"It is an emotional roller coaster to see the horses like this," Burke said Thursday inside the stable of one of the 16 horses rescued. Burke is the equine health manager for Richland's Last Chance Ranch.
The nonprofit ranch, Pennsylvania State Police and Days End Farm Horse Rescue in Woodbine, Maryland, joined forces last week and Tuesday to safeguard from neglect not only the horses but also 18 sheep, two goats, five dogs, one pig and one calf.
The team removed the animals from an undisclosed property in Pennsylvania. Two of the rescued horses have since died and two are pregnant. Burke said the dead horses were emaciated and severely neglected.
"Right now we have four horses at Quakertown Vet Clinic that are in critical care," she said.
Burke declined to disclose where the animals were kept and which state police barracks participated in the seizure because of an ongoing investigation.
A post from Last Chance Ranch's Facebook page say the animal rescue unfolded Friday, just hours before a massive snowstorm hit the region. Many horses were retrieved during the storm, which ended up dumping about 30 inches of snow in parts of the area. After the storm passed, animal handlers were back on the scene Tuesday to remove additional animals.
Six horses are being cared for at the ranch; four horses remain at the property from which the animals were seized, Burke said, being cared for by volunteers until the ranch can retrieve them.
"They just stopped feeding them. I don't know why. I don't understand people," Lori McCutcheon, president and founder of Last Chance Ranch, said Thursday. "It's just beyond my belief that this can happen."
Burke said it was clear the horses hadn't been fed for quite some time because their teeth were worn down, which indicates "that they were chewing on bark and twigs and things like that, too. Anything that they could eat."
Of the six horses currently sheltered at the ranch, one horse in particular, a 7-year-old thoroughbred named Clarissa, was in such bad shape that the Richlandtown Fire Co., Haycock Fire Co. and Upper Bucks Regional EMS were called in to help her to her feet.
"She could not make the trailer ride. She actually laid down during the trailer ride," Burke said. "That's very unusual for horses."
The ranch's Facebook post stated there were additional horses that were unable to stand during the trailer ride Tuesday to the Richland shelter.
Every rib on Clarissa's body, as well as Otto's, a 20-something year old quarter horse rescued from the property, are visible from at least 10 feet away. The same goes for the horses' hips and backbones.
The horses suffered the brunt of the neglect and, according to Burke, the additional animals were rescued as a safety precaution. She expects the six horses to make a full recovery, noting the skinniest horses "are demonstrating an extreme will to live."
"As long as we continue to, you know, provide everything that they need, which we will, they should have a 100 percent recovery," Burke said.
The ranch's goal is to nurse the rescued animals to full health and find them a permanent home.
(Bucks County Courier Times - Jan 28, 2016)
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