According to animal control director Mike Cassidy, the two horses were in dire need of care.
“A neighbor called us, and one of our officers responded out and he saw that the horses were in bad condition,” Cassidy said. “They made contact with the owner, and it was a bad situation all the way around.”
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| How nice of Animal Control to not charge the owners for starving their horses. After all they "cooperated"! |
Animal control did not release the owners’ names, “because they cooperated,” Cassidy said.
Cassidy said the horses’ owners were having problems in their marriage, and the horses were simply caught in the middle.
“The gentleman that owned them said immediately that he wanted help,” Cassidy said. “He said that he wanted to get rid of them, so he was more than willing to sign them over to us, so we didn't have to worry about legal issues and fighting in court.”
Animal control turned the horses over to the Jessamine County Humane Society, who will nurse the horses back to health and eventually put the animals up for adoption.
Cassidy does not expect criminal charges to be filed against the owners.
“That’s because they were very cooperative through the whole process,” he said.
[Um, excuse me. But that's like saying a DUI suspect was 'cooperative' so you're not going to charge them. He didn't bother to call for help. He waited until there was a complaint and the authorities showed up and suddenly he's like, "Here, take them. I'm overwhelmed!"]
Cassidy said the horses are now being taken care of and he expects them to recover nicely, but added it will be a slow process.
“One is worse than the other. The one, the mare, her muscles are beginning to deteriorate. You can see hip bones and you can tell by their coats; they're in bad shape,” Cassidy said. “With horses that are malnourished, you can't automatically put them on good feed because it messes with their digestive systems. So they'll be on pasture for a little while and they'll work their way into some grain.”
Cassidy said animal control receives several calls during the year regarding possible neglect and abuse cases, but oftentimes, that isn’t the case.
“They're not always a legitimate complaint, but we go out and check,” he said. “Our officers go through a training course that's put on by the Kentucky Horse Council. It teaches them what to look for as far as body conditions. What somebody thinks is thin, according to their training from the horse council, they're not thin.”
It took animal control officers nearly two hours to load the horses and deliver them to the humane society. Cassidy said the biggest need now is for supplies and feed for the animals.
Anyone wishing to make donations can call the humane society at 859-887-1577.
(Central Kentucky News - May 3, 2013)
