Michigan: 9 horses seized (Clare County)
Should authorities seize animals it agrees it cannot care for?
Couple charged with animal neglect, cruelty [link]
Pat Maurer, Clare County Review | March 18th, 2009Warrants are being sought for a Harrison man and Livingston County woman on multiple charges of animal cruelty and neglect.
An anonymous tip led Clare County Animal Control officers to the Coolidge Road address where they found and confiscated nine horses and 23 golden retriever dogs March 12.
Reportedly the man owns the property where the animals were kept and was their caretaker. The animals belonged to the woman.
It isn’t the first time that neglect was reported at the Coolidge Road residence. Animal Control was called to the location before on a complaint about two months ago, Animal Control Director David Gendregske said. He added that the animals were given treatment by a Veterinarian from Gladwin County at that time.
When officers responded last week, Gendregske said three of the horses were “very thin.” Two of the horses were reportedly so undernourished that they were eating the bark from pine trees. One of the two has a serious skin condition due to exposure to tree sap and weather. They were taken to the Clare County Animal Shelter. The other seven horses were temporarily housed with a neighbor, since the shelter does not have the facilities to house and care for that many horses. The dogs were all taken to the shelter as well.
Gendregske said two of the horses may have to be destroyed due to injury or age but the rest are expected to recover. “We can already see a difference in the horses,” he added.
He said the dogs and possibly the horses may be “adopted before the case is heard.” He continued, “We are planning to petition the court to allow us to find homes for the animals.” He said in animal neglect cases where animals are seized, the court can be petitioned to allow disposal of the animals before the case goes to trial.
In the meantime, the shelter is trying to find enough food and supplies for the additional dogs and horses.
“The Animal Shelter budget, like other county departments, has been cut drastically,” Gendregske said. “We really appreciate the help of the community. Without their support we wouldn’t be able to do it.”
Anyone who wants to help should contact the Animal Shelter at 539-3221. “We are very short of food, especially hay for the horses. They are eating seven bales of hay every day. We also need grain and dog food.
What happens in a number of these cases, is that the authorities tell the public these animals will be adopted into forever homes. In this economy, there is no longer such a thing as a “forever home” … even well-regarded sanctuaries for large animals find themselves euthanizing healthy animals that are expensive to maintain, to save money or to make room for more animals in need of rehabilitation.
More often, these animals are distributed through private or public sales and have the same bleak future faced by any average backyard horse. There is no follow-up story to see how Beauty is doing five years after the “rescue” … ever wonder why?
An update to this story:
Abused horses settle in to new foster homes [link]
SUSAN FIELD | March 19, 2009It’s been a week since Clare County Animal Control officers took nine horses and 23 dogs from a home in Greenwood Township, and things are finally starting to settle down.
Volunteers and workers at the shelter, located on Hazel Street in Hayes Township, were swamped with calls from people wanting to help after word spread of the seizure of animals at a home in the 1000 block of North Coolidge, Animal Control Director Dave Gendregske said.
Two of the nine horses remain at the shelter; others are being fostered and all are under the care of a veterinarian, Gendregske said.
Although some of the horses were in worse shape than others, animal control took 23 golden retrievers that appeared to be well nourished and cared for, he said.
The dogs, however, were unlicensed and there were containment issues, Gendregske said.
Law requires animal control to take all animals from an owner when a seizure takes place, Gendregske said.
When animal control officers went to the home, three Clare County Sheriff’s deputies and five local residents went along to assist, he said.
“Without their help, it would have been extremely difficult for us to help these animals,” Gendregske said. “Once again, I’m impressed.”
Conditions at the home were icy at the time of the seizure, and some of the horses were not handled and were spooked by people, he said.
Warrants are pending for the owners of the animals, who could be charged with animal neglect, Gendregske said.
Saying that the community is always very supportive, Gendregske said about 50 people volunteered to help with the horses, one of which is so malnourished that a veterinarian said it weighed about half its normal weight.
Horses at the residence were eating pine bark; while horses will crib and eat tree bark for a variety of reasons, Gendregske said, pine bark is not something they normally go after.
Pine bark is bitter, and a veterinarian treating the horses said it is very unusual for a horse to eat the substance.
While the shelter is accepting hay donations for the horses, Gendregske said his primary concern is getting the animals healthy and to stop the owners from being able to neglect them again.
Walking to the pasture where two of the horses are being kept at the shelter, Gendregske on Wednesday tossed in another bale of hay.
“This is the one that really set us off,” Gendregske said of the skeletal horse with bald spots on its back and neck.
In the week that the horses have been at the shelter, they have gained weight, he said.
“All you have to do is feed them,” he said.
This statement is one of the reasons that seizure is becoming a huge problem:
“Law requires animal control to take all animals from an owner when a seizure takes place”
Then that “law” is faulty and needs to be fixed.
If I have 100 horses, and 2 are recent rescues, sick and under quarantine, confined separately from the rest of the animals, and a passerby alerts authorities, “by law” they must seize every single horse on the premises?
Even when they admit they do not have the facilities, the manpower, the feed these animals require?
What happens then is they go before a judge. They say, Judge, it will be months before we can make a case against the owners for these two skinny neglected malnourished sick horses … we can’t afford to care for them … can we sell or give away these animals? Judge gives the owners 5 days to pay thousands of dollars in “expected” costs for the government’s care for the coming months, or they lose the animals forever … even if later found innocent of the pending charges.
In one case, this “ransom” was almost $135,000 for 69 horses seized … far more than it would have cost for the owners to maintain the same horses on the same property because it included paying for overtime wages, security, and even hospital bills for volunteers injured through no fault of the owners. It has been two years since the horses were seized, and the defendants have still not been found guilty of any crimes against the animals. In fact, the charges were dropped. Did the county adopt these “rescued” animals out to forever homes? No. They were sold at public auction to anyone with as little as $100 cash, including “meat buyers” who ship to slaughterhouses in Canada.
We must fix the laws that allow healthy animals to be taken from innocent owners and sold to unknown fates, while protecting the truly neglected and abused animals.
The woman involved has a very long history of disregarding the law - Livingston Cnty court records, Genessee Cnty courts records, and the IRS will confirm this. Most are re: her dogs - she always has around 50 at a time, and breeds litter after litter. An animal hospital sued her for over $12,000 in unpaid bills, and won. Many puppy buyers also -they have to deal with hip dysplasia and the promise of papers - these are dogs that they paid anywhere from $1000 to $4000 for - but since the AKC suspended her, papers never exist. She moves the dogs from county to county to hide them from the authorities. They are unlicensed - she claims exemption because they are service dogs, but she has never been able to provide any proof that they are. It’s a scam. The dogs seized in this case are well fed because they are her cash crop.
Hopefully this will be the end of it for all her poor animals.
We need to stop the Breeding! I was offered over 20 horses last year and this year!
I own two Mares and I make sure they are very well fed-groomed-stalls mucked- wormed- Hoofs trimmed- Trained by me! Vet care. Please teens quit taking horses because they are free! Learn about them first. Read a few books! We have more than these horses staving in Michigan.
I had to leave the fair Grounds in Moncalm County- Over 50 head just skeletons! Eating their own feces and saw dust. I know dam well theses Vets never sent in their Coggins test! Just took their money, where they should have bought the Horses feed.
The Vets are doing a terrible job in Michigan. The solution to the Slaughter house. Is Quit Breeding! You don’t need the Slaughter- Quit BReeding!