off of GENTLE horses), tell them that they will regret their willful ignorance someday, tell them that they make your head explode and your stomach hurt, tell them you’ll pray for those kids’ safety every day, and then just *leave* the forum.
You might change one or two minds, but really it’s a lost cause. Preserve your sanity instead by gravitating toward like minded people.
I might have been shocked by this, had i not seen the previous video of that stupid teenager getting on a horse with a newborn baby attached to her…
still, I never cease to me amazed by how americans just love to parade heir stupidity for the whole world to see…
(not saying all americans are stupid here, just saying the stoopid ones seem to love to show off)
A few things. That video almost made me lose my dinner…. The next thing is I do need to say something about tree chewing, My horses have never chewed trees until this new horse came and started destroying my trees! Even though the horse was sold almost a year ago its still my horses favorite activity! My first thought was that they were lacking something nutritionaly so I put them on supplements and made sure their hay was a consistant quality, I talked to my vet and the fact of the matter is they just like to chew trees… the funny thing is, none of them crib in their stalls. In the neglect situation I can see the horses were starving, but I don’t want people driving by my house and thinking “she must not be feeding her horses correctly!!!” cause im suprised some of these trees are still standing! Just a thought!
OMG, I had the SAME thing happen!! We had two horses here, no problems. Introduced our third horse, and she taught the first two to chew trees! Our horses are definitely not starving – if anything they’re a little chunky!
My guy (who learned from the new one) is now the worst offender, and has started chewing fences, shelters, etc. He’s not cribbing, he’s gnawing on everything! He has literally RUINED the manger my husband built.
The funny thing? They had all the bark off a bunch of trees as high as they could reach… then MY guy figures out if he gets his bottom teeth under the bottom edge of the bark, and then pulls straight OUT, he can peel the bark upwards! There is now no bark for the bottom 15-20 feet or so. He especially loves the birch trees. Damn it!
I too worry someone will think our horses are being starved or need more nutrients (trust me, they get plenty). Our horses are so spoiled!
I have to agree with you on the tree chewing thing. My old gelding started my other horses doing it, but now that he is gone they have seemed to have eased up on butchering my trees. My horses are all fat and healthy, so there was no need for them to be interested in trees other than out of boredom, but I always worried that the neighbour would think that I was starving my horses.
Okay pet peeve coming up: CRIBBING is NOT a chewing activity for cryin’ out loud. Cribbing is when a horse grabs onto something with their teeth, arches the neck and expands the diaphragm to suck air into the stomach. Cribbing is a pathologic addictive neurotic behavior that results in worn teeth, unthriftyness and sometimes colic. When horses CHEW wood, trees, bark, etc. they bite off chunks and often consume them. Chewing can result in digestive issues and colic. Chewing has been postulated to be the result of dietary deficiencies, but no one is really sure.
Cirbbing is a source of unsoundness, chewing is not.
Besides this one, my other pet peeves include, but are not limited to: snaffle vs. curb, “out of” and “by” and alfalfa as feed.
I guess horses learn things from each other just like any other animal. I’ve seen my cats learning different things that way too.
Sometimes I see trees in pastures around here with chain-link fencing wrapped tightly around the trunks. Maybe that will protect your trees (and horses) too.
As a born and bred Texan I have got to stand up and say “We are not all the assholes/idiots/yahoos you think we are.” We may be conservative, we may value our traditions,we may let our dogs run loose, we may be Republicans but we are (as a general rule) not idiots. If you judged any state by this blog, the whole U.S. would be overrun with abusers. Texas has more rural land and more horses than most states so more chance for abuse and more chance to end up on this blog. So, we gotta keep the Texas bashing in perspective.
What this person did was horrible, and I’m not defending her actions. She deserves to get the maximum sentence and then some. The horses may be in luck: almost every judge in TX owns some kind of livestock and the ones that I know don’t take animal abuse lightly. (Then again I live in “ultra liberal” Travis County).
My family is considering contacting the rescue and possibly adopting one of the pregnant mares. (We were going to get one anyway, why not from a decent rescue?) Some look like they will have great potential once they are fattened up! Some of the colts looked like they had decent conformation and moved ok…. That may be my wishful thinking though.
Sarg,
As far as I can tell, Fugly didn’t use the word “all” and. If you didn’t know, “all” is one of those words we call “qualifiers.” Qualifier words are words that give a very specific meaning to a statement. Usually qualifiers are “absolutes” which mean it’s an all or nothing word. A quick perusal of the posts and I see words like “a lot” and “it seems” and “we see dumb f**** in every state” and “No one state has cornered the market on stupidity, cruelty, or laziness.†So I don’t think you read too many of the posts because most of them were fair.
Granted there are a few who have real solid issues with the state of Texas and it’s people, but it seems as though they live there and consequently have a reasonable right to a complaint and/or opinion (which they do anyway because of that whole pesky “free speech” thing).
Besides, as ex-New Mexican, I heard a bunch (from Texican’s hunting in my state) about how great the state of Texas was and how ya’ll do things bigger and better because you’re bigger and better, don’cha know gal? So, right now, it stands to reason that even with a reasonably small sample size, Texas is still seems to be coming out on the top on the abuse-O-meter.
You should calm down anyway. There are one of two things going on, either it’s the truth, which you can’t do much about anyway because, hey, it’s true! Or it’s a misrepresentation (lie) and you won’t be able to dispell it in any real sense because you’d need like… oh, I dunno, facts or sumpin’. And since those facts are either not readily available, or you didn’t bother to discover if they exist, there is no point to your statements.
I belive we see big rescue efforts out west due to the fact it is easy to lease a couple of hundred acres throw 100 head out on those acres and let them ‘cull’ themselves. THAT is a big news story and makes a big splash on the internet. On the east coast, I currently live in southwest PA after living in SC, NJ, NY, DC, and VA, you see two or three starving horse down the rural roads, pulling carriages down city streets, etc….not a big news story. 100 starving horse makes a bigger news splash than two horses on someones 1.5 acres behind the pine trees which obscures the starving horses from people passing by. It is all prespective. More cheap acreage, more chances to abuse a big herd.
In every state there are 100 horses starving tonight…..maybe in one big herd….maybe in 50 different herds….maybe in single backyard homes where the poor starving horse does not even have an equine friend to share a little body heat or a nuzzle.
One thing that is not horse related I will add….*grins*….it is much more civilized living in East Texas…or anywhere the temps are ambient…. where one does NOT have to: clean snow of their car everyday, shovel the sidewalk, shovel the snow off the roof if deep and wet, wear snow shoes to work while carrying your work shoes, run out of wiper fluid every three days, run their car/truck through a car wash (if it gets close to 30 degrees) ever other day, vacuum/sweep salt and cinder from your foyer daily, forget what the sun feels and looks like, feel like the Michelen Man with seven layers of clothes on, spening a small fortune on ‘little hotties’ (I go through two little hotties six days a week…gets expensive), use heaters for troughs, or a chiesel to chop up frozen sweet feed and frozen ice balls out of horse shoes!
*Hoists my Corona with lime*….here is to any place with ambient temps!
Well, stereotypes exist for a reason. I am from the Philadelphia area, and I am NOT offended if anyone wants to say that Philly is a rude, dirty city, and the Eagles suck , and the sports fans are obnoxious assholes, etc. Why???? Because it’s all true. I do love Philly for many reasons, and it will always be home, but I also can face the facts without getting all sensitive about it. Actually, those of us from there think that it is very ironic that it is called “The City of Brotherly Love”.
Agrees, and waves from Hays, County. As a Texas trainer I would happily trade lives with every horse horse I know in repects to care. There are bad apples in every bunch, but everyone I associate with and generally meet treats their animals better than themselves. Also have to recommend Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society, they are a great organization, truly all about the horses if you are thinking of adoption.
I think a big thing affecting how livestock cases are handled by Animal Control Officers is the lack of education. I recently had 4 officers from major city in central Texas sent by the city to my “horsekeeping” class (a crash course that covers everything related to horse care, health, basic safety for horses and humans, etc). They were very knowable on cats and dogs, but very rarely had anything to do with horses. They all were amazed at the world of horses and all that it requires. After the class they kept talking about cases where by not knowing any better and listening to the owners they had not recognized abuse; worm belly instead of being fat, hoof care, etc.
This is off-topic a bit, but I wasn’t sure if anyone had mentioned or seen the article.
http://www.animallawcoalition.com/horse-slaughter/article/941
God the AQHA pisses me OFF.
BTW, that article is from May of ’09…
Love my Smart Chic O’ Lena grandson! Calm, good-natured, athletic as well as sweet & friendly. Seems like a good line, so hopefully they will get great homes.
Hopefully non-breeding homes. Unfortunately, QH’s and Western riding seem to attract the dumbest people.
I really hate that statement and I so often see it on horse blogs and forums. Not every single horse that comes out of a seizure is a major screw up that doesn’t deserve to breed. There might be a couple of quality breeding horses in that herd once fattened up and gotten the care they need.
Please. When you can no longer get a decently bred and papered QH at an auction for $50 of on CL for free, then maybe breeding more is a good idea. Until then, no, not so much.
But there is a difference…those truly AREN’T the same quality as a high end QH.
The high end exists in QH’s just like it does in warmbloods. Look at the results of recent sales of cutting horses…you’ll fall over.
My point was not that breeding is what people need to do but often enough, people don’t want “rescues” because you don’t know what problems are coming with them.
Yes while you can get a QH for $50 at an auction most people don’t want them, that’s why they’re there. Stopping horse production in the US isn’t going to do any good, people will just import what they want and you’ll still have low end dealers shipping out.
It’s ok to breed provided the horses are quality animals that deserve to reproduce and some rescued horses are!
It’s ok to breed if you’re going by all the criteria I mentioned, AND you can afford to (or do it yourself) train them appropriate to their age and get them into the show ring. That would be doing all you can to ensure they don’t wind up in rescue.
I do see some high quality QH’s in rescue and the main thing wrong with them…NOT BROKE.
We have friends with a large ranch in Colorado who have had good luck with rescue mares as breedstock. They are usually hardier. They train, lease, and sell pack and trail horses.
I don’t believe whether or not a mare has been a rescue has ANYTHING to do with her worthiness for breeding. It is out of a mare’s control whether or not her owners suck. Worthiness for breeding has to do with pedigree, conformation, disposition, movement, freedom from genetic illness, performance record, etc. If I find a Superior pleasure mare in a kill pen one day, you better believe I am going to rescue her and breed her.
A truly remarkable or valuable horse has practically no chance of being in the price point for a hoarder or a BYB. I highly doubt that Totilas, or any of his potential offspring for that matter, will EVER end up in a situation like this. That probably goes for Zenyatta too. Although TB’s are second in line for the most overbred horse, perhaps tying with Arabs, but not touching the QH mark. That’s all I’m saying. Smart Chick Olena isn’t exactly a rare line, does the world really need more?
Depends on the quality. There MAY be some nice horses in that herd. I honestly don’t know. I don’t know if she had money at one time and then things went bad, or if it’s a herd of crap. Hard to tell from the pics!
Practically no chance is’t the same as NO chance. And you’re forgetting that a lot of hoarders dont’ start out that way. They start with money, having a breeding operation, then the finances are slowly going to shit and the horses are worth less but they won’t TAKE less for them and then the vet care keeps getting cut back… and pretty soon you have starving horses with elf feet. And the owners still want 60k because that’s what they paid for them. So it really is possible for quality horses to end up in hell… it just doesn’t happen as often. If you want examples, there was that arab breeder up in Canada. I wish I could remember the date but it was on this blog.
I have to call bullshit. We had a horse in for training last year whose sire was runner-up to Anees for the 2YO Eclipse Award and out of a stakes-placed mare by Rahy. This horse sold for six figures at the Keeneland September sale but he wasn’t a runner himself and wound up starving and ungelded in a field in Florida. He was lucky someone with a heart saw him and took pity on him, bought him cheap, gelded him, fattened him up and sent him for training. Even the best breeding and training is no guarantee of safety for any horse unless they can perform – and that is especially true of TB’s who can’t run. It’s not just the poorly bred $2500 claimers who wind up on the trucks or starving and forgotten.
As for Totilas, I can almost guarantee that somewhere along the line, he will throw something that cannot perform a GP test, through whatever quirk of genetics that may be, and I feel so sorry for that horse.
Yep, we’re a bunch of morons. Thank God there are people like Anky Van Grunsven to show us how classical riding attracts only the best, most normal people.
Didn’t say you were. Nearly every trainwreck on this blog has featured some cowboy/girl idiot hoarder and just about every trainwreck CL ad I see features a western saddle and ridiculous spelling. Anky isn’t that great, but she obviously did something right to make it as far as she did before she became a joke. Her riding back in the early 90′s was beautiful; perhaps using Pessoa, Edward Gal, Dr, Reimer, George Morris or even Georgina Bloomberg as a good example of current classical riding would have been a better choice.
You didn’t say that?
“Quarter horses and Western Riding seem to attract the dumbest people.”
I’m only shooting out a guess here, but YOU don’t happen to own a quarter horse and ride western, do you? Idiots are attracted to every breed, and while we have our fair share, your comment reflected your ignorance.
Also happens with cattle. I have been reporting the same ranch owner for 2 yrs now and nobody will help. They just send out a deputy and shes so fullof shit. I’ll get a call back from her sying that the cows have water and are “free roam” cows, that they are supposed to look that way etc.
I take pics of the dead cows, the bones scattered about everything… nothing happens. I even get other people to call and report…nothing happens. I have contacted the local news stations…nothing happens.
I still remember the first call I made, the deputy said “Do you know who owns that land?!! Didnt you know that he owns all of (town)?!”
I call another time using a fake name and a different call back number and this deputy told me that she could not find the address(even though I saw her drive by the pasture myself). Its realy disgusting and has totally changed my view of the police around here.
Bastards. And you know this man does have lots of money, he has other cattle that are fat and happy munching on hay every winter, I dont understand how he can let them starve like that. Sick bastard. Once a cow was down at 6:30am and then at 4:00pm when I came home from work it was dead. Hell they dont even drage the dead cows away from the fence line anymore. Why bother when the police are in your pocket.
He has another pasture with I’d say 30 or so horses, they are wild so I cant get good pics of them but I know there was one that had a huge gash down the side of his neck one day. From a distance you can see a few skinny ones and some that have awful sway back, but most of them look normal.
If anyone could give me any advice on what to do that would be great.
Everyone has a boss. Skip the cops and go up the chain. There should be a state agency that is separate from law enforcement to go to. In my state I can call Animal Control (which is local police) and then there is the Animal Welfare Board which is NOT a law enforcement agency like the police and they are a state wide organization.
You can also contact HSUS and let them know what’s going on. If they can’t help they can direct you to who might be able to.
Don’t know how much good it would do, but I’d get ahold of the local agent at the Cooperative Extension Office and tell him/her about the situation. Might also tell folks at the local stockyard so that this POS gets a bad rep for abusing what many of his local ranchers would die for. That is to say he’s treating these animals as disposable. Most cattle ranchers (good cattle ranchers) are very protective of their herds, ALL of the herd. And as others said…go up the chain, go to your local congressman, hell, the governor if necessary!
Don’t know if anybody in Eastern WA remembers Gladys Tarnovski. She used that same exact excuse back in 1992 after horses were seized from her TWICE, over 100 horses one time and almost that many the other time! Apparently somewhere there must be an abusers’ manual that tells them what excuses to use when the officials FINALLY get their act together to seize horses.
I was a little stunned to learn that these horses belong to LORETTA LYNN!!!!! AND they are VERY proud of these pictures.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Varners-Quarter-Horses/401039843893
Shakes head!
Meant for above!
Off topic, but I feel like ranting…
I was on Facebook and noticed an update from a friend that goes to a sanctuary for horses. I thought, “Cool! I’ll check them out!” So I’m browsing around, admiring everything when I come across this: http://www.remingtonacres.org/services.html
I don’t know if they actually follow Parelli, but seeing on their website makes me wonder. It seems everywhere I go, Parelli is there like a creepy horseperson version of Big Brother. There’s books, equipment, ads, sites, links, everything! I’ve come across a few good horses online that have beautiful conformation and some of them say that this horse has achieved whatever level of Parelli’s training. Ick!
By the way, how do you feel about Monty Roberts? I came across a horse that said he went to the Monty Roberts Academy and thought it sounded decent, but I was little when he was Mr. Popular.
http://www.horsewhispersandlies.com/
That’s disgraceful and for that to happen in a time where there are so many resources. The laws in that state need to be changed to protect those animals from people like that unbelievable. I have a lot of good products for horses to help with there health. They are available all across the United States. http://www.productsforhorses.com
Can I just make a point…for those of you saying that HSUS is not directly involved in horse care and rehoming.
HSUS has very recently built a new facility IN TEXAS to act as a center for education and horse care and rehab. The link is here: http://www.humanesociety.org/animal_community/shelters/doris_day_horse_rescue_adoption_center.html
I was lucky enough to visit recently and the place looks awesome and deserves our support.
I actually “lost” (read: got rid of) my closest friendship as an undergrad over a case of horse neglect. Friend was hired by long-time acquaintances to feed their two horses, assorted ponies, goats, and other small animals while they were gone. I came along. Well, these people had a large, suburban-type back yard with a barn in it. The barn was surprisingly nice and clearly fairly new. The problem was, the money had clearly stopped there. The two horses were old, extremely bony (ribs, hips, the works) and stumbling around on ski feet. Gee, did you know that once horses are past riding age they don’t need their feet cut anymore? *headdesk* One of the two ponies was living in a dog run and had pawed a hole almost two feet deep in the floor. One of the goats had clearly been badly kicked or stepped on sometime in the past; three of its legs had been broken and rehealed crooked, and it could barely drag itself around.
Over friend’s vigorous protests, I called the cops and they made friend take them onto the property. Unfortunately, the cops knew nothing about animals and thought this was all hunky-dory because longtime Pony Clubber friend “just doesn’t like cops” and refused to cooperate beyond allowing them onto the property. Friend said it was A) not my business to get involved in B) unfair to her that as the caretaker I got her involved with helping the cops C) I should have contacted the owners privately and issued some sort of ultimatum instead of reporting their deadbeat asses and D) just generally how dare I break omerta and lose her the money she was earning taking “care” of the animals?
Well, the cops didn’t actually do anything, but getting reported scared the owners so badly that they put the two elderly horses and the goat down and last I heard were back to, you know, taking care of their animals somewhat.
Oh, and I’ll give you three guesses as to what ex-friend is studying to be, and the first two don’t count. That’s right… she’s going to be a vet.
That is just a horrible story, punctuated by the fact that apparently your former friend is going to be perpetuating abuse by not calling the cops in the future, if she sees it while performing veterinary services. Let’s hope that she fails to finish school!
Monty Roberts told a lot of lies in one of his books and kind of spoiled his image.
HOLY GOOD GRAVY I drive past that place all the time! I had no idea that was going on, I didn’t even know there were horses ON that property! I’m so so happy to hear it’s been taken care of, though. It is absolutely near impossible to get anyone to give a $hit about horses in Texas. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to get rescue groups, humane associations, law enforcement, etc. out after horses that were starving. It’s almost hopeless. The last place I tried to get help for had two mares die in labor because they were so emaciated… both foals died almost right away and one of them had ruptured through the mare’s cervical wall. The mare was downed in the pasture, bleeding out, and the owners said “we called the vet, he said if she makes it through the night she’ll live” which is an outright lie. I called the sheriff who told me he didn’t have time to deal with horse cases. I drove a mile into town to find a police officer and he told me the same thing. The SPCA, the HSUS, the Humane Society of Smith and Woods Counties would have nothing to do with me. I tried to get the media involved and they said it wasn’t worth the story. It was so heart breaking.