Comments on: Man Charged With Animal Cruelty For Malnourished Horses

By: Pace

Pace — Sat, 21 Sep 2013 05:15:46 +0000

How sad!! This individual was so dumb that he did not realize the horses needed more. Let’s put him out in the field helpless to rely on someone to feed and water him and see how he survives (give him somebody as stupid as he was).

Until we make the punishment more aggressive we will see more of this on any animal!!!

By: Shera

Shera — Sat, 21 Sep 2013 04:47:46 +0000

Ignorance for these horses being starved is not an excuse. I’ve read several comments that the horses are expected to recover. This is not always the case. If these horses were not dewormed properly, they could have damage from the parasites that can not be detected. They will never be healthy. How do I know this? I rescued a mare 2 mos ago that was starved and needed 200+ lbs. When I took her to my Veterinarian and blood work was done, she had extensive kidney damage and liver damage. The kidney damage was caused by severe dehydration. She will never be healthy, ever! I know she had worms, because she passed dead worms in her manure after deworming. She would not be able to handle the stress of riding or performance. Luckily, I found a home where she will never be ridden or starved. She is one of the lucky ones. Horses are expensive to own and care for. Good quality feed is more like $18.00 for a 50 lb bag. I’m glad these mares were rescued; just doesn’t mean they will recover from this neglect………

By: molino commentator

molino commentator — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 18:26:20 +0000

I would like to point out that just “hay and water” may be OK IF AND ONLY IF the animal is healthy and getting ENOUGH hay to sustain its size and weight (15 to 20 lbs. per day)….and of decent QUALITY, not junky hay. Judging from the mares’ conditions, this was obviously NOT the case.

By: perdido fisherman

perdido fisherman — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 17:16:44 +0000

Make him live the way he treated these animals.p

By: terri

terri — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 16:24:52 +0000

oh please dont blame this horrible starving of horses on IGNORANCE….he is a human being…a intelligent level far more superior than the poor horse who could not speak out and tell him how painfully the horses were suffering.

By: van

van — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 15:41:04 +0000

@ unbridled – Ignorance or not, this is ridiculous. You can’t tell me that the man didn’t notice his horses didn’t look right. I have friends that don’t know the first thing about horses but they know they should be fat and pretty, not look like a bag of bones walking around. It is very possible that he may not have known how to fatten them up but a quick trip to any feed store would be the first step. Or calling someone for help. He had to notice their ribs are showing, their hips are showing, their backbones are sticking out…but I doubt that his are. It is common sense that animals should not be this thin. Again, ignorance or not this is unacceptable.

I am not sure if you have been following PER’s rescue page on Facebook, but it clearly details how much of a struggle Capona has had just getting on her feet. It takes a healthy horse quite a bit of effort to get up just because of the sheer amount of energy it takes to get that much body from laying to standing. I would hope that he would have noticed her struggling to get up and thought, “maybe something isn’t right here.”

Maybe I am just mean, but I don’t think ignorance is applicable when the case is this extreme. A couple hundred pounds underweight, ok. This? This is horrendous.

By: equus

equus — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 15:07:58 +0000

@Bob’s Brother: I commend you for your restraint to pass judgment, and to thankfully direct attention towards helping the horses. I am certain, from following reports from PER, that the younger horse was most definitely near death and is still incredibly weak, but should recover.

I have an incredibly hard time believing that anyone with common sense could not see the condition of the horses was far more than “just lean” or near an appropriate level of weight.

However, for those who do not know what a horse should look like, you can visit the following link to show how horses are assessed on a body score for healthy weight or not: http://www.tacomaequine.com/bcs.htm, or just search “body scoring horses” if you think you or a neighbor does not know any better. ignorance is no excuse, in my opinion, when it comes to the care of another living being, especially by a man who claims to serve the community as a pastor.

By: Bob's Brother

Bob's Brother — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 13:20:31 +0000

I’ll not pass judgement on Mr. McCreary. That’ll be reserved for court and a real judge. I will say this, Diane @ Panhandle Equine Rescue can use all the help they can get. These horses will probably rack up over $1000.00 in vet bills.
http://panhandleequinerescue.org/extra.php#Prayers and Donations are needed!
Copy and paste this link to your browser and donate what you can. If you have a paypal account, it’s very easy. Feed is around 12 bucks a bag and hay is about 6 or 7 dollars a bale. Anything will help these fine people rehab these animals.

By: Atmore G

Atmore G — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 13:07:52 +0000

It is high time that we put a stop to all this animal abuse.. We read something almost every week on NE about this cruelty.. It is getting to a point to where it is a blight on the whole community.. We need to put some real teeth in the animal cruelty laws so we can stop this mess..

By: unbridled

unbridled — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 11:35:51 +0000

Do not get me wrong, these horses should NOT be in this state. But I would like to shed some light on this case. This man was not purposefully trying to be mean to these horses, and it wasn’t a matter not being able to afford to feed them. This is a case of pure ignorance. This man, whom my Mother was a neighbor of, had spoken with her on several occasions about his past. He grew up in a rural area and his family, who live in another state, have horses. According to past conversations, he did this to these horses because that is how he learned to care for horses. Hay and water and nothing else but occasional feed. To him, this is what horses are supposed to look like. It does not excuse his behavoir….but it does bring to light an important and much needed area of educating horse owners on proper care. I shudder to think how many horses have been or are currently owned by other members of this family who have learned how to care for them in this manner. I wonder what condition they are in presently….. Where he had the horses located they were pretty much hidden from view. You couldn’t really see them unless they were standing in just the right spot. If someone had seen them sooner, I’m sure they would have gotten help much faster. Only 3 neighbors have a view of his field they were kept in….and there was a shed the horses hung out in or behind most of the time making it impossible to actually see them other than to know they were there. Even when they were out of the shed, the distance across the surrounding fields made it hard to see them enough to tell condition.