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Case ID: 16735
Classification: Neglect / Abandonment
Animal: horse
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Attorneys/Judges
Judge(s): George Ambrosini


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Neglected horse seized, 400 pounds underweight
Winston, OR (US)

Incident Date: Thursday, Aug 12, 2010
County: Douglas

Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Convicted
Case Images: 4 files available

Defendants/Suspects:
» Teresa Ann Dicke
» Linda Sessenden

Case Updates: 2 update(s) available

The animal-control officer called out to a horse pasture near Winston last month couldn't believe what he saw. How could this animal still be alive?

Grace, as rescuers later named the mare, was about 400 pounds underweight.

Lee Bartholomew, a deputy with the Douglas County Sheriff's Department, called Darla Clark, head of a nearby horse-rescue group. "He said, 'I don't know how to describe to you what I'm seeing; I don't know how she's still standing,'" Clark remembers.

Grace's is one of the worst neglect cases the Oregon horse community has ever seen. The mare's near-starvation has triggered a flood of empathy online and inquiries about caring for starved horses from around the world. The case may even add momentum to a long-discussed change in Oregon's animal neglect penalties.

When Bartholomew saw Grace on Aug. 12, he determined there was cause to seize the animal without a warrant.

"These were exigent circumstances," Bartholomew said. "That horse could have died any moment without veterinary care."

When he opened the trailer at the
After an exam showed that Grace's liver and kidney were functioning, Clark volunteered to nurse the neglected animal back to health at
Jessica Attaway. The former rodeo queen was convicted of neglect in 2009. Clark took in Attaway's two seized horses, Asia and Liberty.

Attaway's attorney tried to argue in court that the horses were old and couldn't maintain proper weight. But between the time the horses were seized and the court date, they already had prospered under adequate care.

Today, Asia is 40 and "probably a little too chubby," Clark admits with a half-guilty grin.

The defense's argument was rejected. "The judge said age is not a factor in neglect," Clark says. "That's exactly what the world needs to hear."

Putting on weight

The sad reality of animal-welfare law is that the only sure way to get Grace's owners punished severely would have been to let Grace die. Causing the horse's death through lack of feed would be aggravated animal abuse, a felony.

But there was just no way Clark and other volunteers were going to let Grace die. They started with small portions of alfalfa mash in two-hour intervals, so as to not overwhelm the horse's digestive system.

"It was heartbreaking at first," Clark says. "I'd give her two handfuls (of feed) and she'd try to eat through the bottom of the bucket."

Slowly, she was able to increase Grace's intake. She has moved from mash to softened pellets, with some straight hay thrown in for the mare's snacking pleasure.

Five weeks after the rescue, the mare had put on 150 pounds. She has another 200 to gain before reaching her ideal weight of around 900 pounds, but Clark says the horse is out of the critical stage.

Because of that, the owners were charged with misdemeanor animal neglect. Teresa Dicke, 49, and Linda Sessenden, 48, were cited with misdemeanors, according to the Coos Bay newspaper The World. Attaway was sentenced to community service for similar charges.

But the outrage over this thin mare may help an effort Clark and Bartholomew have been involved in for some time: to create a new classification for offenders who aren't actively abusing -- i.e. beating or maiming -- an animal, but whose neglect is too hurtful to only warrant a misdemeanor punishment.

Aggravated neglect would be a felony. Bartholomew, who is also the legislative chairman of the Oregon Animal Control Council, says he and others behind this effort are "trying to get together with legislators," to put this new law on the books.

"If we can find a way to make this a felony, people will pay attention," Clark says.

Grace's new found fame may help.

When Bartholomew called Clark in disbelief last month, she was "playing on Facebook," she says. Clark put up a brief message about the emaciated horse and left for the vet clinic.

When she returned, her inbox was full. An internationally read horse blogger had picked up her Facebook post. After local television and newspapers reported Grace's story, more inquiries on the mare's recovery came in.

"The only way to manage (the many inquiries) was to start a Facebook page for Grace," Clark says.

That page has yielded some unforeseen benefits for horses worldwide. Horse owners from as far away as Bulgaria have exchanged information with others on the page on how to care for older horses and how to put weight on a thin horse.

As of late last week, Grace had nearly 3,400 friends on Facebook. "My horse has way more friends than I do," Clark says, chuckling.

Then, soberly, she adds, "But there was one human she needed to really pay attention to her."

Clark has seen the property where Grace nearly starved to death. The driveway to the owners' home goes directly past Grace's corral. They had to have seen the skeletal mare wither away a little more each day.

Working to help

Grace is hardly the only horse suffering in Oregon. She's just one of the worst ones that have actually survived their ordeal. Horses are expensive to keep, and many people take on the responsibility without the necessary means.

Strawberry Mountain Mustangs has partnered with other horse rescues around the state in an informal network. They screen potential adopters for each other and shuttle horses back and forth across Oregon to get them to suitable homes. Clark was involved in founding the
If you need help
Oregon Hay Bank; 541-482-5550;

Case Updates

Two women have been convicted of animal abuse in a Douglas County court, in the case involving Grace, the horse that was found suffering from severe malnutrition.

The case stemmed from when Douglas County animal control picked up the mare in august of last year, that was described as skin and bone, with vertebrae visible on the side of her neck.

Teresa Ann Dicke, 50, Linda Fessenden, 49, were both convicted in the four day trial in Judge George Ambrosini's courtroom Tuesday afternoon.

Dicke was found guilty of first degree animal abuse and first degree animal neglect. Fessenden was convicted of second degree animal neglect.

Grace was nursed back to health at the Strawberry Mountain Mustangs horse rescue, and recently passed away due to health complications.

Sentencing for the two women his set for October 24 at 1:00 p.m.
Source: kval.com - Oct 7, 2011
Update posted on Oct 11, 2011 - 10:07PM 
Both Lee Bartholomew, Douglas County's animal control officer, and Darla Clark say they want a law that will lasso neglectful offenders.

Current laws make animal neglect a misdemeanor unless the animal dies.

In Grace's case, Winston co-owners Teresa Dicke, 49, and Linda Sessenden, 48, were cited with misdemeanors Oct. 10.

Dicke faces a citation for first-degree animal neglect, and Sessenden faces one for second-degree animal neglect. The World's attempts to contact the women were unsuccessful.

Bartholomew said he hopes to introduce legislation through the Oregon Animal Control Council next year that would make aggravated neglect a felony.

Doing so would make it more difficult for offenders to move to another county and repeat the neglect, he said.

Bartholomew tries to work with people to educate them about proper care and let them keep their animals.

More people are giving horses away, but often the people who take them don't realize how expensive horses are, he said.
Source: theworldlink.com - Oct 16, 2010
Update posted on Oct 30, 2010 - 1:34AM 

References

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