Horse neglect - 10 seized
Hayden, ID (US)Incident Date: Wednesday, Dec 26, 2007
County: Kootenai
Disposition: Alleged
Abuser names unreleased
Animal neglect cases used to be rare in Kootenai County. This year, particularly with horses, they've bordered on commonplace, a sheriff's spokeswoman said.
"They used to be few and far between; now they're more common," said Lt. Kim Edmondson, adding that high hay prices and no market for common riding horses are factors.
Ten horses were picked up at Richard Reese's 11-acre farm on Wednesday at the corner of Garwood and Rimrock roads by animal control officers and Panhandle Equine Rescue.
Animal control visited Reese's place about a week ago and provided a plan on how the feeding routine needed to improve because the horses weren't receiving proper nutrition.
"It's a matter of opinion," Reese said. "Nothing died out here, nothing is sick, nothing is laying down. There's no catastrophe. I just have neighbors who make it their business to call in."
Edmondson said the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department has received between 10 to 15 calls from various people about the horses during the past two months.
"There's no feed, salt or water that those horses need to survive on in the wintertime," she said.
Animal control warned Reese multiple times about the conditions, she said.
"One of the horses is in reasonable condition; the other nine are in very poor condition," she said. "The majority are pregnant mares. If they're not fed well, oftentimes they can abort their pregnancies."
Reese said he has been supplementing bluegrass hay with alfalfa pellets.
"They wanted me to go with a different hay (alfalfa), but I was trying to buy at the right price," he said. "I was going to get it today when they showed up this morning."
But Edmondson said the feed was moldy bluegrass straw and there were no pellets to be found.
"Horses get no nourishment from bluegrass straw," she said. "Since they were in poor condition, we're assuming they'll have illnesses. Straw does not cut it, especially moldy straw.
"Hay on order doesn't do hungry horses any good."
Some of the horses were difficult to load because they hadn't been handled well enough, Edmondson said. Rescuers began their quest early in the morning and they were still working on one late in the afternoon.
Reese, who breeds horses, said he intends to fight to get the animals back.
"I guess I'll have my day in court," he said. "I begged and pleaded to not take them, but they came here ready to do it."
Reese said he has tried to sell the horses, but to no avail. He said he heard of people tying up horses at an auction yard in Davenport, Wash., at night and giving them away.
Hay prices start out at $225 a ton -- double what they were two years ago. There's also a shortage of hay locally because farmers have gone with other crops and the horse meat production market is closed, Edmondson said.
"If people can't take care of their animals, they need to take a loss," she said. "If you've got them, you need to love them."
Edmondson said this is the third local case this year in which horses were seized after the owners were warned. There have been several other cases where the owners improved conditions to avoid seizure. References
« More cases in Kootenai County, ID
|
