Fairmont Horses

Back on the 27th I mentioned nine starving horses outside of Fairmont and was hopeful that the owner would give them up willingly since he constantly complained about how hard it was to feed them.   He is willing to give them up, but his drug addict girlfriend is not.  So I drove down there today to see for myself how bad things were and get pictures so we could go to the authorities (again) about these horses.  I’m just now getting home, and what I saw made me sick.

Out of the nine horses that are left, only three are starving.  The others look very good, considering how they are kept.  This is their only shelter, and not one horse has access to it.  Perhaps it’s just there to add some class to the landscaping.

 

Five of the nine horses are permenantly tied to the barbed wire fence.  Most of those five had no water buckets that I could see, or they had one, but couldn’t reach it.

 

This little guy was penned up behind the house and my camera could barely zoom in far enough to get a clear shot.  But you can clearly see he’s in need of help NOW! 

 

These guys were not tied, so they could at least get to the stream of snow melt coming down off the hill into their paddock.  The one in the middle is the worst of the bunch and also needs help ASAP.

 

 

Here’s another shot through my truck window.  Poor thing!

This youngster is thin and wormy, but not as bad as the other two.

 

There was a stack of about 15 poor quality square bales by the road, but I saw not one piece of hay in front of any of these horses.  There was one other horse tied up behind the house, but I couldn’t get a good enough angle for a picture.  He looked ok as far as weight, but I still didn’t see any buckets near him.

I just got off the phone with the Sheriff’s department and they knew exactly who I was talking about.  They have had many complaints before about this asshat, but no place to take the horses if they’re seized.  The dispatcher said he’d send a deputy out there today and give me a call back.  Keep your fingers crossed that we can at least get the two starving horses out of there!

Wouldn’t this be awesome???

California is the next state trying to create an animal abuse registry, much like the current sex offender online registry.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/state&id=7292221

 

Other states have tried and failed, so I’m crossing my fingers that California pulls it off.  If so, it may take root and spread across the country.  We can only hope!!  What a great tool that would be for shelters and rescues!

 

On a local note, the crazy breeder down the road has now lost SEVEN horses since December!   A friend and I did a drive by last week to get pictures, but most the horses had blankets on even though it was sunny and warm that day.  But you can still see hip and back bones sticking up under the blankets, and neither of us saw ANY hay in any of the paddocks.  A few of the paddocks had no shelter of any kind, nor did we see any water in some of the paddocks.  We’ve contacted the local Barney Fife that takes care of animal control issues (or pretends to), but he’s really not interested in doing anything about it.  He says he’ll talk to Doc and go out there himself, but we’ll see.  I’m not hopeful.  At least he’s on the bottom of the authority pile and there are plenty of people above him that we can harass until something is done.

 

This is one of her draft broodmares.  She had no shelter, hay, or water.

 

This is one of her stallions with a bad heart murmur.  Check out those hip bones!  He’s wearing two blankets and you can still see his back bone.  He also had no shelter, hay, or water.

 

These two had a trough, but we couldn’t see if it had any water in it.  They also had a cheesy shelter.  But hey, cheesy is better than nothing.  The horse in the background is still in pretty good shape, but you can see the back bone of the grey and there’s nothing much left of her neck.

 

I hate to think of how many more horses will die before this winter is over!

I need a bib

*****UPDATE!  This mare has found a home!!

 

I’m trying to help someone find a home for her 10yo 15.3h TB eventing mare, and ever since I saw her pictures I’ve been drooling.  The mare is located in Delaware, however the owner is willing to transport her anywhere in PA, VA, WV, or MD for a good home.   She’s sound, healthy, up to date on her vaccinations and free to a great home.

 

 

It’s so sad that our economy has tanked so badly that this mare can’t even find a home when she’s FREE.  Back when I was eventing (dinosaurs still roamed the earth then), this mare could have sold for 5 grand in the right area.   I’d take her in a heartbeat if I were still eventing!  There’s got to be someone out there looking for a ready-made eventer that would give this girl a good home.  Please help me find them!!

Stick a fork in me, I’m done

With the snow.  Done, done, DONE.  Will it ever stop?  Will it ever melt?  Ugh.  Oddly, I’m so ready for mud. 

At least there’s one “person” on this farm that enjoys the snow.

 

I have some things to catch you up on, so here goes. 

1.  Doc was out on Tuesday to do some teeth floating and examine Genesis, who has returned due to financial and health issues.  He also checked Maverick, and much to our surprise, Mav has dropped his second testicle!!  Woot!  We’re hoping the weather will cooperate next week and we can get both Mav and Sky castrated.

2.  In yesterday’s post I asked for help identifying a farm in Prichard and getting some pictures of the supposed neglect.  Someone with relatives in the area stepped up to the plate and things are in motion!  Wish us luck in at least getting living conditions improved for these horses and dogs.  It’d be nice to close the place down completely, but another farm will just take it’s place.  Horses are going to be shipped to slaughter, it’s just a fact of life in this world.  As sad as it is, the goal is to just make sure they are treated well until the end.

3.  Not five minutes after I published yesterday’s post, I got a call about nine starving horses in the Fairmont area.  The person that called me is trying to convince the owner of the horses to give them up.  If he doesn’t do right by these horses, we’ll get the authorities involved and hope for the best.  Here’s the thing  --  no way can I take all nine horses on a permanent basis.  I’ll bring them here for Doc to examine them, vaccinate, float if necessary, and pull blood for Coggins.  Once Doc certifies them as healthy, I’ll be looking for foster homes.  If you’re interested in fostering one of these horses, please let me know!  Once I’m down in numbers again here on the farm, they can return here, or you can choose to adopt them.   Each foster home will be checked out and go through the typical criteria that I use for potential adopters. 

I could also use some help building another run-in shed if anyone can lend a hand!

Wouldn’t it be nice…

… if I’d stop blogging about animal neglect?  Trust me, I’d love to run out of things to talk about!  But alas, it’s that time of year.  The time when people realize that hey, maybe they haven’t fed their horses enough this winter because they’re looking mighty thin right about now.  Or they’ve run out of money because this winter has been harsher than usual (will the snow EVER go away???).  Whatever the reason, ‘tis the season for starving horses.

I received an anonymous letter in the snail mail today with no return address.  I can only assume it’s from someone who cares about the way these animals are being treated, but does not want to get in trouble when (and if) anything is ever done about this farm.  Here’s the deal:

There’s an auction holding farm and puppy mill located outside of Prichard, WV, about three hours from here.  According to the letter the horses and dogs are starving and being held in deplorable conditions.  A trailer comes monthly to pick up horses to, presumably, haul them up to Canada for slaughter.  There are 25 or more horses being held there in a small corral with no shelter and not enough hay.  Most of the dogs are on short chains with no food or water. 

The source also states that the WV Dept of Agriculture, PETA, and the sheriff of Wayne county know about this place and nothing has been done.  Does anyone live in that area?  Do you know of this place?  Would you mind doing a drive by and getting pictures?  If this letter is true and this place really exists, I may know of someone in authority that can help, but as always, pictures really are worth a thousand words.   Authorities typically won’t lift a finger unless there are good pictures clearly showing neglect.  Email me or leave a comment with your email if you can help. 

Holy Crap

I’m not even sure I have anything to say about this.

 

http://blogs.dogtime.com/animal-hoarding-news-and-info/by-tag/humane%20sanctuary%20inc

 

Other than, WHAT THE HELL WAS SHE THINKING???

If you’re tougher than I am and think you can handle the pictures and videos, click here.

Go read the article then take your time vomiting afterwards.  I’ll still be here trying to figure out why it took authorities so long to do something.  And why, oh WHY, would someone submit not only the animals to that kind of neglect, but their own 97 year old mother as well???

As mad as this makes me, I know I can’t lay all the blame on Kathy Witzman.  Because let’s face it… if it wasn’t for the wanton breeding of dogs for the almighty dollar, and the ignorance of people that don’t get their dogs neutered/spayed and let them roam the neighborhood, she probably never would have ended up with so many dogs in the first place.

Unfortunately, I’m facing a similar challenge with Cattle Baron and his sisters.  They started with one unspayed German Shepard female who found herself a boyfriend next door at Drunken Neighbor’s place in 2008.  The first litter of puppies froze to death on the front porch.  The next litter was lucky enough to be born in the summer.  Of course, none of those puppies were ever spayed or neutered, because no way would the sons breed with mom or their sisters.  Their God would not allow that!!  Drunken Neighbor’s dog has since died, but oddly enough, those females just keep pumping out the puppies.  So much for deity intervention.  Six out of eight born last month froze to death.  The girls finally got a clue and brought the next litter into the house.   Last I had heard, there were 10 puppies from two different litters, with more on the way.  There are at least four females over there of breeding age.

I wonder how long it will take for them to have over 160 dogs? 

Wrapping it Up

Let’s talk food.   With Glenn on the road for five or six weeks at a time, I’ve been doing way too much eating out.  I eat out when I run to town for water or feed, or when I go the other direction for hay.  It’s just way too simple to grab some fast food.  But we all know the evils of fast food and I realize the harm I’m doing to myself in the name of convenience, so I decided to make a change for the better and spend a little more time in the kitchen cooking something good.

Here lately, I’ve been on a wrap kick.  I’ll wrap just about anything in a tortilla shell, and it’s usually quick, easy, delicious, and way better than any wrap that I could find at McDonalds or Wendys.   Below are a few of my recent favorites:

1.  Chicken Bacon Ranch wrap, with pepper jack cheese, spicy guacamole, ranch dressing, sun dried tomatoes, grilled chicken breast, grilled onion, and a slice of bacon.

2.   Honey Mustard Chicken wrap, with pepper jack, bacon, honey mustard, fresh red onion, and baked breaded chicken breast.

3.  Shrimp wrap, with (you guessed it) pepper jack, pineapple (sautéed with the shrimp - mmmmm), guacamole, and bacon.  I find I don’t need a condiment with this one, as the pineapple is usually juicy enough.

Bacon makes everything better, dontcha think?  Eventually, I will be all wrapped out and not even want to look at another tortilla shell, so I need more ideas!  What’s your quick, easy, go-to food for one?

Puppy Pilates

First, you start with a ball.  Any ball will do, but frozen chicken eggs are the best.

 

You paw it to make it roll, then chase it down the hill.

 

 

If those other cranky women at the gym decide they want your ball, then just pick it up in your mouth and dare them to take it. 

 

When you’re done with Pilates, it’s time for step class.

 

 

After all that exercise, go home and take a nap.  Trust me, you’ll need it.

Loretta Bunny

Back in September, Loretta, Lily, and Maud executed a genius escape simply by gaining too much weight and breaking the bottom wire in their half of the hutch.  Lily and Loretta live under our side deck now, but for some reason Maud has moved out to behind the chicken coop and lives in a wild rose bush. 

Lily and Loretta are always there to help Timmy clean up his grain, along with at least half of the chickens smart enough to know there will be a lot of dropped food lying around.

 

Much like me, Loretta likes to wear her food.

 

Which doesn’t bother the chickens much, since they really don’t care where it lands.

 

I obviously took these pictures last week, before the ground became covered in more white stuff.  Loretta and I are so ready for April!

A Sad Day

I love getting emails from adopters about how much they love their new buddies.  But today I received a different kind of email.  One that took me completely by surprise and had me crying within minutes. 

Ellie died yesterday. 

The vet was out a few weeks ago to worm her and said her heart was “slightly irregular”, and he thinks she died of heart failure.

Ellie was only here from April to August last year, but in that short time we all came to love her dearly.   She was a smart, sweet little mare that loved attention (and scratching her butt on my windows).  A lot of you were invested in Ellie and her progress from starving pony with a body score of 1 to a plump little girl with fat jiggles.  

Ellie would have been four years old this year.  

 

I don’t envy young Chole the heartache she must be feeling today.  I just hope she realizes the good she did for Ellie in the short time they had together.