Red, The Rescue Horse
One horse's journey from neglect into health
by Dave Sauter, DVM, Kulshan Veterinary Hospital
Dealing with an animal neglect case can be a heart-wrenching experience. Unfortunately, animal neglect happens and someone has to cope with the consequences. With rising feed costs and hard times economically, such cases are regrettably on the rise. Today’s article is a story describing one such instance. In this situation, as in many cases of neglect, the owners simply lacked the knowledge and experience to care for the number of horses they had. The resulting condition of some of their horses was life-threatening.
The Whatcom Humane Society (WHS) is the designated animal control agency of Whatcom County, assigned with the task of enforcing the codes, regulations and laws concerning animal care. They were called on earlier this year to investigate a case of animal neglect involving a large group of horses. The WHS examined all of the horses at the location and also inspected the shelter, the amount of space for the number of animals, the availability of feed and water, feed stores, fencing, etc. Ignorance of basic feed requirements had caused three of the horses to be at a state of starvation that was life-threatening. The WHS used its legal authority to seize the three horses. One of these three emaciated horses was “Red” (named by her eventual adoptive home). Based on her teeth and appearance, she was a twenty-something chestnut Arab cross mare. One of the other two horses was Red’s three-year-old daughter.
When the WHS removes horses in an emergency situation like this, they need a suitable location to provide food, water, safe housing and proper medical attention for the horses until a permanent new home can be arranged. Generally, one of several horse rescue facilities is called upon, but at the time of this seizure all the local facilities were full. Fortunately, a “foster home" was found. A local animal lover with a big heart, Lynn Larson, agreed to take Red and her daughter temporarily. Lynn has taken in foster animals before, including peacocks, llamas and poodles. In fact, she recently was awarded the WHS Act of Kindness Award. Lynn teamed up with a veterinarian, Dr. Christine Monroe, to tackle the horse rescue project. The starved, lice-infested, wormy pair of horses were taken in with loving arms. Proper food, water, shelter, blankets, and medicine for the internal and external parasites were generously provided. Lynn and Christine grew especially fond of Red because of “her kindness and will to live.”
After about a month in foster care, a home was found for Red and her three-year-old daughter. The new owners were initially very enthusiastic. Unfortunately, the two horses were more of a project than expected and they became too much of a burden. Red and her daughter returned to Lynn’s.
The filly’s condition improved faster than Red’s, and with that and her more youthful years, it wasn’t too long before a suitable home for the filly was found. Red, however, wasn’t improving as quickly. Although she gained greatly in strength and energy, she continued to look horribly underweight and rough. With her advanced years, a willing home couldn’t be found. Several people came out to look at her, but quickly lost interest and left. As the weeks turned into months, the options for Red were dwindling. The WHS was struggling to find homes for numerous horse cases. In spite of the fondness for Red, time, patience and resources were running thin.
Red’s guardian angel came in the form a veterinary assistant intern named Ruben from the Bellingham Technical College. In addition to his veterinary assistant duties, he was working for Lynn and knew about Red. While interning at Village Veterinary Hospital, he told one of their veterinarians, Dr. Rachel Bangert, about Red. He told her how Red had been starved, how Lynn and Christine had been providing a home for her for over three months, and how, because she couldn’t be placed into a permanent home, she might have to be euthanized. Although Red had improved considerably over the three months, her condition was still very poor. It wasn’t clear if she could ever recover from her emaciated condition. In spite of these doubts, Rachel and her husband, Ken, decided to take Red into their home and continue the battle to save her. The kindness in the mare's eyes may have influenced their decision.
After several more months of patience and numerous bills for feed, blankets, lab tests, deworming, trimming, delousing powder, dentistry, etc., Red has finally returned to good health, seven months after WHS seized her. She has made an incredible transformation from a near death rack of bones with a gut full of worms to an easy keeper that may need to go on a diet. Rachel has even started riding her. And she still has her kind eyes, which are perhaps a bit more grateful to be in her new home.
A few observations concerning the subject of neglect:
• Horses that have been starved so severely that they have lost over 50% of their normal body weight are much less likely to survive.
• Taking on a starved horse is a formidable project. There is no guarantee of success and there is a lot of potential heartache and expense along the way.
• The WHS and the various local rescue facilities are always in need of financial support. Donation is another way to try to help these horses out.
• Feeding starved horses requires great care and patience. Starved horses are depleted of fat and carbohydrate stores and are burning protein from muscles for fuel. Their bodies are running in an altered metabolic state and they cannot be fed like normal horses. Feeding concentrated calories to the starved horse can lead to heart, respiratory and kidney damage, not to mention colic. Instead, numerous meals of good quality forage are recommended. Consulting with your veterinarian to outline a feeding program after an examination and laboratory tests is highly advisable.
• Expect six months or more for the emaciated horse to recover. Emaciated horses are in a fragile state – be patient. Feed changes must be gradual.
• Not all skinny horses are skinny because of neglect. Some skinny horses have owners who love them and provide them with everything possible to keep them as healthy as possible with special feed and care to try to get weight on them. Some old horses are like some very old people who simply stay skinny. Some of these old, skinny horses are active, happy and love to eat the gruel their owners provide. They have proper shelter and regular farrier and veterinary care. These horses do not need to be seized and the decision as to if and when they should be euthanized is between the owners and their veterinarian.
Happy Holidays!
by Dave Sauter, DVM, Kulshan Veterinary Hospital
Dealing with an animal neglect case can be a heart-wrenching experience. Unfortunately, animal neglect happens and someone has to cope with the consequences. With rising feed costs and hard times economically, such cases are regrettably on the rise. Today’s article is a story describing one such instance. In this situation, as in many cases of neglect, the owners simply lacked the knowledge and experience to care for the number of horses they had. The resulting condition of some of their horses was life-threatening.
The Whatcom Humane Society (WHS) is the designated animal control agency of Whatcom County, assigned with the task of enforcing the codes, regulations and laws concerning animal care. They were called on earlier this year to investigate a case of animal neglect involving a large group of horses. The WHS examined all of the horses at the location and also inspected the shelter, the amount of space for the number of animals, the availability of feed and water, feed stores, fencing, etc. Ignorance of basic feed requirements had caused three of the horses to be at a state of starvation that was life-threatening. The WHS used its legal authority to seize the three horses. One of these three emaciated horses was “Red” (named by her eventual adoptive home). Based on her teeth and appearance, she was a twenty-something chestnut Arab cross mare. One of the other two horses was Red’s three-year-old daughter.
When the WHS removes horses in an emergency situation like this, they need a suitable location to provide food, water, safe housing and proper medical attention for the horses until a permanent new home can be arranged. Generally, one of several horse rescue facilities is called upon, but at the time of this seizure all the local facilities were full. Fortunately, a “foster home" was found. A local animal lover with a big heart, Lynn Larson, agreed to take Red and her daughter temporarily. Lynn has taken in foster animals before, including peacocks, llamas and poodles. In fact, she recently was awarded the WHS Act of Kindness Award. Lynn teamed up with a veterinarian, Dr. Christine Monroe, to tackle the horse rescue project. The starved, lice-infested, wormy pair of horses were taken in with loving arms. Proper food, water, shelter, blankets, and medicine for the internal and external parasites were generously provided. Lynn and Christine grew especially fond of Red because of “her kindness and will to live.”
After about a month in foster care, a home was found for Red and her three-year-old daughter. The new owners were initially very enthusiastic. Unfortunately, the two horses were more of a project than expected and they became too much of a burden. Red and her daughter returned to Lynn’s.
The filly’s condition improved faster than Red’s, and with that and her more youthful years, it wasn’t too long before a suitable home for the filly was found. Red, however, wasn’t improving as quickly. Although she gained greatly in strength and energy, she continued to look horribly underweight and rough. With her advanced years, a willing home couldn’t be found. Several people came out to look at her, but quickly lost interest and left. As the weeks turned into months, the options for Red were dwindling. The WHS was struggling to find homes for numerous horse cases. In spite of the fondness for Red, time, patience and resources were running thin.
Red’s guardian angel came in the form a veterinary assistant intern named Ruben from the Bellingham Technical College. In addition to his veterinary assistant duties, he was working for Lynn and knew about Red. While interning at Village Veterinary Hospital, he told one of their veterinarians, Dr. Rachel Bangert, about Red. He told her how Red had been starved, how Lynn and Christine had been providing a home for her for over three months, and how, because she couldn’t be placed into a permanent home, she might have to be euthanized. Although Red had improved considerably over the three months, her condition was still very poor. It wasn’t clear if she could ever recover from her emaciated condition. In spite of these doubts, Rachel and her husband, Ken, decided to take Red into their home and continue the battle to save her. The kindness in the mare's eyes may have influenced their decision.
After several more months of patience and numerous bills for feed, blankets, lab tests, deworming, trimming, delousing powder, dentistry, etc., Red has finally returned to good health, seven months after WHS seized her. She has made an incredible transformation from a near death rack of bones with a gut full of worms to an easy keeper that may need to go on a diet. Rachel has even started riding her. And she still has her kind eyes, which are perhaps a bit more grateful to be in her new home.
A few observations concerning the subject of neglect:
• Horses that have been starved so severely that they have lost over 50% of their normal body weight are much less likely to survive.
• Taking on a starved horse is a formidable project. There is no guarantee of success and there is a lot of potential heartache and expense along the way.
• The WHS and the various local rescue facilities are always in need of financial support. Donation is another way to try to help these horses out.
• Feeding starved horses requires great care and patience. Starved horses are depleted of fat and carbohydrate stores and are burning protein from muscles for fuel. Their bodies are running in an altered metabolic state and they cannot be fed like normal horses. Feeding concentrated calories to the starved horse can lead to heart, respiratory and kidney damage, not to mention colic. Instead, numerous meals of good quality forage are recommended. Consulting with your veterinarian to outline a feeding program after an examination and laboratory tests is highly advisable.
• Expect six months or more for the emaciated horse to recover. Emaciated horses are in a fragile state – be patient. Feed changes must be gradual.
• Not all skinny horses are skinny because of neglect. Some skinny horses have owners who love them and provide them with everything possible to keep them as healthy as possible with special feed and care to try to get weight on them. Some old horses are like some very old people who simply stay skinny. Some of these old, skinny horses are active, happy and love to eat the gruel their owners provide. They have proper shelter and regular farrier and veterinary care. These horses do not need to be seized and the decision as to if and when they should be euthanized is between the owners and their veterinarian.
Happy Holidays!
Labels: dave sauter, December 2008, Doctors Corner, Kulshan veterinarians
posted by NWHS at
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