Horse neglect
Marion County, FL (US)Incident Date: Saturday, Sep 30, 2006
County: Marion
Disposition: Not Charged
Person of Interest: Joe Moore
For the last 28 years of his life, Marion County farm owner Joe Moore has enjoyed looking out into his paddocks and seeing his horses playing and running wild, but now the thrill is gone.
"I'm 70 years old, and I'm probably looking at another bypass operation, and I just can't do the work, physically, to take care of them," says Moore.
Marion County Code Enforcement officers recently came to Moore's farm after an anonymous caller told them that his animals were malnurished and injured.
"They're poor in weight, most likely due to lack of proper worming," says Marion County Animal Cruelty Investigator Carol Cichy. "There's a lot of physical injuries on the horses due to the fact that a lot of stallions have been housed together with mares, and fights ensue."
But Moore doesn't see it that way. He says all of his 45 horses are healthy, and adds that the knicks and cuts from the fighting are just natural, but he is still voluntarily surrendering them to the county because he says he loves them and doesn't want to see them get sick or injured.
"I'm doing this for the welfare of the animals, and I hope this will get people to come out and pick up some of these horses," says Moore.
For now the horses will be taken to another private farm where they can be evaluated by a veterinarian, but county officials hope they can soon find other farm owners to adopt them. References« FL State Animal Cruelty Map
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