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AMH
ID Number: ID2
Summer 2008
My husband and I have a couple of small farms in Kuna,
where we breed, raise, and train Arabians, half-Arabians, and Quarter
Horses. The focus of our training facility is reining.
Last summer we arrived at our pasture farm in the morning to do the
chores and found two estrays in our pasture. One was a skinny, skinny,
skinny young horse. The other, a gelding,
was in good flesh. I think that he must have been getting all of the
food. The gate ties
had been cut, and the horses had been put in the pasture sometime
overnight. The gate was
shut but not retied.
I called the local Humane Society and explained the
abandoned horses. They said that they
had no resources to come and get them and suggested I call the state
brand inspector. I
called, and he said that they would come out and inspect them for brands
and deem them "worthless." Then I could dispose of them. They did not
have resources to care for them.
Taking the horses to the sale barn was not an option. Horse prices are so
depressed that
you have to pay a deposit to leave a horse to be auctioned. Many of them
do not sell or do
not sell for enough to pay the barn for their basic fees. All the local
rescue operations are full. To euthanize a horse in this area and
dispose of the body runs about $250. Why should I
have to pay these costs?
We were able to give them to someone who was going to make an effort to
bring the skinny one back to health. I have no idea of the ridability of
the other horse, so I do not know if I
gave a good gift or a dangerous gift. I was just glad that they were
gone.
Questions arise from this incident:
1. Is trespassing on personal property a crime?
2. Is exposing my registered horses to diseases a liable action?
3. Is using my pasture, hay, and water back-door thievery?
4. Is expecting me to dispose of the horses fair?
5. If there were a salvage market, would these horses even ended up on
my pasture?
I wish I would have taken some pictures. The experience makes me so mad,
and sad for
the horses. If there was a market for such animals, the rightful
owners--who were probably
caught in the economic maelstrom of no money coming in and high hay
prices--could have
at least taken the healthier horse to the sale barn and gotten enough
money to feed the
skinny horse for the year. We need to restore horse processing to give a
place where our personal property, horses that we have a responsibility
for, can be humanely disposed of
and the remains can be used for something useful.
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Submitted by AM: 6/25/09 ~ |
