Happy New Year!
Jan 02 2012
It’s a new year and a new start! To kick things off we wanted to discuss an idea we had. Before we even started writing for this blog, while the details were still being ironed out, someone emailed us asking for advice. A neighbor of this person had a pony that was attacked by a dog. We’re not going to go into the details, but suffice it to say that the pony had been mauled and had serious, life threatening wounds that needed immediate veterinary attention – even if only to put it out of its misery. But rather than provide basic care for this animal, these cold-hearted assholes left him laying in a cold, muddy field. Their concerned neighbor starting calling the local authorities, trying to find some way to help the poor pony. She wasn’t having any luck so she emailed us, asking if there was anything we could suggest or even do to help. She obviously didn’t know the blog had new writers, but she was aware of the reputation of the blog for being a voice for the horses.
Now, we freely admit we had no idea how to help this woman, but not wanting to do nothing we got in touch with a reputable rescue with a director we knew we could count on to do her best to help. She immediately jumped into action (we’re not kidding! Think: Wonder Woman – cape, boots and all) and got in touch with people she knew in the pony’s area and provided some very useful advice to the concerned neighbor. With the rescuer’s help and the help of her network of animal welfare contacts they were able to put enough pressure on the local authorities for them to finally get on the owne’rs case about the care of the pony. The last email we received on this subject reported that the pony had been returned to its previous owners and the vet had been out and reported the pony was doing well.
Through this pony’s ordeal and the immediate and enthusiastic response of the rescuer’s network we realized that there could be an opportunity here to help other horses and people like the concerned neighbor. Our idea that arose from all of this was to put together a network of contacts – people in the rescue “biz” (for lack of a better term because we all know they ain’t in it for the money!) that are willing to answer questions, provide advice, and help to put people in contact with the right authorities in their particular geographic area. This way, if someone is in a situation where, for example, their neighbor is starving a horse and they’re not sure what their next step would be to help the horse, then they could email us here at the Fugly Blog and we could forward their email on to a rescue professional in their area that could answer their questions and/or help put pressure on the local authorities, or whatever action the situation warrants.
Our goal with this network is to build up a database of contacts all over North America (to start 
) All we ask of you is your help in spreading the word whether it be to your local rescue, any rescue contacts you may have, or to other horse people you know so they in turn can continue to spread the word.
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Some other people that are doing their part to help the horses are the One Horse At a Time, Inc. rescue group and Sarah K. Andrew. Sarah is an award winning photographer who has put together a calendar for 2012. 100% of the proceeds from sales of this calendar will be donated to One Horse At a Time, Inc. to help them continue their good work. So if anyone has been lazy (like Snarkly!) and hasn’t yet purchased a calendar for the upcoming year, here’s an excellent option!
53 comments to “Happy New Year!”
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Thanks for a great story to start the New Year! I ordered 2 of the calendars. Going to give one as a gift.
The network sounds like an excellent idea, it could be a great deal of help.
Also, I have the horses and hope calendar and it is exceptional. All the pictures are of horses from Camelot auction in NJ.
I don’t know whether it applies in North America, but in the UK there is a common law rule called an “agency of necessity” which means that in certain circumstances a person can act on behalf of the owner of an animal and recover the costs from the owner. For instance, if a horse is loose on the road, it can be caught and stabled, and the costs recovered.
If a horse is in serious distress, the same rule could apply: someone who gets help for the horse when the owner cannot (eg because they are away) would be protected from having a claim made against them by the owner and could also claim to recover their costs, such as vet fees. I don’t know of any cases where the owner could act but refuses to do so, but if the purpose of acting is to relieve the serious distress of an animal, there is a good case to make for the recovery of necessary costs – although this might be at the lowest level, such as the costs of euthanasia as against surgery for an animal that would not have a useful working life afterwards. If there are criminal offences of allowing an animal to suffer, the threat of prosecution might be a way of leveraging the costs out of the owner.
Obviously, it’s best for local authority welfare services to act, as they can do so under statutory authority. But in the right circumstances a rescue, a vet or a concerned bystander could use this “agency of necessity” to act themselves.
Don’t take this as the final word on the subject (especially since all 50 states have different common law), but I don’t think that would apply here.
Although we do have property laws in most states that allow you to capture a loose animal on your property and demand reimbursement from the owner for any costs associated with it, you generally can’t step in and make medical decision for an owner regarding the animal.
The reason for the difference is incentives (not regarding animal welfare): in farming areas (and pretty much everywhere “back in the day”) we wanted to incentivize animal husbandry by encouraging neighbors to care for a loose animal until it could be recovered. The assumption was that Farmer1 whose cow wandered off would want to recover the animal, so we should incentivize Farmer2, who found the cow, to care for it because by reimbursing him for any associated costs. Similarly, if said cow caused any damage to Farmer2′s land, Farmer1 would have to pay (in most states).
In this situation, Farmer2 could make medical decisions; he could call the vet to tend a leg that was cut by barbed wire and push that cost back to Farmer1. Farmer2 could recover for any food given the cow, and even charge a reasonable rate for “boarding” the animal.
Again, this because we assume in most sitautions that Farmer1 *wants* this to happen.
In the present situation that Snugly and Snarkly has presented, we have a few different issues at play. Ideally this should be taken care of by animal cruelty laws. But local authorities in many areas are loathe to even check in on a situation unless they’ve received numerous reports. Also, in many parts of America at least, animal cruelty laws can be very narrowly defined in order to allow local enforcement to make decisions on what constitutes cruelty. We all (very reasonably, I might add) tend to side with the neighbor who is watching a pony die a slow death when it either needs to be saved by medical attention or put out of its misery. But, I’m sure some person somewhere has a story of how a pony pulled through similar injuries all on its own (sigh)… and if AC wants to side with that idea, there’s not much we can do but push them to interpret the law more “closely” (as Snugly and Snarkly did by contacting a rescue agency who were able to influence AC).
Animal Cruelty laws should have sided with concerned neighbor, but in a case where animal control ignores the problem or declares that it’s not cruelty or neglect, there’s not much legally the neighbor can do. I’m not sure how the UK’s law would apply in a case like this, but in America there is a strong desire for autonomy put forth in law (i.e.: you don’t have to take even basic or reasonable steps to help out someone you see in danger; you generally aren’t even required by law to inform the police unless that person is part of a vulnerable population and you’re in a position of authority). Animal cruelty law mimics this to the extreme. A good animal control unit will pressure (or force) the owners to provide veterinary care (even if just to put the animal to sleep) or relinquish ownership to the state so that they can provide care. An overworked or less concerned AC unit may not do this unless pressured. When the second happens, the third party (neighbor) can’t legally do anything about the animal. If she goes and gets the pony, it’s trespass and possibly conversion/theft. If the vet knowingly treats the horse without owner consent, he or she could be subject to a variety of lawsuits.
Owner has ultimate control 99% of the time. He can call up a veterinarian to put to sleep his healthy, robust, happy horse with no repercussions. So long as efforts taken are reasonable to care for a sick or injured animal (ie: a reasonable person with the owners experience and knowledge wouldn’t think the horse needed a vet, even if we know better) it usually can’t be declared neglect or cruelty.
The law is not on our side in America, so all we can do is push for stricter laws about enforcement that define cruelty and neglect more broadly. And as Snugly and Snarkly did: find a way to influence AC to act.
-Regan
Since I live in the UK I can only comment on the law here.
I think the agency of necessity thing would only hold water if the owner could not be found, it would not give you the right to enter property and assist the animal against the owners wishes.
It is illegal, actually against the law, to allow an animal in your care to suffer, or to deny it Veterinary care.
It is not enough to say that you are taking care of it, if it is later found that the animal had injuries beyond normal laypersons abilities, you could end up in court. If the animal had been suffering untreated (for something as simple as fleas) you can end up in court.
Surely this is basic care.
Mind you, to play devil’s advocate here, the first report is that the animal has suffered life threatening injuries and has been left to lie in the cold mud all night yet, after fairly late in the day intervention, it is now back with it’s owners and doing fine.
Is it possible that there was just an awful lot of blood, a freaked out neighbour and an owner who just was not reacting as much as the neighbour might see fit??
I feel this blog is now in good hands and what a good idea!
While I have to respectfully disagree, I think this blog has ALWAYS been in good hands, I do agree this is a good idea.
I am a military wife/mom who had to heartwrenchingly give up her horses (which we always moved with us) when my Navy husband was transferred to Hawaii. My two girls (both very active in 4H with their horses) were devistated but stepped up to the plate and accepted it as part of a military family life. I found wonderful homes with close, trusted friends for my beloved horses and euthanized my sweet 30 year old gelding because his costs for feed and health issue maintenance may have caused him to be passed along down the road and I didn’t want that to happen to him. I know exactly where he is now and know that he passed with my arms around him. Anyway, I’ve been trying to juggle schedules so I can become invoved in helping the local rescue here. I’m willing to step up to the plate as a FUGLY rep in Hawaii to direct folks here on the islands towards help. Thanks for suggesting this….what a great idea. Here is my name and email, and the local rescue for the island of Oahu. They also help the other islands as well. Also, am I the only FUGLY blog follower here in Hawaii? If not, whomever you are please email me as I’d love to meet fellow horse people.
4HMom
V. Clark
barrelsaddle@yahoo.com
808 Horse Rescue
Eva Beach, HI (Oahu)
808-590-1210
http://www.equine808.com
Forgot this…..
How about a thread about what militarty members and their families deal with and have to go through to have, keep and sometimes give up their beloved horses (and other animals!). I had mine for MANY years moving them with us all over the country. Hawaii has been the only state where it was financially impossible for us to bring them with us. Broke our hearts….
I was an army brat growing up. I can’t tell you how much I miss those military stables! The luxury of being able to board your horse for dirt cheap and 5 minutes away from your house! We were done with overseas tours by the time I was 8 and didn’t get horses until I was 9, so we luckily just had to haul them from state to state with us for the next ten years. When my husband was considering joining, I found a website called http://www.militarystables.com that is so cool. It has descriptions and pictures of many different military stables. For anyone who has never experienced them, it is very different from your typical boarding stables. Most have self-care options, and very old barns (not the pre-fab barns that you see at most normal boarding stable), or stall/paddock boarding. They are run more like a co-op than most boarding stables.
I’m in So Cal and I’ve got a fair number of contacts and practical experience in the rescue “biz”. My barn is full (I actually just adopted a lovely mare), but I’d be more than happy to go on the list and provide info and contacts for people looking for help in my area. If someone has a particular email they want me to contact in order to volunteer for the list/database, I’ll drop that person a line.
That’d be great! If you could email your contact details to fuglyblog@hotmail.com we’ll add you to the list. Thanks so much
What subhumans!!!
On a happier note, I love those super-sharp rescue people who are good at getting things done. They don’t dick around.
WittyHorseoftheDay
Completely off-topic, and I don’t want to thread jack, but can someone tell me what is up with the legs of the horse that the Queen of England is riding. Have the horse’s legs been shaved like that?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2081297/Queens-dynamic-start-new-year-rides-Sandringham.html
The Queen’s horse appears to be a Fresian. The horse’s body is shaved in a full hunter clip and its legs are left natural. That keeps them warmer and also protects them from brush and briers if they do go hunting. The Fresian naturally has long “feathers” or hairs around its feet.
On topic: I live not too far from Camelot Sales where the calendar pictures were taken. I have two adopted horses myself, but no room for any more. The Camelot Horse Weekly Facebook page posts horses from the sale and has a network of over 27,000 members who work each week to rescue horses from the sale. Why not join the Facebook brigade and crosspost available horses to all the people you know? It is amazing how many horses have been saved through this effort.
My opinion, it looks to be more like a Section D Welsh Cob.
Actually, she rides Fell Ponies now. Hundreds of years ago, they had some Fresian blood introduced, so you were close.
Why does everyone think that if the horse is black and hairy it must be a Friesian?
That’s the Queen of England who has been riding and hunting all of her life and Friesians don’t jump. Based on the other pics in the series, it’s more likely a Section D, as someone already stated, or an Irish Draught. Something well-bred, steady as a rock, athletic as all get out and native to the UK!
And just to out myself as the Anglophile that I am, God Save the Queen!
Because we don’t know any better! I thought it was a Fresian as well, ‘tho very short and more attractive than a Fresian! We have a client that wanted to buy a 4 year old Fresian (she can barely stay on our aged packers). I think this particular horse would be perfect for her, plus none of us would know the difference. Literally the only problem would be convincing the Queen to give this guy up!
Can’t wait for the Fresian people to flip over ‘don’t jump’. Excellent thread hijacking!
Can you please show me a photo of a section D with as much feathering as that one? I’ve never seen one quite so long.
Never mind, I found a great one! Thanks anyways!
That is a “trace clip.” The horse’s body is clipped, but the legs (and sometimes the area under the saddle) are left un-clipped. It is common among the foxhunting crowd and in other sports where the horses may be worked in cold weather, but not shown. It allows the horse to cool down faster after a sweat-generating workout (thus better avoiding chills from the amount of time it takes a heavy wet coat to dry), while still giving the horse’s legs protection from ice/snow/rain/moisture during turnout or work in the fields.
It’s not that the horse’s legs have been shaved; rather the body has been shaved and the legs have been left alone. It’s called a hunter clip.
Looks like the body was clipped, not the legs, though I imagine the feathers would be brushed and trimmed too.
Yes they have. It’s called a Hunter Clip. The coat is removed except for the saddle area (usually by putting the saddle on and drawing around it) and the legs. Leaving the saddle area on is seen as reducing the chance of saddle sores and leaving the legs on is perceived as protecting them when jumping hedges, riding through brush, etc.
It’s the standard clip done on field hunters in Britain and is not uncommonly seen on other riding horses.
I think that will be a Dales, (not a Fell, they are smaller, 14hands max)
Yes the body is, obviously, clipped, and the legs left on- I have NO idea why, especially as it is clipped very close, but it is more than possible it is also a driving pony, and therefore in hard work?
I agree with the Dales idea; I ride and drive a Dales pony where I work
The Queen and Prince Phillip have bred Fell ponies for years at one of their Scottish estates. PP learned to drive with the Fell ponies. The Queen began riding them when her knees got bad. She could be riding a Dale in this photo, but it would be very strange if she was. She isn’t a big lady, and they are stout ponies.
It still looks more than 14hands to me. I know about the Fells, as you say they have had them for years, but having Dales as well would seem logical. Or it could be a Highland (although it does not look a lot like one)
This is an absolutely fabulous idea for this blog. I’ve actually thought about what it would be like before if all the readers of fugly were to form a kind of network to help horses in need.
I’m actually in Australia, but if you ever want to start something up over here, I do a small amount of rescuing and would be happy to help out a needy horse or two =)
http://www.operationhorserescue.blogspot.com
Thanks! If you could email your contact info to fuglyblog@hotmail.com we’ll add you to the list
OT – sorry, I know this probably is not the place to post this, but I have to try everything.
Is there anyone who likes Sharpei’s and is close enough to Dallas to want to figure out a way to get one? On the way home from the barn today (see, it’s *slightly* horse related, hehe) I saw another car hit this dog, and of course nobody else stops to check on him except for a young teenager who couldn’t take the responsibility of taking it home without parental permission. He’s not injured from being hit (it was a light bump – the car had hit the brakes just in time to barely get him) but he seemed very tired and doesn’t look very well cared for (coat isn’t healthy and shiny, and although he is stout in build, his spine and hip bones are showing). And, he was SOOOOO sweet, snuggling into me, that I just couldn’t leave him there. I would 100% keep him, except I already have a little dog that is very territorial. I introduced them and my little dog barked, growled, lunged and bit at this dog, and this dog didn’t do anything except sit there wagging his tail, looking back and forth at me and my dog and nudging his face into me.
If anyone is interested in him, please respond with your email address or some way that I can contact you. I can send you some pictures. He appears to me to be a sharpei/pitt mix, fawn colored with some white. He has a wrinkly face, slanted eyes, some wrinkling around his elbow and (stifle? what’s it called on a dog) area, and when he sits down his whole body becomes wrinkles. He is not neutered. I think he is middle-aged. I took him for a walk and he walked well on a leash, but does not appear to be trained at all. But, I cannot stress how sweet he is.
I cannot keep him, but for now he is camped out in my yard with blankets and a pillow. It’s not very cold and no rain in the forecast, so this is the best I can do temporarily…
Or, if you don’t want to put your contact info on here, you can email me at rollkursucks@hotmail.com
Have to say, you should at least try to contact the former owners. While it’s tempting to dismiss them because of the apparent health issues, there could be a very reasonable explanation – the dog may have been at large for an extended period of time or have underlying medical problems that require treatment.
If he doesn’t have a microchip, what is the best way to try to find the owners? He doesn’t have any tags – only had a choke chain collar on. I put a “found” ad in craigslist with some pictures of his face. If someone can claim that he was theirs and describe his other markings on the rest of his body, then they can have him back (or, as my husband pointed out, it is apparently a felony for me to refuse to give him back). Hopefully I can at least talk some sense into them about neutering him and preventing him from getting out again.
You should make good faith effort to find owners: put up flyers in the area, post on Craigs list (but don’t put a picture of the dog, make the “owner” tell you something about it that’s not in the ad to make sure it really is the owner), etc. Most no-kill shelters and breed rescue groups will not take a dog unless you claim to be the owner and surrender it. If you call local Animal Control, they will have to come get the dog and hold it for a few days to see if the owner comes around. Unfortunately at the end of the “few days” the dog may have to be put down if no one else wants it.
So my suggestion in this situation is to call Animal Control, *with* a caveat: tell them if no one claims the dog, you would like to adopt it (at which point you can keep it if you want or responsibly re-home it). Unless you find an AC officer who hates his life, they are always happy to put a note on that dog’s sheet that there is someone interested in the animal if no one else claims him (most AC officers WANT dogs to go to homes instead of being put down).
The reason I suggest this is simple: AC will make efforts to find the owner (okay, they’ll scan it for a microchip and put a description of the dog by the phone in case the owners call looking for it) and provide any necessary veterinary attention to the dog (including checking for heartworm or other common problems with un-tended dogs). That way you don’t have to incur out of pocket costs for the dog going to the vet, the owner gets a fair chance to claim the animal (and he WILL get a lecture from AC about letting his dog lose to get hit by a car, and many states require the animal be neutered before release even back to the owner if it is found wandering), and in the chance that the dog is not claimed you can adopt him.
If contacting AC makes you uncomfortable, give the North American Shar-Pei Rescue (http://www.sharpeirescue.com/) or another rescue group a call for advice.
Good luck!
Call the veterinary offices in your area and give them a printout of the dogs picture and his physical description. Most concerned owners will contact the local animal shelters, police stations, and veterinary offices looking for a lost pet. It is possible that his owners do not have internet, or like myself do not frequent craigslist due to the scammers and whack jobs. Once you have contacted all of those people, THEN and ONLY THEN can you offer to adopt out the dog. When you took him in, you took on that responsibility, and lecturing an owner about neutering would be useless as there could be an underlying reason for his intact status, and he could be MUCH older then you think he is, and that is causing his weight issue. Also as a vet tech, I must advise you to at least have him EXAMINED by a veterinarian, because even mild trauma on a “middle aged” dog can be life threatening if untreated, and can take days up to weeks to manifest as the real issue, because animals tend to not show pain until it is completely unbearable. If he is “middle aged” he could have fractures also, and you dont know if he has been vaccinated or dewormed so keep his feces and urine away from your dog, and thoroughly disinfect any area he has “done his buisness” with bleach, let it sit for 30 minutes, then hose it down. Caution is the key, but making sure you contact all of your animal “businesses” is the most important thing, worst case scenario the animal shelter takes him and gives him the necessary care, and fines the owner for no tags and at large.
I’d say contact the local vets, ask them about it. If you happen to have a local shop where people put up notes (not sure how big or small your community is), put something up there too. Someone may be looking for him. If not, then maybe someone else might want a dog like that and it might help you with rehoming. If the vets (and hairdressers, shopkeepers etc) know about it, they’ll be able to point them in the right direction.
What about rescues? Some will let you put up a courtesy posting on their website, some may help you evaluate a new owner, and some have ‘lost and found’ boards in their facilities and notes on their websites. That’s all if they won’t take him.
Weird that he has a choke chain collar on- would that suggest he’d got loose on a walk?
I’m pretty lenient on the whole spaying or neutering thing (compared to weight or fencing/exit management for example). I always remember how hard it was to bring our bitch in to be spayed, and how much we debated it. I think the vet thought we wanted to breed her (judging by his tactful patient education efforts), but it was just that a close relative had died, because of an unforeseeable complication, in the hands of a perfectly competent surgeon and we were a little overanxious. I’d be more concerned about an obese dog than an intact one.
Great idea! Run with it before any more horses die in the yards of asshats!
@rollkursucks: Please try this for the abandoned dog, maybe they can help.
http://www.cspca.com/rescue.htm
More than happy to help folks in southern WI and northern IL with animal welfare help/issues and rescue. I am not a rescue but do work with several, and have been known (on occasion) to take in horses who were in dire needs. I am also a farrier in the area so have a large network of equestrians who are always willing to lend a hand in an emergency. Will be e-mailing you with my info.
I’ve got a list here: http://merryhorses.com/about-resources/resources/rescue-groups/
I also have a mailing list of about 700 registered users’ emails from an equine rescue network I tried launching two years ago I could share depending on what your project seeks to do.
Be sure to contact the Equine Welfare Alliance if you haven’t already as they’re working on similar hopes. And connect up with my networking persona on facebook, search Merry Horses.
Cheers!
Here in New Hampshire, the NHSPCA, does a very good job dealing with neglect/abuse cases so I would recommend them as the NH agency to deal with. If they can’t help, they can often suggest others who might be able to (for example, a terrific animal rights lawyer here in NH).
http://www.nhspca.org/
EXCELLENT calendar. I bought 4, 1 for myself and 3 for Secret Santas. Photos are of course first class and the graphics are layered and well done. Plus practical and easy to write on. Great job!
Re the dog that attacked the pony…it would be nice (and appropriate) to hear that it had been put down.
Or sent somewhere it wouldn’t be around livestock. Plenty of dogs can’t be, doesn’t mean they should be put down. My chows growing up would kill a cat if they got near one– so we just kept them away from cats. As long as the dog doesn’t have a hugely aggressive history, and this is the only animal it has attacked, I don’t think it necessarily needs to be put down. I would advise very strongly against keeping the dog near livestock ever again, but this doesn’t mean it is necessarily a bad dog. Putting it down as a punishment for attacking the horse doesn’t make sense, instead it should be put down if it is generally aggressive, not re-trainable, and not rehomeable. I realize we are pro-euthanasia on this site, as am I, but I think we’d need to know more about the dog to decide if it should be put down. I also realize in agriculture a dog that attacks the stock should be put down or sent away, but again, we don’t know that much about the situation.
My Dobes would definitely kill a cat if they got the chance- my barn kitties retaliate by annoying them as much as they possibly can. It is the dogs life’s ambition to catch a cat- the only time he did, totally by accident, he nearly lost an eye- cats defend themselves. He has learned NOTHING. The bitch will chase them if they run away and ignore them otherwise, but once she is in “pack” mode with the dog all bets are off.
I have never encouraged them, always made sure the cats have plenty of refuge, but, honestly, I would (and do) praise them if they catch rabbits, so how a dog is supposed to know the difference is beyond me, and them.
The dog would chase stock if allowed to, my horses just do not run away from him, and he is never unattended.
I think most dogs, except possibly the guardian breeds, will, instinctively chase stock if left to their own devices, and some breeds have a higher prey drive than others. That is when it gets nasty.
I’m starting a list of contacts up for those in Australia. It’s on my board – Equine Guardians. We welcome members from anywhere, as long as you love horses, we want to meet you!
http://s4.zetaboards.com/Equine_Guardians/index/
It’s only starting out, so still a work in progress. Currently following the situation of a Paint stallion named Hillbilly Bonfire who has been terribly neglected – he is safe, but now the moron who owned him is now cashing in on people’s generosity and demanding top dollar for his equally neglected mares and youngstock. From all accounts he is a nasty piece of work.
I am about to move across the world for university, and would love to keep riding while I study. I am hoping to get a job exercising horses or teaching lessons. I have enough experience to do both, so that isn’t an issue, but I thought I’d ask around here for any good barns to contact or how I should go about getting a job around Sydney, Australia. I’m willing to travel. I would love to do show jumping, but I’ve competed in horse trials and done dressage too. Any pointers are welcome! Thanks!
Hey, drop me a line at sooz.sargent@bigpond.com, I’ll give you some pointers. There’s quite a few equine staff agencies around here – but I warn you, any horse work in Australia is paid CRAP wages.
Excellent idea to form a rescue network, and hopefully this will include some animal control and other law enforcement personnel as well as rescuers. People with “horse experience” need to offer their expertise to local animal control and law enforcement agencies in areas where the enforcement officers lack this experience. And better to do so *before* a situation occurs, since waiting till afterwards can sometimes give the wrong impression. The post by “whisperplease” is right on, and it behooves everyone to become aware of the state and local laws that apply in their jurisdiction. And the laws will vary – sometimes a little, sometimes a lot – from one jurisdiction to another, so it’s necessary to be very familiar with them. Remember the post Fugly had a year or so ago about the horse being kept in the garage somewhere in Michigan (I think) whose owner had learned how to “play the system” and provide the very minimum amount of care required to comply with local law. Sometimes you just have to work to get the laws changed. I have worked in the animal care and control field almost my entire adult life, and have noticed a big difference in how similar complaints are addressed by different jurisdictions. Reluctance to become involved in a cruelty investigation and subsequent prosecution is not an unexpected response in a jurisdiction where such a case has never before occurred or been prosecuted, and therefore the investigators and prosecutors are inexperienced. When I faced that issue as a green animal control officer (ACO) in the early 80s, I countered by contacting the HSUS, which organization sent a seasoned investigator to our little town to teach us all what to do and exactly how to do it. Consequently, my very first cruelty case (involving 34 head of starving horses) was a success. There’s also the “crying wolf” syndrome, where well-meaning but ignorant do-gooders keep reporting neglect even when no neglect is actually occurring. This is espcially true in the case of dogs, since overweight victims of early spay-neuter abound to the extent that US citizens are unaccustomed to the appearance of a lean, well-muscled dog in healthy working condition, and will gleefully report such an animal as a victim of neglect and starvation. My current agency has had numerous reports of neglect involving “starving” horses and other livestock, yet 99% of the time the animals are found to be in healthy or at least acceptable condition. A recent report involved two animals in a field with no grass and no shelter, underweight, and not being fed. I drove by this pasture every day on the way to work, and had to wonder why the complainant felt there was a problem, since those two animals were fortunate enough to have this large (large enough to have housed way more than just two animals), grassy field all to themselves when so many pastures in Texas had been burned up or turned into dry lots due to over-grazing. They were not underweight, and the only violation was that there was no shelter (and that was only a violation because the field is located within our city limits). Another thing to consider is that when third parties step in and take steps like feeding and watering neglected animals, treating wounds, etc. is that such actions can hamper the investigation and may make a conviction impossible. Oh, and please include in this network a list of people who would be willing to board seized horses. Lack of a place to put them is another thing that causes legal authorities to hesitate when seizures are really needed. Knowing that they have experienced horsepeople available to transport and board seized horses would make the authorities’ jobs a lot easier.
I’ve been turned in by well-meaning folks before! First, in WA, because I had “cruelly blindfolded my horses for my own sick entertainment”…Got a call from AC (I actually worked for the humane society at the time so they knew me and my horses aleady) to come down to my pasture (that I was renting) and meet him. He was trying not to laugh at a poor little old lady who was furious that I was such a sicko to blindfold my poor horses since they could blindly walk into a tree or the barn wall or fall into the creek. He had already tried to explain to her, but she wanted to hear it from the demented owner….so I had to explain calmly to her and show her that they were wearing FLYMASKS and I was HELPING them, not blindfolding them in some sick joke. Although finally satisfied I wasn’t truly hurting the horses, I got the warning from her, “I’ll be keeping an eye on those poor horses!” Okay…thanks lady, I do appreciate it when someone DOES keep an eye on my horses too, but it would be nice if she would learn a bit about horses before panicing! After she left, the AC officer and I had a good laugh sitting on the tailgate of his truck.
Next was years later in VA on a bitterly cold, windy but sunny December day. My horses were huddled under a huge pine down by the road in my pasture (my own property this time), butts to the wind and dozing peacefully. A very angry neighbor called AC because I was being a cruel owner not to bring my horses into the barn and blanket them in the cold. Also she NEVER saw me feed them (they came into their stalls very early in the AM for their breakfast…before daylight, then again at dusk for dinner) and there was no grass in the pasture for them to eat (there was a roundbale inside the run-in in the barn for them to snack on all day as they pleased). Look at them! They were miserable standing out under the tree! So she showed up along with the AC officer pretty smug because she thought I’d be caught being so “cruel” to my horses. What she DIDN’T realize was that my horses were VERY shaggy PASTURED horses who had the CHOICE to come into the barn (the door was on the backside for them to come and go as they pleased…facing away from the closed up side of the barn) and that on sunny winter days I’d remove their blankets in the morning for them to roll and enjoy the sun and put them on again at dusk. My horses were always “naked” during the daylight hours unless the weather was wet. Turns out SHE had been raised with very pampered dressage horses that never were allowed outside without a blanket if the temp was below 50 and (god forbid!) would never had been allowed to eat a roundbale due to the nasty dust and mold in ALL OF THEM…in fact …and I didn’t know this….wow, learn something new every day…that NO horses should be allowed to stay outside in the wind unless they are blanketed because the wind destroys their coats. Also they NEED to be stalled as much as possible because horses can easily get hurt if left to themselves outside! The horrors of what I’ve done to my horses! Now I worked for a very high class h/j barn (cleaning, feeding, blankets, bring in/turn out, etc) and I sometimes thought my boss was anal about her horses, but they were HER horses and they seemed happy with their routine (they were turned out during the day and worked regularly and well fed) so who am I to judge? Obviously this lady had it drilled into her that HER way was THE ONLY way to own horses as I discovered later that she had a habit of trying to get everyone in the neighborhood in trouble because of they way they kept their horses (some good, some bad…) and figured since she had lived there the longest that the neighborhood horses should be kept HER way!
Sent you an email with the contact info for the rescue I volunteer at