"I'm trying to work as hard as I possibly can," he said.
He's been on the job for eight months and said he's trying to turn the public's perception of the county's animal control unit around.
"I just kind of feel that with the incident going on here now, that they don't really have the faith in the animal control that I would like to see at this time," Lovett said.
After taking complaints on the condition of a horse for months, Lovett said he talked the owner into giving it up. Lovett said the owner was in compliance with providing food and water, but the owner's age prevented him from checking on the horse every day.
The county's animal control department now responds to all animal related problems, which Lovett says wasn't the case in the past.
"As far as the urgency, we sometimes have to prioritize the calls that we have coming in," he said.
While some may consider this case urgent, Lovett said the owner was not doing anything illegal and he wanted to help him find a solution.
[Clearly, this animal control unit has a long way to go to understand the laws. All state laws require that owners provide needed veterinary care for their animals. If this person was supposedly providing food and water, WHY DOES THE HORSE LOOK LIKE THAT?! ]
"We are gradually trying to be what we need to be to everybody," he said.
(WPSD - Nov 1, 2013)
The horse may look like that because it's old, and old horses sometimes get frail.
ReplyDeleteI've had many old horses, 30's and 40's, and at some point most will eventually get thin and not be able to eat enough to cover their ribs, even with the best veterinary care and high calorie "all you can eat" diets.
Sometimes these old guys literally have no teeth left and need to be fed moisturized beet pulp, or finely chopped alfalfa mixed with molassas ALL DAY LONG. They can be kept happy, but they're never going to be in the midrange of 'condition' scale again.
This is a HUGE problem for those of us who like to keep our beloved horses as long as they are happy. Often folks will dump or euthanize their animals as soon as they start looking frail just because AC doesn't understand that old horses, like old people, sometimes get skinny and can't eat enough to get fat, due to their digestive systems slowly shutting down.
Am I to kill my old friend who still enjoys life just because he's 'ugly'? Just because he's no longer able to maintain weight?
Funny thing is, the flip side often also happens. May old horses come down with Cushings Disease that causes them to gain weight on nearly nothing, and makes them founder prone. These horses look fat and sassy, but are likely to be in serious pain as their joints are stress, or they founder because of the excessive weight.
AC NEVER gets calls about those.
Certainly the horse in this story could be old, but that is why a vet check is required by law. That is an insurance policy for the owner - a licensed vet stating that the horse is geriatric and will never attain a 4-5 on the BCS. There may be things the vet can recommend that would help the horse enjoy its last months/years. However, an animal control officer cannot simply take the word of an owner. Also, if the owner had a current vet report on file, when new complaints come in to Animal Control, they can assure the caller that no, it's not abuse. That the horse is very old and that the vet stated it's still got a good quality of life, despite its appearance. That's how you handle a call like this, IMO.
DeleteYeah maybe so on old horses. But a VET needs to decide that. We should not take someone's word about that. He could give the owner a copy of the laws regarding care and treatment of a horse and request a Vet check and then DIRECT him to do so if nothing happens in coordination with the County AG agent or a Horse Vet.
ReplyDeleteThen if he has to get a county vet or agent out there and they agree something more can be done (parasites, floating teeth, appropriate food) give a warning ticket and followup. People don't know and I've seen this a bunch with old farmers who think a horse can just eat junk cow hay and do well.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Elderly owners are 'old school' and have not moved forward with the times. The laws regarding animals have changed in the last few decades and needed vet care is required by law. Education with the owner comes first, but then prosecution needs to follow should the owner refuse to do what's required by law.
Delete#
ReplyDeleteHello Marshall County check out http://www.nacanet.org/training.html and send your guy to that.
ReplyDelete