On Aug. 30, the Cecil County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ceased to be the county’s contracted animal control authority due to disagreements with the county over a recently passed animal control ordinance. Starting that same day, the county began an interim plan that divided the responsibilities of the control authority across several different organizations.
Calls started coming in to the 911 call center early last week about the horses by neighbors who were concerned for their health, said Richard Brooks, director of the Cecil County Department of Emergency Services.
Brooks declined to identify the farm from which the horses were rescued because there were no charges filed as of Sunday and he described the individual involved as a “custodian,” rather than an owner, who was cooperative with county officials.
Brooks said both Maryland State Police and the Cecil County Sheriff’s Office, which fielded those calls, in turn contacted him as the lead official on the county group working on animal control in the county.
Neighbor Wolf Portugal, who also owns an equestrian trail riding business, went to the property to speak with the homeowner
“ I had my hay man come and deliver some hay to try and tide her over, but the situation was past help at that point” Portugal said.
It was determined that the horses were in more immediate need of aid, however, and Brooks called Laura Hudson of Greystone Equine Rescue and Rehabilitation, Inc., in Rising Sun.
Brooks said Sunday that Greystone was a horse rescue identified by the county working group for cases of large-scale horse rescues.
The non-profit rescue founded in 2008 is owned by Carolyn and Bud Waltz, but run by Hudson, who is also an adjunct professor at Cecil College for equine studies. Greystone has about 20 volunteers on staff.
Both Hudson and Brooks personally visited the farm after Portugal’s first assessment and decided that intervention would be required.
Hudson first made arrangements at Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area to rent space for 11 horses already at Greystone, since the rescued horses would have to be quarantined for two weeks as standard procedure, she said.
On Saturday morning, volunteers lined up with trucks and trailers to move 17 horses from Elk Mills. New Bolton Center of University of Pennsylvania also sent four veterinarians to assist in assessing medical needs for the horses.
Sixteen horses arrived to Greystone two hours after they started including two mares, one stallion foal born at the end of May, four geldings and nine stallions.
Another horse was transported to a private farm in Delaware, where other arrangements had been made.
“ This is the most we have had here at one time. I am running two locations with 27 horses,” Hudson said. “The horses are all undernourished with teeth and foot problems and a few heart murmurs. The foal is slightly lethargic and has vitamin deficiencies. They have had no medical treatment for years.”
Hudson said the rehabilitation process would be lengthy, but only by slowing putting weight back onto the horses could veterinarians find out if they had additional health issues.
“Once you put weight on them, then you find out if they are sound or not and what other problems they have,” she explained. “The heart murmurs may just be from lack of weight along with other issues.”
Hudson said one of the horses in particular struck her as gaunt.
“I measured one of the horses who is 17 hands high and weighs 875 pounds,” according to Hudson. “He should weigh between 1,250 and 1,300 pounds. It will take over a year to get some of the horses back in good health and some won’t (ever) make it.”
Officials are still trying to determine exactly where the horses are originally from since some have destroyed tattoos, some have come from racetracks and others don’t have much information to identify them at all.
Most of the horses now are eating fields full of grass and hay and are on a nutritional plan to gain weight. They will be monitored and gradually given grain, Hudson said.
On Wednesday and Thursday, a farrier will be out to assess the feet and trim hooves of the horses, she added.
After seeing the state of the horses up close for nearly two days, Hudson said she hoped education could be a bigger part of the process.
“People need to be educated just like drunk driving classes after you have been arrested,” Hudson said. “You need to attend awareness classes same thing if the SPCA or police agencies have been called out. You need to take nutrition classes and make sure you have adequate food and shelter and pasture for your horses.”
On Sunday, Brooks said he was satisfied with how the county’s interim plan reacted to the situation.
“I think the results speak for themselves from the time of complaint to the time of response,” he said. “It was very good.”
When asked whether or not he believed an all-inclusive control authority, like the Cecil County SPCA, could have reacted better than the piecemeal interim plan the county has set up, Brooks said the county’s plan worked well.
“Unfortunately, these things go on, so we’ll have to address them as they come up,” he said. “We’re satisfied with the results.”
County officials have estimated that the interim plan will be in effect until Jan. 1 with the deadline for the county’s request for proposals to provide animal control services set for Sept. 14. As of the end of August, the county had not received any responses yet.
(Cecil Daily - September 10, 2012)
