While I did not work for the ASPCA, I did spend 2 decades working for animal control. Shelters want to get the horses off the payroll as soon as possible. So once we are awarded custody we place them ASAP. It sucks up to much time and resources to try to sort through all the papers/registration stuff someone suggested above, just so they get what could be perceived as a better home.
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The AMHA is saying they will work with the ASPCA and adopters to try and get horses identified and registered. Breeder has maybe two generations of unregistered horses (could be three, I forget now).
Apparently, the plan is to pull blood from everyone and AMHA will help build a genealogy chart back to the last registered horses so the unregistered can get papers. Horses that AMHA says are important to the bloodline will not be altered, with the aim to get them in reputable breeder’s hands.
This is the latest news from people close to the whole situation. We’ll see how it shakes out.
Sheilah
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That actually sounds pretty generous. What a great idea to get their identities sorted.
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So well said.
The contradictions inherent in the way our society views horses vs. housepets vs. cattle & other ‘real’ livestock leads to many problems for horses, unfortunately.
Glad to hear that some reality is entering the picture for the West Wind horses. To help them to the best outcomes.
The entire West Wind saga is such a cautionary tale, on many fronts.
Not least, how fast a situation can get out of control when an owner is not able to make rational decisions, and no one has the legal right to do it for them.
The title of the thread includes “West Wind Morgans”. But technically speaking, many are no longer ‘Morgans’, by registration. Just by heritage. The difference it can make in a horse’s life to be grade rather than registered can matter – although fortunately often it doesn’t as well.
Where I am, LE is reluctant to seize horses from AC neglect situations unless a rescue is ready to take them. Otherwise the horses go straight to the auction barn, which bills the county for their care until they are run through the sale. It is possible they end up on a meat truck to Mexico because a lot of gathering happens in this state. Not exactly a good outcome from escaping starvation. If no one buys them, I’m not sure what happens afterward.
As you say, once horses are in the county’s hands, the county wants them gone, soonest. The county sees them as an expense item. Seized cattle (rare) sell fairly easily. Seized horses – it just depends on what buyers are at the sale, and what they might want to do with them.
I am not sure that LE here pays much attention to registration papers, if there are any. I can’t imagine that an owner whose horses are being seized is happy to send their papers with them. Possibly AC could handle papers if they are available.
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That’s how I ended up with my best horse… through an auction. Unfortunately, her history, papers, and identity were all lost the moment she entered the auction. Considering her level of training, she should never have ended up there. I know someone knows her identity, but my searches have not yielded any information, but how do you search when you don’t even know where to start? I don’t even know what state she came from. I tried DNA testing but they didn’t find any matches.
Who knows? They could have bought her from a different auction and shipped her with 20 other horses to their location. And the paperwork just gets tossed in a trashcan. I’m not sure, if they try to keep horses with their paperwork, when they have that many to auction off.
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