And yet another reason to report animal abuse!
Jun 22 2011
…because it doesn’t usually stop there.
105-year-old woman found trapped inside filthy home, begging for food
The story speaks for itself. Thanks to neighbors who reported John Friedlund for starving his horses, this elderly woman — also starving — has been rescued. I get so sick of hearing about how people like us should “mind our own business,” that we shouldn’t say anything because we don’t know why a horse is skinny or what the owner’s personal situation is. You know, I don’t care. If the horse has a valid reason to be skinny, and boy, they aren’t common, the owner can provide veterinary evidence and be cleared of any wrongdoing. Most of the time, the owner is guilty as hell and who knows what else they may be doing wrong? I am sure that it is not at all uncommon to find child neglect or elder neglect where you find animal neglect. So, as I always say…report, report, REPORT! Take pictures and go down and file that report. You have absolutely no idea how many lives you may be saving – animal or human.Another sweetheart at Shiloh Horse Rescue…this one is Sadler, an Irish born Thoroughbred who needs a great home! Check him out.
153 comments to “And yet another reason to report animal abuse!”
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Abusing and neglecting an animal is a very, very short step to neglecting a person.
A friend of mine had a dog that was just naturally skinny. He was eating special diet, added foods, etc, but he never gained any weight. It got to the point that he had to post a letter from Animal Control on his front door stating that his dog was not unhealthy, had been seen by a vet and was being properly cared for but was just skinny.
I know I got frustrated reporting someone who was severely neglecting her horses. One horse jumped over a fence and broke her back – the employees at the farm smothered her with a plastic bag after she lay in the sun for four hours. Where was the BO? Up at the house ignoring it. Another horse died of strangles, but that’s because the BO was pissed that her workers spent $5000 of her money to get him vet care and refused to give him the medication to save his life. She did manage to breed him to every mare she had before he keeled over. On and on with the things this woman did but there was no point in reporting her because she knows people.
Kind of made me bitter on trying to help because in my state, especially if it’s a horse, there’s no point.
“One horse jumped over a fence and broke her back – the employees at the farm smothered her with a plastic bag after she lay in the sun for four hours”
WHAT THE FUCK.
I swear, every time I think I have heard it ALL, I haven’t.
Lets see . . . asphyxiating an animal by smothering . . . Nope not listed under “humane euthanasia”. Did no one have a gun within the whole fucking town?
By the way, can she say ” lawsuit for employee trauma”?
Was asphyxiating the mare better or worse than letting her lay on the ground until she died on her own? The BO was supposed to be calling the vet, but obviously didn’t. Neither person had a gun. The BO is the kind of person who likes to ban people from coming on her property, she’s an anti-violence (she said we deserved September 11, not sure how that fits), man hating slob who “doesn’t believe in boundaries” because she’s “too free spirited”.
She let another horse slowly starve to death over a period of about 5 years, said she had melanomas. That was the first horse I’d ever seen with the expression “I don’t give a shit whether I live or die”. I sent PICTURES to animal control and the ACO gave the BO my name and didn’t do anything about it. The horse finally went down in a field one day and refused to get up. The BO “loved” her and did everything she could to get the mare up. The horse was going to die no matter what so she called a vet to euth her. Control issues much? How about taking care of her medical issues five years ago? Hell, a year before and maybe she’d still be alive?
She also bred a 30+ year old mare. THAT was traumatic. She went on vacation when all her mares were due to foal (no money for hay, but dammit she can go to England for two weeks!). The foal was stillborn with a misshapen head. Head got stuck, the mare was slamming herself into the wall trying to get the baby out. Blood everywhere. She perforated and was pooping her Uterus out. The vet came out (employees called) and it took about 10 minutes for her to die because she had so little blood left.
So even your 30+ year old mare going to a “retirement” home isn’t safe from some people. NO horse deserves to die like that. Especially after being someone’s beloved pet (she belonged to the BOs elderly grandmother) her entire life.
Good LORD.
She can afford employees, but not feed?
And…. the other stuff. That’s beyond the pale. The only way to fix the Animal Control issue would involve massive publicity and state authorities I guess.
It makes me ill that there are plenty of people like this walking the earth.
Wow. She is nuttier then a cracked out squirrel.
I was thinking she had told them to go out and smother the horse.
Suffocation takes very long minutes, during which the animal fights desperately to draw a breath. I can’t imagine the trauma a person deals with after having to euthanize an animal that way. I always get so angry when they show these stupid movie scenes of someone taking a pillow and ‘ending’ their enemy in a matter of moments. Yea… try ten minutes of stopping air flow… this is NOT a quick and easy way to die. It’s actually one of my most terrifying nightmares, and it tops my lists of ways that I personally do NOT want to go.
I think she either figured the horse would die without any help from her or the employees would find a way to deal with it so she could live in her alternate reality.
And she can afford TVs and European vacations. She can’t afford euthanasia, hay, grain, farrier care or paying her employees. Priorities you see…
So, nobody had a gun, but even a cut to the jugular and letting the poor horse bleed out would have been more humane than asphyxiation.
Still, their intentions were not wrong, and the whole fault lies with the psycho BO anyway.
That story gave me Dean Solomon flashbacks. Breeding her ungelded fugly colts to every mare on the property, horse with strangles didn’t get his meds because Dean was too lazy to walk 100 feet from her trailer to the barn and give them (the horse died), she kicked boarders out of the barn for calling the vet out to treat sick horses, and in the end Animal Control turned a blind eye because Dean “knows” people. I’ll never forget seeing her and sgt. Morris from KCAC casually smoking cigarettes in front of the barn while all the mares behind the barn were STARVING. He did nothing.
Even those that “know people” it’s still important to make the reports. Eventually, if they get enough – action is sometimes taken. It may not be swift justice, or even what you or I might consider justice, but eventually these scumbags DO get caught.
felixfjord.blogspot.com
She knows the director of the Animal Welfare Board in the state. Good chums. Combine that with the AWB being completely ignorant about horses and we’re screwed. When she had boarders she was getting investigated at least once a year.
Sounds like it’s time to find someone in the media who wouldn’t mind outing the director of the AWB.
Animal Welfare Board reports to the department of Agriculture. I am trying to figure out how it relates to the Governor. Our new one doesn’t have much tolerance for waste. He has a chain of thriving businesses throughout the state, so he might know something about making sure employees not wasting money.
This is precisely why it chaps my ass when people complain about the uproar surrounding an animal neglect/abuse case, saying naive things like…”well it wasn’t a person”, or, “we should be more concerned with child abuse than animal abuse.” Stupid people don’t get the fact that they are psychologically related. Someone with a lack of concern or compassion will abuse ANYTHING that cannot protect itself. If you can kick a puppy, you can beat your wife. If you can beat your pet senseless for misbehaving, you can do that to a child. Sociopathy knows no bounds, and we better start figuring this out fast, because I bet you in the majority of animal neglect/abuse cases there is a human being associated with the abuser that is suffering too.
This has got to be one of the most disgusting and disturbing news stories I have ever read. The neighbor who reported the abuse deserves a party as well! Too bad the guy got out on bond – they should have raised the bond! Would be curious to know what became of the horses though – the news story doesn’t mention that unfortunately. Hopefully Mrs. Swan’s birthday was happy and full of love and food, and she is there to give her full story in court to lock that monster away. Too bad the horses can’t testify!
Absolutely disgusting.
Yeah, the neighbor deserves a medal as far as I am concerned! Thank you, whoever you are, for NOT being so afraid of retaliation that you kept silent.
In watching the news video, the neighbors were well acquainted with the elderly lady as she had lived there for many years. The statement was even made that ‘everything changed’ when the guy moved into her home a couple of years ago… I wonder if they were pretty sure something catastrophic might have been going on *inside* the house as well as outside. If the elderly lady had been able to contact one of the neighbors, she would have been able to ask them (or even phone 911) herself.
I’m guessing they all pretty much knew this guy was trash and that no good could come of his being there. Did we ever figure out what his relationship is to the lady, or if he even has one? There’s a scary thought–that someone could just move into an elderly person’s home and take it over, probably keeping the SSI checks.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but if your bail is 25,000, doesn’t that mean you have to come up with $2,500 to pay the bail bondsman to get out of jail? So this guy had access to $2,500 cash from somewhere, but couldn’t manage to buy food for the old lady and the animals? Nice….
No, he does not need $2,500 for a $25,000 bond. He needs something worth $2,500 for the bail bondsman to write the bond.
Thank you. I am VERY Thankfully not in a position to know this information. So basically he could turn in a car or jewelry, etc, and make bond?
One of the comments, from someone who seemed knowledgeable and sane, said the horses were safe with temporary caregivers.
Yeah, I couldn’t believe that $25,000 bond. Like Charm said, I think he only has to come up with $2,500 of it. If I were in that kind of trouble, $2,000, or even $25,000, would not keep me from high-tailing it to Mexico. Can we say “huge flight risk”?
Amazing…when you read the comments on the story there are the “who cares about the horses” comments there. Do these idiots not realize if it were not for someone “caring about the horses” that poor elderly woman would still be locked in that filth starving??
Totally agree Cathy, lack of respect for living beings is just that….and it includes all living beings. I hope this gal gets to enjoy her 106th birthday with as much cake as she would care to eat. But I also hope the horses get to enjoy their hay and clean water…you know the kind that arrives every day at the hands of people who care.
So sad. Reminds me of the Beth Hoskins case… her daughter was living in an absolutely filthy house and sometimes in a car. The SPCA contacted CPS to come out and they “were not interested”. It is proven that animal abusers often move on to abusing people- usually children/elderly.
What a sick f**k!!! And OUT on only $25,000 bond. He should’ve gotten a higher bail than that for the grief he caused another human, let alone the animals!!! Hopefuly she’ll live through his trial, (meaning it could take years) and they throw the book at him!!!
Can you imagine living to 106 years old? A freaking century plus some, only to live the end of your life at the hands of an abuser in conditions no animal should have to endure. If he is charged and convicted of a felony, I hope he dies in prison. He’s 79 years old, there’s a good possibility. This makes me livid. My parents are 90 and 87. If someone were to mistreat either one of them I’d come unglued. One question though, where’s her family?
That is MY question as well. Although it’s possible there isn’t anyone. I don’t have any living family, except some cousins I’ve lost touch with.
Ooohhhh… I missed the age of the guy. Hmmm… I’m not defending him at all, but at 79, we could be looking at dementia or some other debilitating mental illness. Where are the younger people? Children, grandchildren, cousins?
And lest anyone think I’m bashing and saying all old people are nuts, I’m NOT saying that. But 79 years old can mean still sharp as a tack, or it could also mean drooling and staring vacantly at your own children, or forgetting that food is stored in a refrigerator. Sounds to me like someone needed to be dealing with this situation a long time ago.
The fact that a decline in the condition of animals can be an indication that someone is no longer capable of caring for themself or those, animal and humane, who depend on them is just one more reason that animal neglect should be reported. It is the job of animal control and the law to sort the situation out.
I would also not pass judgement on this case either.
My dad and my uncle are both about 77 or 78, both in decent physical shape considering, but completely different.
My dad drives, has a job and can cook, clean and dress himself, and watches the latest shows on HBO.
My uncle has been retired for 20 years and can’t do any of the above. He outlived his wife and children who died of cancer, so he has no immediate family.
Luckily we have a close knit extended family. and moved him close to our homes to keep an eye out for him.
I can easily imagine how some one like this man in the article could become isolated from caregivers, and dementia can become dramatically worse within a year’s time.
Yeah, I didn’t catch his age either.
My grandmother lived to be 89, and drove to visit friends, cleaned her condo and baked raisin bars & hosted bridge club at her place the morning before she died.
(She fell asleep in front of the TV that evening and never woke up. If she’d gone to the doctor that week and had her bellyache checked out, she’d probably NOT have died from the massive abdominal aneurysm.)
My husband’s grandmother had Alzheimer’s, and before she went into assisted living in her late 70s she was forgetting to eat, giving away her food & money to strangers, getting lost in her own building, stuff like that. She died in her early 80s.
You can deteriorate pretty fast with dementia. We had a neighbor who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s & dementia in her early 50s. I went to school with her kids and felt so badly for them.
Yes indeed, CP – happened to my dad. We knew “something” was off with him when he was 51. He had to stop working at 54 and was officially diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at 55. Dad died four years later, looking like he was about 85. When my mother and my grandmother went places with him, people assumed he was married to my grandma – his own mother! Thank you for your compassion to the family you knew. My brothers and I feel like we are living with swords over our heads, but there’s not much we can do about it. I just pray I don’t start falling apart in a few years. My dad’s sister was recently diagnosed, but she is 82… so more expected. Crap family history we’ve got though, huh?
While not excusing his behavior in any way – he could have sought help – I, too, am wanting to know the deal with this 79-year-old guy.
That was my first thought too – it’s not right to throw blame around and paint the guy as an “abuser” without knowing whether he was even mentally competent.
Whatever the case, “report report report” is the right thing to do, to get all the parties – the animals, the elderly lady, and maybe even Mr. Friedlund – the intervention and help they need.
Both articles say that authorities are looking for relatives, so apparently there are not any close by.
WOW, Sadler from Shiloh horse rescue is GORGEOUS! He will make a beautiful show hunter for somebody!
That is ALL KINDS OF WRONG. My mother is a consultant in the elder care field/industry, and it’s AMAZING how much abuse there is out there, and how lightly it’s punished. That woman is TOUGH. 105!?!!??!
OT, but….
THIS: http://www.npr.org/2011/06/17/137151174/buck-a-horse-whisperer-wrangles-his-dark-past
Watch the clip labelled “Studs.” It’s so awesome.
I agree – she is tough and obviously still quite mentally sound to ask for help the second help arrived! Good for her.
Yay, Cattypex! I missed that he was on NPR. Very cool. Now I have to go see if this is out on video yet, so I can buy it.
I love how he tells her that there’s something WRONG with a person who keeps 18 studs, because most people don’t even need ONE. He didn’t give her any kind of pass.
Well Drat, I’ve gone from happy to heartbroken! The closest theater is in Chicago, next closest is Lexington or Louisville. I wonder if I could justify driving down South 6-8 hours to see the documentary?
Ugh. the “Can’t Bribe A Horse” video. I had(have) a OTTB that went to one of these NH clincs and the guy did that face-jerk + flag thing. All I got was a horse that was afraid of the clinician, tried to attack him several times, and still never got over his fear of plastic things and dislike of men. Sent by crazy hot OTTB to an old school German trained Beireiter who believes that “Yes, you can bribe a horse.” Even encourages it. His philosophy is: “If the horse doesn’t like you, he’s not going to do s*** for you.” Of course being European, he is very strict but fair. After a few months, I really saw my boy come out of his shell and enjoy working. (especially since he knows if he does a good job, he gets treats)
It’s not a “bribe” if you have to work for it… then it would be a reward?
I don’t like or dislike Buck. I don’t think there is ONE trainer and one way, and not all problem horses are alike. I kinda thought the flag waving was a little wishy-washy, but maybe it gives a dangerous horse a target to strike at besides his face?
Buck speaks to people the same way he speaks to horses – directly and clearly. What he gets in return is an honest response. Instead of arguing about why she needs 18 studs, this woman broke down and started looking inside herself at the truth of what he was saying. If you think about it, peoples’ actions speak volumes about their inner workings. The most realistic and truthful people also produce the best trained horses.
I don’t post here often, but am an avid reader, and I just had to say AMEN to your comment…
“If you think about it, peoples’ actions speak volumes about their inner workings. The most realistic and truthful people also produce the best trained horses.”
I currently have my four year old in training with an awesome lady who is honest and fair with all the horses she trains, and as a result, after only three months of training, I will have a trail safe and sane horse.
Good news for anyone in the greater St. Louis area – the Landmark Theater at Plaza Frontenac is showing “Buck!”
The mind set that makes it possible to justify neglect of an animal is the same mind set that justifies the neglect of people. I wonder if the handful of nutjobs who have built a huge conspiracy theory around the Marsha Parkinson/Canterbury case in Maryland (see Arabian Breeders Network forum to get a taste), would also say that John Friedlund was simply exercising his rights to do what he wants within his own home in this case?
Let me guess:
The people who reported her were jealous. The people at Animal Control want her 100 plus horses. Someone else did this to her horses. And the government wants to control everyone’s pets.
Yep! Put on your tin foil hat, we have to stay safe from the Eeeeeevil Government that wants to STEAL OUR PROPERTY!
You laugh, but the government did just that to the lady I got my mare from. Now granted, she did get compensated for it, but she had no choice in the matter. She was 70 years old, had owned the property for 50, her husband had just died… and the county decided they wanted to put a road through the middle of her property (actually not even the middle. Straight up one side, cutting her house off from 99% of the rest of her land). She got cut a bit of slack from me that the mare was still thin when I took her in (she’d rescued her just before all the shit hit the fan. She’d been out of horses for years and there was so much irony that her land was taken when she decided to try to get one to putz around on and keep her sane). :/
Oh, no, they can do that without asking you … eminent domain … but they do have to compensate you.
IMO, eminent domain is getting way out of hand. It is supposed to be used to acquire land to be used for the public good. That used to mean schools, roads, and railroads. When the land was no longer used for the purpose for which it had been acquired, it reverted to the private landowner. I know of several former RR right-of-ways and school yards that have reverted to private ownership.
Now they are taking land for grocery stores and shopping malls. Supposedly economic development of for the public good. I do not think that is right. If a shopping mall goes bankrupt, do you think they are going to find all of the people from whom the land was taken and return it?
Yup – Expropriation happens. It’s not a government conspiracy, and in fact some landowners are happy to have it happen. It’s happening with my company’s warehouse in Montreal. City wants it to replace a parking lot for city vehicles. Our landlord is thrilled, because he’s very elderly and he’ll be paid for the land and building outrite, PLUS he’ll be compensated for the remainder of the signed leases on the building.
Clearly bad timing on the part of this lady’s land, but sometimes it can be a blessing.
Oh, I know it’s not a government conspiracy, and I can see reasoning behind it, but I’m with Painted Pony – sometimes it just goes too far. This lady was *70* and had no family and no need nor wish to uproot and start over after 50 years living where she was. They could have bypassed her house (my only thought is they didn’t want to have to clear the woods surrounding it), they could have let her keep a few acres of her land, but nope – take nearly all of it, stick a busy street in her front yard, and put strip malls where her barn and pastures were. When she gave me the mare she also gave me some of her paintings that had been inspired in her while watching her horses in the pastures decades ago (she was VERY good. Good enough that she used to trade her paintings for big-money Arabians back in the Arabian heyday) and looking at them gets me choked up. Waaaay too often instead of improving an area that really needs it, beautiful places are taken over and replaced with more crap we really don’t need, far away from where anyone really lives :/
Frankly, I almost wish my city would decide our road needs widening again and give me money to move. I’d feel pretty crappy for the two old guys who’ve lived on either side of my house since before the road was widened the first time almost 50 years ago though. XD
Has anyone heard of the Commonsense Coalition ? It is operated by a lady named Beth Schoeneberg . She had Sue Wallis (Slaughterhouse Sue) on the program last week and it was SCARY listening to these two women talk about animals being possessions that the government should not interfere with. Here is a link http://www.commonsensecoalitiontalkradio.com/listen.html and you can download past programs to listen too.
Beth does have a face book page Commonsense Coalition and so far is not deleting comments, unlike Sue Wallis’s face book page where she carefully selects what remains on her page. Visit both and leave comments, you never know who may actually have a mind open enough to listen to facts instead of manipulation.
W/r/t Friedland’s dwelling — I gathered from the news video that the house actually belonged to the 106-year-old; he moved in a few years ago.
That is just disgusting. HE is disgusting. Ugh. This made me physically nauseous.
In brighter news, after years of doing western riding and not feeling satisfied with what I’d been learning, I’ve officially begun dressage lessons! So now I can look at those pretty little English ponies you post for adoption with a real eye.
I second the though Moody.
Congrats on starting dressage!! I also switched in after spending my entire childhood riding/competing hunter/jumper. Quite a change but I am loving it. Good luck on the switch! And the good part is that no matter whether you stick with it, it will make you a better all-around rider!
Thank you! It really is quite different- my instructor has to keep telling me to stop leaning back when I stop the horse, ha! I’m such a western rider.
But I’m ecstatic to be learning this new discipline, as I know it will make me that better of a horsewoman. Plus, I’ve discovered I really love riding English! 
Totally agree here – I would have no issue if the Humane Society showed up at my door, becuase my animals are well cared for. I’d rather someone call if they thought something was wrong, then to miss something that was truly wrong.
felixfjord.blogspot.com
I am the one that fought with the Stevens County Sheriff’s Department for “one year”
To get them to do something about these horses,
Here is what I reported
Rev. David Parrish
Colville Washington
March of 2010 I turned in to the Stevens County sheriff Department
Pictures of abused Horses,
In this field there were two dead horses
(How much suffering do you think this horse went through before it DIED?)
These pictures taken in March 3 of 2010
And turned over to the Stevens County sheriff Department
I was assured my Captain George of the Stevens County sheriff Department
That they would take care of it
(even though Captain George said he was a friend of the man that owned the horses) Herb Friedlund of Kettle Fall’s Washington
One year and 3 months later here are the remaining horses
These pictures were taken May 21 2011
This is the remains of a horse that was a live one year earlier.
(When this was turned in to the Stevens County sheriff Department.)
This picture was taken to show the age of the horse
This was not an old horse
If this is how the Stevens County sheriff Department
Works, it is no wonder to me that there is so much unsolved crime here
I for one find this very appalling, not just that they are being starved
By Herb Friedlund of Kettle Fall’s Washington
But that the Stevens County sheriff Department was aware of it
AND DID NOTHING TO STOP IT
When this was brought to Captain George of the Stevens County sheriff Department
he told my wife that he could through her in jail for trespassing
for feeding the horses,
RCW 16.52.100
Confinement without food and water — Intervention by others.
If any domestic animal is impounded or confined without necessary food and water for more than thirty-six consecutive hours, any person may, from time to time, as is necessary, enter into and open any pound or place of confinement in which any domestic animal is confined, and supply it with necessary food and water so long as it is confined. The person shall not be liable to action for the entry, and may collect from the animal’s owner the reasonable cost of the food and water. The animal shall be subject to attachment for the costs and shall not be exempt from levy and sale upon execution issued upon a judgment. If an investigating officer finds it extremely difficult to supply confined animals with food and water, the officer may remove the animals to protective custody for that purpose.
[1994 c 261 § 10; 1982 c 114 § 6; 1901 c 146 § 12; RRS § 3195.]
RCW 16.52.205
Animal cruelty in the first degree.
(1) A person is guilty of animal cruelty in the first degree when, except as authorized in law, he or she intentionally (a) inflicts substantial pain on, (b) causes physical injury to, or (c) kills an animal by a means causing undue suffering, or forces a minor to inflict unnecessary pain, injury, or death on an animal.
(2) A person is guilty of animal cruelty in the first degree when, except as authorized by law, he or she, with criminal negligence, starves, dehydrates, or suffocates an animal and as a result causes: (a) Substantial and unjustifiable physical pain that extends for a period sufficient to cause considerable suffering; or (b) death.
Maybe Stevens County sheriff Department
is not aware of these RCW’s of the State of Washington
maybe they don’t know the law, I will tell you right now, I do
and I will make the Stevens County sheriff Department aware of them also
Thank you
Rev. David Parrish
(509) 684-6341
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Your pics didn’t show up, probably because you used code. If you just post them like http://www.mypics.com/pic.jpg — I will make them show up when I moderate.
YOU ARE AWESOME and THANK YOU for not letting this drop.
I can not get the pictures of the horses on here but you can see them on my facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1021148152
All I can say to that is GOD BLESS you! Interesting information on the right to trespass to feed animals in distress. That is why people are trying to get the Animal Terrorism laws passed so that they could throw people in jail to scare the public from getting involved and big ag can continue to torture animals, destroy the enviroment and treat their workers like slaves. Sorry a little off topic but all related in the big scheme of things.
So if the sheriff’s department had acted when this was first reported, Frances Swan might have been spared 15 months of suffering? *Head Explodes*
Oh that is just so incredibly sad. A woman who has lived 106 years should be loved and celebrated, not dumped in a filthy room and given no food! I work in a hospital, and see most elders treated as cherished family members…this poor woman. So happy she is recovering and they are giving her the birthday celebration she deserves! As for this man who evidently does not value human or equine quality of life – I just don’t understand how one cannot feel responsible for and want to do their best for those that depend on them, it’s unnatural (I know, I know, it happens all the time…I just don’t understand it). I hope he is charged within the fullest extent of the law.
Speaking of cherished elders though…was so happy to see that Three Chimneys values and rewards their old broodies with a fabulous retirement – awesome!
And one more thing – how is Hoover doing? I checked on Second Chance Ranch for updates but haven’t seen any recent ones. He seemed such a character, would love to hear more about him. Although I am sure he is being spoiled by you and all the girls at the barn;D
Hoover is good! All of his wounds have healed up, he Hoovers up every shred of food and is gaining weight steadily. His coat looks FABULOUS, super shiny with new healthy hair coming in.
And he’s super friendly and happy. He’s going to move in a few weeks to a friend’s place where he can run out on pasture with other horses (not just pasture, they feed, don’t worry). He hates being stall bound, and is a stall pig. He gets turnout, but not enough, with me so it’s time for him to move.
Most recent pic…this is the 3 week mark.
He is looking so much better already!! (why am I not surprised lol) So happy to hear that he is doing well and gets to go on a “vacay” to the pasture – awesome:D Look at that cute face…
I’m not sure what is more apalling, the fact that Friedlund was starving this poor old lady and the horses or the fact that law enforcement did nothing. There needs to be a full scale investigation of why the local police department did nothing for so long.
Hopefully this story goes national so that law enforcement and the public can see yet again, that people who abuse animals are also a danger to people. We need uniform federal laws against animal abuse with manadatory jail time, significant fines, and psychiatric treatment. Who many other victims has Friedlund left behind?
Careful with mandatory minimum sentencing. Every case is different, so removing the human element from trial is dangerous.
True example: 80 year old cancer patient grows his own cannabis because his state has no medical marijuana law. Mandatory minimum sentencing; 10 years. Even the judge though it was bullshit. That man will die in prison in chronic pain.
Laws like that make justice a joke. He could have gotten less of a sentence for raping someone. Yes, violent crimes are punished less then smoking/growing/selling a weed.
This is heartbreaking
The cancer patient in your example will serve more time than the guy who starved the old lady and the horses. Sometimes I want to curl up in a ball and cry.
And the irony is, growing your own weed completely takes Drug Violence In Mexico out of the equation, which is what the War On Drugs is SUPPOSED to be about…. right?
Not actually completely right– Cocaine is also an issue, along with a lot of other opiate based drugs. The drug cartels in Mexico have gone far beyond being just drug traders– Mexico is effectively in a civil war. We just don’t like to notice it up here in the U.S., because then we’d have to actually do something about it.
There are three very skinny paint horses that are visible from the Lake Youngs trail in Kent, WA. A friend of mine lives there and saw them standing in a round pen with no food or water. These are horses that have lived there for years and always looked fine. Of course I was wondering why these horses could be in plain view on a highly travelled public trail and animal control hasn’t done anything. My friend actually went and did the right thing – went to talk to the owner and asked if he need help buying feed or caring for the horses. The friend even offered to buy the horses from the family if they couldn’t care for them. The man replied that animal control had already been out to see the horses and that they had a barn full of hay. So, if the barn is full of hay, why aren’t the horses getting enough of it?
This story reminded me that I need to go out there this week and see if the horses are still pathetic looking. If they are, I’m calling animal control again. I’ll try to get some pictures, too.
I live very close to there. They’ve visible from the actual trail? I may have to go for a walk and see if I can get pics as well.
I went by to check on these horses and they are no longer on the property. It appears that they have been moved across the street (184th) and are on a neighbor’s pasture. The horses looked fine to me and are not thin (BCS of 4-6 on each of the 3 horses). I’m glad the owner, or someone, has decided to feed and take care of the horses.
Oh good! I’m so glad to hear it.
In almost every case of animal abuse there is human abuse, either ongoing or in the past.
How about the lovely mother here who had 90 dogs taken away (along with 50 horses and other animals) who, when her children were young, turned on a garden hose and SHOVED it down her daughters throat. Or how about when she pinned her other daughter against the barn with a truck and ruptured her liver???
It is a well established FACT that animal abusers are human abusers.
Ladies if you meet a man that does not take care of his animals…..ties them to a tree in the back or in a crappy kennel on dirt her whole life. Or cannot understand why you take good care of your animals, run like the wind. He won’t give a shit about you either!
Poor sweet centenarian, how could anyone do that?
Thank you so much. You`ve really made the world a better place!!!
There was a similar case here that I got involved in where a horse had died due to lack of care. The authorities were called and an investigation revealed several Haflingers and one or two drafts still on the property. They were underweight, had no water and stalls hadn’t been cleaned in ages. Horse people and 4-H groups got involved to repair fencing and get the horses outside on pasture at the property so care would be easier.
The problem was that the owner was an elderly woman with either dimentia or alzheimers and would forget to feed the horses. There was zero intent of neglect BUT the thing that pissed me off is that she was under ‘care’ of her son who would visit a couple times a week and knew the condition of the horses and did nothing. Come to find out the woman was incapable of taking care of herself either and immediately following the intervention for the horses, social services was called to care for the woman. She hadn’t been eating and was in a state of dimentia that required full time care and her son did NOTHING. Eventually the horses were placed in new homes and the woman to a nursing facility. Son is probably ticked that the State will take his inheritance to care for mom, probably why he left her there to begin with. People can so suck!
Animal Cruelty charges have been filed against Marsha Parkinson.
A quote from the article:
“The Queen Anne’s County state’s attorney’s office has filed criminal charges against 66-year-old Marsha Parkinson, the owner of Canterbury Farms. Parkinson faces 35 animal cruelty charges of failure to provide adequate care for an animal.”
The link to the full article is here: http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/reg/2011/06/22-03/Woman-charged-after-malnourished-horses-seized.html
I just saw this on today’s local news about Canterbury Farms: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43503736
Looks like her farm wasn’t even legal!
The funny thing is that one of my local Fish & Wildlife officers was planning on getting a new horse, and was working on setting up a time to go to Canterbury and see a horse there just before the story on Marsha Parkinson broke. Wouldn’t that have been a hoot if she had shown up there and seen her operation before that in all it’s horror!
Speaking of horse abuse, neglect and slaughter, the GAO just released a report today about “unintended consequences” of the cessation of US slaughter houses. Here’s a link to the 68-page report. http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11228.pdf
Oh, boy…. I read the first page of that report and that was enough. Now the GOVERNMENT has decreed that closing the slaughterhouses has led to reduced prices and an increase in slaughter and abandonment? Greeeeeaaaat. Nothing like fanning the flames of the overbreeders’ argument! I wonder how much money in lobbying the AQHA spent to get this study done? Nothing said about how, um, this little bitty thing called an ECONOMIC DEPRESSION might just POSSIBLY have impacted the prices and caused abandonment… nope, sure couldn’t be that! :-/
And in conclusion (if I’m reading this right), it calls for EITHER reopening the slaughter plants (via allowing funding for the federal inspectors again), OR permanently banning slaughter. Way to be decisive, Government drones. Thankyouverymuch. Well, I guess that IS better than flat-out decreeing that the plants should be reopened, huh? (The AQHA must not have spent enough on that last steak dinner they bought the GAO peeps…)
Well, yeah….if the government disagreed with the report, that would be like admitting that we’re still in a depression, the “recovery” they keep on about is NOT real, and NONE of their policies have done anything to improve the economy!
I find the report confusing — if exactly the same number of US horses is being slaughtered now as before, how has the cessation of US slaughter operations contributed to an increase in horse neglect and abandonment? That does not make sense. (And the report states that it is exactly the same number — 137,000 or so last year — it’s not just me.)
Haven’t finished reading the thing yet, though…
Here is the abstract of an article I found about this topic- I can email you the pdf file of the entire article if anyone is interested.
Results from this study challenge the assumption that animal abusers commonly “graduate” from violence against animals to violence against humans. The criminal records of 153 animal abusers and 153 control participants were tracked and compared. Animal abusers were more likely to commit property offenses, drug offenses, and public disorder offenses. Thus, there was an association between animal abuse and a variety of antisocial behaviors, but not violence alone. Moreover, when the time order between official records of animal abuse and interpersonal violence was examined, animal abuse was no more likely to precede than follow violent offenses. Although these findings dispute the assumption that animal abuse inevitably leads to violence towards humans, they point to an association between animal abuse and a host of antisocial behaviors, including violence. Also discussed are the methodological problems of demonstrating sequential temporal relations between animal abuse and other antisocial behaviors.
^^^I think it’s interesting because there is the common perception (which I held as well) that people “Start” abusing animals and move up to abusing humans- when maybe they have been doing both all along. This post is a great example of this- peel back the layer of animal abuse and you are likely to find much more. There was a wealth of research and information about this on GoogleScholar and psychological research databases- now if we could get it through the seemingly thick skulls of investigators who go to homes on animal abuse calls.
I would love to have this information. Is it available online? if so please print the link! Thank you
http://jiv.sagepub.com.dml.regis.edu/content/14/9/963.short
You can try that link- I am a student at Regis University and I access articles through my log in via the library. I’m not sure how much of it is available for free to the public. Hopefully that works!
I think the assumption that animal abusers have a higher incidence of human abuse than the general population is more common than the assumption that animal abuse inevitably leads to violence towards humans.
306 people is a fairly small study. The fact that the people, in either group, did not have criminal records of interpersonal violence does not mean that they had not committed it. I doubt that they were reporting it voluntarily. The known animal abusers just may not have been as careful to keep that hidden as they did any violence toward people.
I once had a neighbor in an apartment building who verbally abused his wife. One evening it escalated to physical abuse, so I called the police. She denied the abuse, so nothing was done. (This was a couple of decades ago. More might be done now.) After that, he was careful to move the abuse to the room in their apartment that was fartherest from my apartment, so that I was less likely to hear it. He probably still doesn’t have a record, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t/isn’t an abuser.
Studies have been done the other direction – taking known human abusers and looking for animal abuse. It was higher than in the general population, and, again, probably under recorded.
I’m confused. Firstly, 306 subjects gives this study statistical power of way above 80%, which is quite good. Actually it’s amazing, most researchers would drool over those numbers- I pretty much did. I’m working on a study of knee osteoarthritis right now and I won’t get anywhere near 306. And secondly… many of the offenders did have convictions of interpersonal violence, they just point out that it’s not the only variable that was correlated. The study is more focused on whether it occurred before or after convictions of animal abuse. I think it’s important to point out that as always, correlation does not imply causation, but this study does provide evidence that animal abusers tend to be scummy individuals.
This literally makes me feel ill. The elderly are an amazing source of knowledge, and a tangible link to our past – this woman should be CHERISHED and loved. Bless the people who rescued both her and those horses.
And may the man responsible know even a fraction of the pain he’s inflicted before his days are done.
I would like to play devil’s advocate here for just a moment. I also want to agree that I think it is absolutely horrible how Mrs. Swan was treated, but there is still a lot of unknown information about this entire story. I also want pass Kudos to Rev David for continuing to respond to the animals needs. But… here are a couple of questions that came to my mind in reading the article and watching the video, 1) Mr. Friedlund is 79 himself, and while I’m not defending him becase I don’t know the situation, statisticly something like 75% of seniors over age 70 have some sort of mental health impairment. 2) I don’t know if Rev David is the neighbor interviewed, but when the neighbor described the changes to Mrs. Swan’s property over the years, did he make any attempt to talk to her? It sounds as if her garden was at one time something she was quite proud of. Wouldn’t that make most neighbors curious enough to knock on the door and check up on things. It sounded to me as if they had been neighbors for quite some time. I would think her situation should have come to someone’s attention before now.
Just a couple of additional thoughts before the lynch mob decides who to draw and quarter.
I think the neighbor on the video had a different name, not the Rev. David.
OT but since we’re on the subject of cruelty, have you seen this video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rHqP00azyc&feature=related
Poor dear, at least she is at peace and without pain now.
My apologies, this was not the one I meant to reply to. This is a very good video and no need for RIP. But, the mare farther down who was walking on her fetlocks — poor dear.
Yeah I figured you were talking about another video. I saw that too, it made me so sad because it was such a beautiful mare and she had to die because of stupid people. But like you said, at least she won’t have to suffer anymore.
I agree with others…there is definitely a very strong correlation between animal abuse/neglect and other antisocial behaviours including but not limited to violence against humans and disregard for property of others (ie stealing)…and i do think that progress is being made in the justice systems…but with such a large country with such large organizations it will be slow progress…very slow and painful…i think we will get to a point where both AC and social services will be called every time there is a report about animal abuse…and that there will be mandatory reporting laws for vets as well (especially if it is known that the owners have children or are caring for the elderly)…but it will take a very long time to get there…we might not see it (unless we live 100 years ^_~)…but hopefully our children will…and they will look back and wonder why people didn’t see it sooner
as for family for this amazingly strong woman (who was still gardening at 103 years old!)…there is a negative correlation between longevity and fertility…meaning that the same genetics that allow her to live to be old enough to be someone’s several-greats-grandmother also mean that she likely only had one child…and if that child died (of any number of causes as humans are so very fragile and easy to kill) before having a child of his/her own…it is likely that this wonderful centurion has outlived anyone and everyone who was related to her…even if she didn’t…if she had her daughter at 20…she would be 85…and her grand daughter would be 65 (assuming the same generation interval)…there are a huge number of diseases from cancer to Alzheimer’s that could render those immediate family members incapable of assisting or even knowing that assistance was needed…
105…just amazing…she lived through two world wars…and so many presidents…she saw the great depression and the civil rights movement…she IS American History…i would truly love to read a book about her life…or just sit with her and listen to the stories of when she was a girl…and when she was a woman…and when she herself became “elderly” and was still only just over halfway through her life…absolutely mind boggling…
my fiancee’s grandfather is turning 96 this year and he only just had his first pacemaker put in a few years ago…he will likely live to see 100 (i really hope so because he is an amazing human being)…and listening to his stories and hearing about his life is very humbling…he only has two children (though 7 grand children)…his younger brother not only has several more children but grand children and great grandchildren as well…sitting in a room with 5 generations all together is really cool ^_^
i should stop babbling and go back to studying…one more final and i need to do well so that i can at least be competitive this year (trying to get into vet school in New Zealand…at least i only have to compete against 40 other people instead of 400 like the domestic students)
sorry to change the subject, but this is a site full of clusterfuck fugly: http://checkoutthishorse.blogspot.com/
Absolutely lots of cases of abuse, whether against people or animals would not get to where they do if neighbours got more involved. However there are also lots of cases where authorities have received complaints for years and still do nothing. So what is the answer? I wish I knew!
I currently know of a case where horses are getting thin, people have come forward with offers of help and have been turned away, so the SPCA has been called. We will see what happens.
I personally feel that people who let conditions get to this type of state are mentally ill, not just cruel. This is not someone just having a fit and smacking their horse, they are daily letting the animals suffer and living in chaos themselves. I do not think that they would accept help, and we may find out that the authorities were called in the past. I am sure everyone on this site has a story of a situation where the people who could do something did not really change the situation. Here is B.C. an SPCA spokesperson said that they would not even investigate allegations of abuse concerning horses on First Nations reserves because they did not have the money. Here is the link to that story.
http://www.voiceforthehorse.com/files//spca%20pemberton%20horses.pdf
So what are people to do? I know what I do is I try to take action when and where I can, and take comfort in One at a time success. Apathy is just as harmful as the person responsible for the act of cruelty, maybe even more so, whether it is the neighbours or the authorities with the power to make change happen.
Project Equus http://www.critteraid.org
All I can say is HOLY SHIT and throw that stupid f*&^er in jail and throw away the key.
But I have a question. I know of someone who has a fairly large herd of horses, not sure of the number, havent been near the place in 4 months now, BUT I know for a fact that they had 4 horses just drop dead between December and Feb, I mean, fine one day, dead the next. These 4 horses were all 3 and younger, so they werent old horses, 2 of them were 2010 foals. They also lost 2 others but they were 18 and 20 years old. I am rather concerned for the rest of the horses on that property, BUT noone will go check on things because they have food and water. The last I knew they were all in good weight and condition, but its just not sitting right with me that thier horses keep dying. what do I do? I have called everyone I t
THAT is a weird one. They’re in good weight/condition? I wonder if there is something poisonous on the property???
Does HYPP make horses die suddenly (if these are QHs)?
Sure, but it would be highly unusual for a bunch to die within a short period of time like that.
Bliser beetle poisoning? It’s usually associated with alfalfa hay, and these beetles don’t occur in all states. I guess they can be fatal in very small doses. They are “baled” along with the hay, and so no one knows until the horse drops dead. These paticular beetles are not looked for, or sprayed for because they do not hurt the alfalfa, from what I recall.
This is for the question about the horses that keep dropping for no reason.you would probably understand more if you new alot more about horse for one, two maybe you just dont now the whole story and just trying to act like this caring horse person, three maybe u should mind your own business and worry about the 4 horses you have instead of trying to act like you care about perfectly healthy horse, fact is horses get old and die, fact horses get sick and sometimes they just dont pull threw, and one horse you spoke of was put to sleep due to heart failure, at the age of 20, another colic and heart failure at the age of 26, and one was your horse you didnt call the vet for!!!!! so please keep your story straight if your going to run your mouth on the internet.
Ok, sorry. This is completely off topic but I need some help finding a horse-related website that I can’t remember the name of.
It was a blog told from the horse’s point of view, done by someone in the UK I think. The horse’s name was Scooter maybe? Something with an S? There was a hilarious post detailing all of the things he was afraid of, dog, plastic bag, etc. I’m kicking myself right now for forgetting!
The blog’s gone. Sorry, but I think the horse’s owner got divorced and that was the end of it.
I know exactly the one you mean. I wish I could remember the address, you could find it at archive.com to read.
Oh dang! That’s no good. Oh well, at least I know it was real and I’m not just crazy
The pictures are gone, so some of the scary things are hard to appreciate, but was this it?
http://www.bazzyboy.net/index.php
OT:(But time is of the essence)
Looking to place young, broke and trail horse sound AQHA mare in Pacific Northwest. Please contact me via e-mail if you know of an honest opportunity for this mare to end up in a decent situation.
Background: I believe this mare is a 2004 model. Well bred. Check ligament surgery as a baby-if memory serves correctly. Broke but not a “front burner” horse until 2008-2009. Showed exceptional potential as world class barrel horse. Turned heads every time she ran. Took a misstep and did something to herself. ( I honestly don’t remember if it is a front or rear leg injury- am thinking hock…
All kinds of vet work, scoping, you name it. Completed prescribed stall rest. Sound. Determined by vet exam to be sound for riding but SHOULD NOT BE COMPETED ON!!!!
This mare is broke, broke, broke. Pretty pleasure horse lope. Standing in pasture and owner isn’t breeding and doesn’t need another ornament. Mare likely to be sent Woodburn Auction if I don’t find her a placement. Ideal owner? active teenager or knowledgeable adult looking for a horse with some horse power. This mare is kinda like a Ferrari…best suited for a knowledgeable driver! She is not dingy and will go out on the trails or lope pretty little circles. Just NO barrels or events likely to grind mare in to ground. She is a using horse and the only fault I will say she has is she is kind of a typical mare. Please contact me at rainharvestfarm@wildblue.net if you want more information.
I apologize for the hi-jack of the thread but I can’t stand by and let of mare of this quality end up at Woodburn.
What the hell?
I don’t understand WHY people are like this. The lady was 105 years old! Does anyone know how long he had been starving her for? I hope she will be alright.
I have always thought that animal cruelty laws should have harsher penalties. I personally think they should be harsher for other reasons than this, but for those who beleive an animal has limited value – animal abusers are almost always abusing people as well. In fact, I posted something similar not too long ago regarding a man who had tied a horse with a tow ball chain around it’s neck (it became imbedded) and starved it, got 30 days in jail. If he could do something so dispicable to a horse, why not a human? There are SO many cases that prove that animal abusers usually progress to abusing humans that you would think that anyone caught doing it would be severly punished.
http://www.operationhorserescue.blogspot.com
I saw this on Facebook and was appalled.
I know I keep saying this and I mean no offence to anyone in the US but where do you get all these nutters from, they just keep coming ?
When did valuing life (of any sort) become so out of fashion and how can anyone justify treating an animal or an elderly person or anyone in this way?
If you can’t care for something appropriately, then give it to someone who can – it’s that simple.
All the pessimists go on about where the world is headed and what legacy we’re leaving for future generations and you think they’re being melodramatic but when you read things like this, you have to wonder whether they might just be right.
Very sad
“Where do you get all these nutters from, they just keep coming ?”
We have half a continent’s worth of people, so we have half a continent’s worth of nutters, too. And for some reason we’re entertained by this kind of stuff, so the media digs up as much of it as they can. The news is full of abusive monsters – but remember they’re only on the news because they’re the exception, not the norm. Take everything you see on the news and invert it, and that’s what the vast majority of America is actually like.
Here is another case where I suspect that human abuse accompanied animal abuse.
http://www.pjstar.com/news/x1125485651/Luciano-Pooch-lucky-to-survive-lesson
While I think that what he did to the dog is grounds for divorce, I doubt that it is the only reason she got the order of protection. “When he lets the dog get out, he gets mad at her”. That sounds like the illogic of an abuser – it’s always someone else’s fault. Too bad they cannot sentence abusers to never again own an animal, have a spouse, or have custody of a child.
P.S. Fugs, this is my last post of the day, promise!
Hey jus wanted to share a positive story with all of you
http://wildhorseproject.blogspot.com/2011/06/little-brown-pony.html
we currently have 2 horses at our barn under vet care due to being skinny..animal control was called on the one mare — when they came out to look at her, they were pissed off they wasted their time because she wasn’t nearly as bad as they were told/expecting, and felt that they were not needed and could’ve been helping actual animals that needed help instead of looking at a healthy (albeit skinny, but slowly and steadily gaining weight)
onto animal control sucking — we have a vet around here who starves and abuses his horses and gets away with it because “their under vet care” my friend took over 100 photos and reported him and NOTHING was done, and he has been reported several times.
A bullet is too kind. That son of a bitch needs burned at the stake.
No one is ever allowed to argue that human life is somehow sacred compared to other life forms as long as human trash like John Friedlund is allowed to continue exchanging carbon dioxide for oxygen. The only thing that gets my blood up as much as animal abuse is elder abuse, and that probably has something to do with the fact that I firmly believe advanced age should be its own protection but often it isn’t. It’s disgusting, shameful…I can’t even come up with words to describe how it makes me feel. The hell with the “justice” system – just drop him like a rabid animal. The planet is overpopulated as it is. Let’s get rid of the worst of the bad apples
darling i know this will sound like nonsense to you, but you can`t ask for humanity in one sentence and then ask for killing a person in the most cruel way you can think of, in the next. we can`t pick who we treat fair and who we don`t, no matter how much we abhor a person – sorry to say. and yes, i agree with you that this person needs to be punished.
have you heard this one?
The FEI Dressage Committee discussed several issues at its meeting in Paris (FRA) earlier this month and the following five key developments were decided upon.
“Blood rule
The committee proposed a new blood rule explicitly stating that the test would be stopped if blood appears anywhere on the horse.
At top level events (Olympic Games, Championships and Finals for seniors), where FEI vets will be present at the warm-up arena, they would examine the horse and the test would resume if bleeding from minor injuries had stopped.
If the bleeding had not stopped, the horse would be eliminated. Where vets are not present to examine the horse, bleeding would result in immediate elimination.
The FEI’s Vet Committee and Legal Department are considering the proposal for this rule, which would sit in Article 430.7.1. or Article 440 of the Rules for Dressage Events, which can be viewed here.
As always, rule revisions will be presented for National Federation approval at the FEI General Assembly in November for implementation on 1 January 2012.
great – so a little bit of blood, caused by a stupid and cruel rider is no problem. fine. great. so let`s make animal abuse legal. wonderful job fei! absolutely amazing.
still – have a good day …
The frustrating part when I read of rules like that, is that they are all encompassing and leave no room for judgment. So if my horse trips, nicks her ankle, and has a small bit of blood, but shows no swelling, no unsoundness, and no distress, she will be eliminated? However, her classmate, a gelding whose owner has raised welts along his hide which are clearly visible and identifiable as whip welts, gets to compete because there is no blood? Organizations are always looking for some clearcut rule that no one can argue, when what they really need is to have the balls to identify cruelty and justify penalties for said cruelty.
The reality is that if any sign of blood is on a horse, it’s probably not show day for that horse. Yes, it’s tough for owners to pay the big money, get ready, spend all the time, and then have to scratch a class or a show, but THAT IS SHOWING. Suck it up and take it like a professional, instead of pushing to get rules changed so that you can still show Farfennugan in the class even when he’s dripping blood.
Erm… your ‘rabid animal’ is 79 years old. For all we know, he may be less mentally aware than the 105 year old woman he was living with. I understand your frustration, but maybe wait to find out if he is even functional before getting all vigilante on him?
This is so sad. It makes me sick. I hope they get the horses the hell out of there and I wish Mrs. Swan a wonderful 106th birthday. :3
UrbanZebu, I couldn’t have said it better myself. The bastard belongs in prison or Hell.
Animal control sucking?? ANIMAL CONTROL SUCKING??????????????????????
You try it before you point fingers. Lets see you save hundreds of animals, drive your own vehicle, be accused of doing everything by the pos that is starving the horses, write reports, testify in court and be questioned about anything they want, find a place for the starving horses to go, and not get shot. All on a budget of 30,000 dollars a year including two officer’s wages and no benefits.
The next time you think someone SUCKS then you do the job and see if you can do it better.
Yeah, I tend to agree with Queenofcords in most cases…it is a shitty, thankless job and many are doing the best they can (but their hands are tied by poor laws and often poor documentation on the part of those reporting the neglect).
Animal control can most definitely suck. No, they don’t ALL do a terrible job, but good grief, OSPCA.. <a href="http://ospcatruth.com/"<Old dog euthed with no notice
Animal control is just that. You pick up people’s animal “trash”, and you kill it & dispose of it. Thankless, horrible, rotten job. If you can work with rescue groups, great. If not, nuke the little buggers. Either way, you get paid. I cannot believe how blindered/blinkered people are about “Animal Shelters”. Why not call it like it is? “Death Row”.
The OSCPA’s mandate clearly states that they advocate for better animal welfare laws. They do not advocate at all. When neglect is reported, they insist the laws don’t help. But they do nothing to change those laws. Why? Either way, they get paid.
To that poor woman. Thank heavens for the neighbours.
crap. Tired.. LinkThatWorks
I agree with you there. I think that for the most part, animal control officers genuinely WANT to help – it’s not like they are in it for the joys of the job or for the great pay!
I think the only problem with animal control, is lack of funding, which is by no means AC’s fault. Seriously, the government can pay for good food and warm beds in prisons for people who fucked up, but they can’t find any money for an organization that is GOOD?!
There are a small amount of officers that turn a blind eye to starving animals coz they are buds with the people responsible, but the only reason people are beginning to think poorly of animal control is because of cases like this – you don’t hear about all the GREAT things AC are doing, because that’s just expected. You hear more about the crappy AC officers that don’t do their job and it tends to make people think that all ACOs are like that. Plus, bad stories seem to stick in people’s minds a lot more than the good stories do.
http://www.operationhorserescue.blogspot.com
Yeah, there are lazy dumbasses in every organization – including Animal Control in some areas – especially when the organization is underfunded and untrained and not taken seriously.
So, anybody who believes the welfare of animals is important but Animal Control sucks where they live – write up a local initiative for a levy to increase training, funding and enforcement for animal care in your area. Then go door-to-door and collect signatures. Good luck – and I don’t mean that sarcastically.
I know this is OT — but this is the worst I have ever seen a horse being abused from not having its feet done:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZxJnPZvz-8&feature=feedrec_grec_index
What a pretty mare. Disgusting that someone could let that happen. I always wonder why someone who doesn’t intend to care for their animals even chooses to have them at all. What is the appeal to having a horse that you do nothing with? In my world, the less responsibilities, the better. I certainly don’t want to be responsible for things that I can’t handle to the fullest extent. But I guess the key word there is “responsible”, because these people obviously don’t consider anything to be a responsibility.
Oops, I posted an RIP sort of message that I meant for here, on the wrong post. Sorry.
(I wish, that when one logs in, it takes you back to where you were…not up to you, Fugly, probably.)
It kinda bugs me that they put her down without any effort to trim her feet. I’ve never rehabbed hind feet that were curved backward, but we’ve had good success taking care of ‘elf shoes’ on full size horses before, and the mare was walking with minimal discomfort, despite not really having a solid base to walk on. Then again, perhaps she was heavily medicated for the video and didn’t feel pain. Regardless, I would have been happier if the rescue had actually tried to help her out– she didn’t get like that in a week, so spending a bit of time trying to make her comfortable and sound would have been a good project for some advanced farrier, and the mare might have ended up with a chance at a new life.
Disgusting.. And that POS is out on BAIL?!! AWFUL!! That man should be drug out in the street and shot.. Or thrown in a celland made to rot in his own filth so he can beg for food.. But karma is a bitch and you get what you put in!
This man is still just a man. What he did is deplorable and disgusting absolutely.. but you don’t know the whole story. What if he is mentally ill? He’s what, 79 years old? People tend to lose their marbles after a time. Vigilante justice such as this is also disgusting. If you were to actually treat someone like this what makes you think you’re better than him? If everybody sought an eye for an eye the world would be a terrible place. Please think twice before spewing such filth and be the bigger person. He’ll get his comeuppance with his rights and liberties intact – the same rights and liberties you would be privy to if you fucked up the same way.
does anyone have any information on Ray Field of Wild Horse Foundation located in Texas? I went on the internet and found an article from 2003 that was not good, talks of starving horses, bad cheques and other criminal activity. His site is not up to date and I cannot find out much by searching him on the internet. Is he legite ? Thanks for any info. Theresa Nolet project equus@critteraid.org
sorry I added a space in my email projectequus@critteraid.org is how it should read.
OT, but we have ANOTHER winner! http://www.ajc.com/news/forsyth/horse-trainer-arrested-for-985495.html?cxntlid=cmg_cntnt_rss
Good heavens! This guy really is a winner! He sure has a friend in Ms. Clements though, doesn’ the? “He was under tremendous stress due to getting caught soliciting a child for sex”. He’s got a funny way of handling stress! I usually cry or sleep. Some people eat a half gallon of ice cream. This guy lights up the meth pipe and goes for a naked joy ride! At least he didn’t do all that on a horse!
There is an animal control officer near me that should be stripped of her title (and her horses!). Last that I knew, she had 20 to 30 minis, and around 10 or more full-sized horses. These horses are all pastured together, fighting for what little food is available. Many of them have foundered from eating poor/improper feed for horses. A friend of mine asked her what the “rings” on the horses’ hooves (founder rings) were. She replied by saying, “That’s how you tell how old they are.” But, nobody does anything because she is the animal control officer for the town she lives in. I don’t know if she still has this many horses, but she shouldn’t own ANY AT ALL in my opinion.
Abusing one creature to me says you are perfectly capable of abusing any creature/human.
on a side note: Any east coasters looking for a great horse Camelot HW has a few nice looking mare still sitting in the KP both are green at 8 years old and both are built super nice!! Take a look cause they are a steal.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=243611388982670&set=a.243279515682524.73664.159567607387049&type=1&theater
My husband always says you can tell how a man treats his wife and kids by how he treats his horse.
O/T but….I have no idea if this is real or even recent but saw it posted on Facebook and wanted to pass it along in case it is real & recent.
Please pass this on if you know anyone who could help, thank you:
Sharon Barrett NEEDS to find rescues to take 40 horses ASAP that will be sent to slaughter. These are good bloodline quarter horses, mostly dun’s, grey’s, cremello’s palomino’s, a roan, a couple bays, and two paints one brown and white foal and one yearling palomino paint. 5 stallions, several pregnant mares. Please call her on phone as she is NOT on the computer very often 281-610-7197 thanks blessings all. (Houston Metro area)
Quote from article above: ” It’s the first time he’d been in any legal kind of trouble like that.” Um…why do I doubt that?
Wow, the place where it happened brings back bad memories. I wound up, by extremely regretted mistake and an ex-roommate’s design, in a starving horse situation in that town, too. My horse wasn’t starving or otherwise uncared for, hers were and the sheriff and local vets knew…but the extremely weak state law hadn’t been changed to a felony yet so while they expressed concern (and were screamed at) they did nothing. I didn’t know this beforehand or that she had gotten away with it in another county until it was too late to get me and my animals out of there in one piece…and she even tried to put me in very dangerous situations. I finally was able to get out after my horse was killed, and spent the next 5 years beating myself up about it, and wishing I hadn’t put a datestamp on the photos I had taken so they would have been relevant to a prosecution (they were dated from before the law changed). I haven’t had the courage to sneak back and check on things and take more photos – she was the typical nasty bitch when challenged on the care of her horses or ANYTHING else, and I cut off all contact.
Her name was Faye Neff, btw, and I have no idea if she’s even still there.
I did find out a year ago that she was finally forced to surrender at least some of her horses to a rescue in Republic, WA in 2009, and probably was forced by way of threats to turn her in…but probably not before at least one horse starved or froze to death. And I would bet she gave some away to her next door neighbor, who bred the same kind of horses, Curlies, but took good care of hers.
I don’t have a horse anymore – he was my one and only. And he paid for my stupidity in believing the words of a woman who claimed, among other things, that she had ’40 years experience’, pipe fencing (it was wire), and was an ‘animal communicator’ – whose animals stopped talking to her (gee, I wonder why). Yeah, I still beat myself up about it sometimes, even tho it was over 6 years ago. Sorry if I annoyed anyone…
OT for this post, and I’m sure you’ve seen it BUT since you’d posted about it a short while back, and not everyone who reads this blog is on Twitter…
“Welfare concerns following video of FEI World Reining Final”
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/article.php?aid=308296
Please, please, I hope those poor dogs and any other animals are also being rescued.
I am glad the woman is doing okay and the horses are getting attention. But nothing was said about the dogs. They were tied up, or in filthy cages, probably not fed or watered regularly. A dog also needs a loving home, to be part of a family.
Please how do I find out how those dogs are doing. Hopefully they are being rescued.
I’m sad to say I will soon be in the position that of the neighbors in this story….
I might call dumby dad up and see if I can work something out with him… If he needs to “rent” the land maybe I’ll get him to send a kid over to mow the lawn… but then… he’ll know for sure who it was who called him in when the horses start to look like grace. I’m caught between wanting to help but fearing retaliation if thing don’t work out and do nothing so I can call them in when things are bad enough and hope they don’t figure out it was me. They’ve had animals taken or surrendered to AC before so I’m not imagining things…
The stupid thing is I was prepared to help these people, not the adults who are useless and indifferent, but their kids who are genuinely good kids and had come asking for help and advice.
So here’s the story:
A few months ago useless dad discovered that; “Hey! They auction off horses for really cheap once a month!! whoohooo! doesn’t that sound like a fun family outing!!!” So he took all 4 kids to the auction let them run wild through the pens “playin” with the horses. The two youngest ones got kicked hard in the chest and back, but some how didn’t get hurt anymore than getting the wind knocked out of them and some bruises. I swear rednecks have more lives than cats… They ended up bringing home a handful of horses including the one that booted the kids (WTF!?) and tossed them out into an unused pasture that was way too small for the number they had bought. Now they’re out of grass and I doubt they know you can buy that stuff called “hay” … must be something new? One of the girls visits our house regularly and had been proudly telling me that she had spent her allowance on dewormer and a visit from the farrier. She had picked one that was broke to ride that day and is absolutely in love with him. So when they ran out of grass she came to us for help. She knew we had a portion of land that we weren’t using and asked us if she could fence it off and use it. Hubby and I said we would talk it over and to come back the next day so we could show her how much she could fence off. We talked about it and decided that we could give them a pretty good piece of land to use, with a few conditions like; the fence can’t be made out of shoelaces and sticks ect. We were even thinking that we would get them to help us bale hay this summer so that they could take a share to feed their horses through the winter. Unfortunately the kids didn’t show up to find out what we were willing to give them. It turns out the useless jackass dad doesn’t want them putting up a “free fence” on our land and seems to think we wanted money for our grass so he’s going to let the horses starve instead. Gawd damn it! I feel so bad for the kids who do want to do something about their hungery horses and have to sit there looking at the chest deep grass on our empty land.
what next?
Make the call – or have a few friends come over to visit and when they see the horse(s), have them call. You can’t control what anyone does when they leave your property (blinks innocently).
Document the condition of the horses from your property with photos and send that to Animal Control & Sheriff. Cannot argue with pictures.
No Animal Control department should EVER EVER release anyone’s name to those being investigated. There is no earthly reason to!
I posed a whole bunch of other tips in the comments on Fugly’s new post “You starved a PONY?!” – just look for my ID.
Off topic, but I love how once in a while Yahoo Answers will lead me to a video treasure trove. Someone asked if this pony was too spunky. Seems like a long lost twin to the little grey pony you featured a while ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx1N0aJxPGc
Once again, we have a lovely trainer/parents combination who persist in telling this poor kid that she’s going a good job of riding, and sending her over yet another jump. Evidently, as long as you feed your pony you are allowed to slam its mouth and smack its back as you force it over jump after jump with a rider who shouldn’t even be trotting off the longe line yet.
In my state, humane investigators and animal control officers are now mandated reporters just like teachers and medical personnel; the legislature actually amended the humane care laws to add a whole statute.
This is slightly OT, but I know of a girl who is constantly being harassed with animal abuse allogations. She recently took over her father’s circus, which tours around Norway part of the year. They have been running for 20 years, and the animals are kept very humanely. They are allowed outside with company, even during the circus season.
Still, there is a group of people who assume that the animals are tortured and kept in terrible conditions. This is despite the fact that the animals are regularly checked by the health department. Visitors are also allowed to see the animals for themselves, any time of the day. Some organizations are now pushing for a ban on the use of any animal for circuses. It would be really tragic to crack down on responsible handlers like this, when abuse clearly isn’t limited to this one industry.
I have worked with dressage horses who are kept inside for literally weeks at a time, ridden with hard hands and crank nosebands… No one raises an eyebrow to that. People need to get their heads out of their asses and go after people who are really doing damage to their animals. It’s not hard to tell which is which!
THese are the circus animals: http://www.zorba.no/Dyrp%C3%A5cirkus/Dyreneutenformanesjen.aspx
They are in great condition, but the dapple grey has his head strapped to his chest when being ridden – sorry, but that looks like rollkur to me.
(And I’ve only ridden in a crank noseband once, and it was a last ditch attempt to find SOMETHING the dang animal wouldn’t lean on and run through…it worked, but we were able to drop it down to a standard flash pretty quickly, although every so often the crank has to come back. NOTHING else has worked with that horse…but I do agree that most people in the dressage world reach for a crank far too quickly).