The horses, all thoroughbreds, were under the care of ranch owner Janice Deutsch, who said she has had an ongoing dispute with the county and that she has been trying to nurse the horses back to health after most were struck with a serious bacterial disease in the past year.
Animal rescue volunteers spent most of Thursday loading the horses onto trailers at Deutsch's 5-acre ranch on Hitt Road. Some of the first horses seized appeared to be in decent health, but an animal services officer said several others were in much worse shape.
"Some of these horses are skeletal and extremely emaciated," said Lesley Huennekens, county sergeant of field services. "We've been working with (Deutsch) for about a year and have seen no appreciable change."
Deutsch, 46, said in a telephone interview that she co-owns eight of the horses and boards the rest for other owners. Last fall, several of the animals, ages 4 to 17, came down with strangles, a highly contagious respiratory disease that usually is not fatal but can cause horses to lose weight.
Deutsch said she had the disease under control, but it showed up again in the spring. Ever since then, she said, she's been trying to get the horses' weight back up.
"Absolutely, they were in good shape before they got the disease," said Deutsch, who runs the ranch with her mother and two part-time helpers. "What the county is doing is outrageous. I know they're underweight, but we're working on that. The horses have plenty of room and plenty of cover from the sun."
She added that she pays between $2,000 and $3,600 each month for hay, but she said county officers didn't bother to examine the bills.
"They're stealing these horses; outright stealing them," Deutsch said.
Deutsch said she thought she had until November to get the horses' weight up, and with the help of her veterinarian had put the horses on a weight-gain diet.
County officials say there was no such agreement and Deutsch was recently served with a warning notice. When they returned to the ranch earlier this week, county officers determined the horses should be removed.
Dr. Allan Drusys, a veterinarian for the Department of Animal Services, saw the ranch for the first time on Thursday. He said that there was very little water for the horses and that their stalls were dirty. He estimated the horses were 175 to 200 pounds underweight.
"I could find only 2-1/2 hay bales, which is barely enough to feed this many horses for a day, let alone a prolonged period," Drusys said.
Deutsch said that if he had looked harder, the vet would have found more hay, and she said a shipment of 20 to 25 bales was due to be delivered Friday.
A neighboring rancher watching the seizure said thoroughbreds are known as "hotbloods," which means they burn up calories and need a lot of food.
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| Norman Lindsay, a friend of Janice Deutsch, argues with John Welsh, right, a spokesman for the county animal services department, during a seizure in which more than 14 horses were removed from Deutsch's La property. |
"It saddens me to see something like this, because I just lost a horse," said Sandy Bike. "If I knew she needed help, I would have given her some feed."
Norman Lindsay of Chino, who owns one of the ranch's boarding horses, was critical of the county animal control officers.
"This isn't a horse rescue, it's a horse rip-off," Lindsay shouted over the ranch's closed gates.
The animals were taken to an undisclosed location near Hemet where they will be nursed back to health, said John Welsh, a spokesman for the Animal Services Department.
He added that depending on what the courts say, the horses may eventually be sent to a horse rescue or put up for adoption.
(nctimes.com - September 22, 2011)
