Eagle Hill Farm Equine Rescue- BEWARE

[horsetruth]

I am writing this post because I am at a dead end. I need help shutting down this horrible organization and I have run out of ideas. First a little background. http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/eagle-hill-equine-rescue-c204231.html You can see what others have to say about the organization by visiting that link. Here’s a short version for those of you who do not have time to read all of that.

The woman who runs the organization is named Ann Delp, she started out with good intentions of rescuing nurse mare foals.She is located in Fredericksburg, VA. But then she took in too many, and was unable to provide adequate care for all the horses. She now has (at last report by the state vet) 160+/- horses on approximately 40 acres. Her lies are endless, often times she will say a horse has been adopted out, when really its died. Many horses have died from colic (not euthanized, just died a horrible death). She cannot keep track of her horses and they often times leave her farm with incorrect Coggins tests. And many have left her farm sick and while in her care received no treatment for their illnesses.

Recently it was learned that her “horse trainer” Kent is actually a convicted felon, who spent an upwards of 20 years in prison for murder! (I have confirmed this with a background check) Unconfirmed stories of him inhumanely euthanizing foals were recently reported to me.

When confronted by authorities Delp always has some story about why the horses are skinny, often claiming they are new arrivals, when they have been there for years.

Recently the state veterinarian went out and asked Delp not to take in any more horses, and that since so many die at her farm they wanted her to have necropsies done at the state lab. Since then I know of 2 horses that have died (not under a vets care) and neither was taken to the state lab.

Local news papers are taken in by her and write wonderful stories about her efforts to save horses- but real horse people see her for what she is- A HOARDER, and quickly stop volunteering. There is so much more, but it would take me hours and hours to write it all down, so please visit complaintsboard for more background. Or contact the state vet and ask for a Freedom of Information Act Report.

I am posting to ask for anyone with the ability to stop this horrible abuse- or get media attention to PLEASE contact me via PM or look into this yourself.

Thank you horse community! Please help me to take a stand. Abusing, and neglecting animals under the guise of a rescue is NOT OKAY!!!

[equineelders]

Unfortunately, this facility has been a source of concern and frustration in the local community for several years. We had some “in person” dealings with them 5 years ago when there were “only” about 120 horses in their custody.

[Where_sMyWhite]

If these horses are legally abused, why is law enforcement not involved?

And if they are blowing it off, be asking local government why…?

[equineelders]

Law enforcement (up to the state vet’s office) is involved and has recommended that the farm management reduce the herd size since they (state vets) feel issues are related to the number of horses on the property. They have also asked that any deaths be reported and necropsies done at the state lab, but they have no real way to monitor if or when horses die, unless a witness happens to know about the mandate and calls them to report it.

[Where_sMyWhite]

I don’t know how your state laws etc are written but if she is breaking the law, why are there not criminal charges pending?

I would not think the state veterinary office would be part of criminal charges (but again, don’t know the laws in your state.)

[JSwan]

@equineelders;5128324

Law enforcement (up to the state vet’s office) is involved and has recommended that the farm management reduce the herd size since they (state vets) feel issues are related to the number of horses on the property.

Wow. If the state vet is trying to intervene then things must be very serious. Or they’re doing their best to intervene before winter really sets in and horses start dropping like flies.

I find it interesting that her horse sales business is the same website as the horse rescue.

The IRS takes a very dim view of unrelated business income when it comes to nonprofits. Just thought I’d point that out. She better hope she’s paying taxes on that.

So are we going to be seeing yet ANOTHER seizure from a “rescue” that turned out to be a hellhole? How on earth is the equine rescue community going to absorb hundreds of more horses???

[equineelders]

[QUOTE=Where’sMyWhite;5128341]
I don’t know how your state laws etc are written…[/QUOTE]

Very broadly and seemingly interpreted somewhat differently from one jurisdiction to another (IMO)

[JSwan]

equineelders -

It looks like this rescue has never filed the required docs with the state vet’s office.

All shelters and rescues are required to report number of animals in, out, adopted, died/euthanized. Annually.

Looks like this one never did.

[meredithbarlow]

I posted this a while back on complaintsboard.com

In November of 2005 where I adopted a foal so sick he has cost me 1000s of dollars in veterinary bills. Something I was aware of when I adopted him. He was adopted because he was so sick he needed immediate medical attention, something he was not getting at Eagle Hill. I cannot and will not try to attest to what is happening there today, but I will tell my horse’s story.

In November of 2005 some friends and I attended an Open House at Eagle Hill because we had information that the owner of the rescue was in fact a collector and not an actual rescue. What I saw was appalling. I observed horses with body scores ranging from a BCS 2s to 6s. The majority of the younger stock were 2s, 3s and 4s. There was an older mare who was a BCS 1. The majority of the adult horses were acceptable BCS of 5s and 6s.

Regarding grass/hay:
Most of the fields were overgrazed. Hay was provided but in insufficient amounts, and was not acceptable quality for horses. I have pictures to prove this.

Regarding grain: The animals were fed on fence lines. The more dominant ones got more and therefore stayed in better condition than the less dominant ones. I was told, but was not present at feed time, that some were brought into the barn for individualized feeding. The amount of horses I observed that were under weight would not have all been able to be brought in because there were not physically enough stalls to feed all the underweight animals.

Regarding water: I did not observe the water in each field but what I did observe was dirty, and not acceptable for drinking water.

Regarding the Body Condition Scores of the Horses: My foal was scored a 2.5 by three separate veterinarians. He was diagnosed with rhinopneumonitis, foal pneumonia and intestinal parasites. Pictures provided to me by the farm owner of my foal when he was first brought to EHF show that he was in excellent body condition. At least a 5, though exact scoring is difficult when only observing a picture. I mention him mainly because I can personally attest to the fact that he was examined by a veterinarian.

Regarding Coggins and vaccines: I was provided with the wrong Coggins test. It was for another foal that had been adopted out months prior, and then ended up returning after his adoption failed. Because that also happened to a friend of mine, I concluded that their record keeping was so poor that perhaps his vaccine records were not correct either. So my veterinarian and I opted to vaccinate him and booster him as though he’d never been vaccinated. We did however have to wait until he was healthy enough to receive vaccines.

I could go on, but I feel it would be repetative. My horse is lucky to have been saved, he made his genetic height and is a huge 16.1 hh. A height he would not have been likely to make had be continued to receive less than adequate feeding.

Rescues are supposed to save horses, not be put back into conditions worse than the ones they were rescued from. When a farm has that many horses on that small an acreage its asking for trouble. Based on information obtained from EHF’s website, I know they continue to take in more foals than any responsible organization would try to house at a time. If they ever decide to downsize or the state vet ever initiates a seizure, I will be here and happy to help them place the animals in their care.

UPDATE
In mid 2009 I attended the rescue again after receiving photos of horrible neglect and a video (that even showed a horse colicing and no he was not treated). In one of the photos there was a picture of a dead horse that had coliced so badly her intestines were coming out of her rectum. She to my knowledge died on her own, and was not euthanized. When I confronted Delp about the obvious grave site on the back of her property she told me they had buried trash and manure there and that it was not a grave… why lie if you believed that the circumstances in which the horse died are legitimate.

I confronted Delp regarding several underweight horses (none skinny enough at the time to be considered criminal, but certainly horrible horsemanship) She laughed when I said that her TB was a 4, and needed some weight. And when I confronted her regarding a horse (she claimed was her own) that was a 3 she responded that she just didn’t know why it was skinny. Ive seen “feed time” at her farm and its horrible. Most of the grain given ends up on the ground on the other side of the fence.

Her vet only sees the horses which she lets him see, and doesn’t know about how many die because he’s not involved in their deaths.

I have heard horrible stories from others, but I will only post about what I’ve seen.

[leilatigress]

Personally I would take pics and make flyers for the ones needing the most help and care. Post them in the feed stores, grocery store, anywhere I could. This should get the public ire up and hopefully get some off of her hands. It also gives you a paper record of the horses there you can refer to later for evidence. Now I know it might get some money in her pocket and I know it might get her some foot traffic but it also might get some horses out of there and care for the ones that are there. Keep calling local AC and if your lucky enough one of the horses gets out call the Sheriff’s office.

I’ll gleefully help you make the flyers just send me the pics and whatever you might know about the horses.

[CHT]

What a sad state of affairs. Plan of action depends on what outcome you are seeking.

Is there another option for these horses?

I suppose the best first step would be to not allow her to take on any more horses, but not sure how you would do this…advertising would keep good people from giving her their horses, but desperate people still might if they don’t have another option and would rather someone else watch their horse die…and as we know, putting a horse down can be fairly expensive.

Should AC close the place down? That can be tough if she has feed on the property. Laws aren’t that strict in most areas. If the place WAS closed down, is there somewhere else for the horse’s to go?

I guess my plan of action would involve talking to the State vet and/or animal control and seeing what would help them persue action against the rescue and providing a better possible outcome for these horses.

The fact that her horse training is an ex-con does not seem relevant and I think you should take that out of your argument. You do not know the circumstances behind the murder, and what is the point of letting people out of jail if you are never willing to give them a second chance?

[CosMonster]

[QUOTE=CHT;5129269]
What a sad state of affairs. Plan of action depends on what outcome you are seeking.
…

I guess my plan of action would involve talking to the State vet and/or animal control and seeing what would help them persue action against the rescue and providing a better possible outcome for these horses.

The fact that her horse training is an ex-con does not seem relevant and I think you should take that out of your argument. You do not know the circumstances behind the murder, and what is the point of letting people out of jail if you are never willing to give them a second chance?[/QUOTE]

I totally agree with the entire post, but especially the quoted sections. To me, the fact that the state vet is involved means that the authorities are taking this seriously (at least if that state vet is anything like the state vet I’ve dealt with in this type of thing), so my first step would be to talk to them and see what they recommend. Keep in mind that these things do happen slowly both because they need to build a case and because they really don’t want to seize 100+ horses as most areas do not have the resources for it. It’s terrible for the horses suffering but I do not know of a way to speed things up.

If you do think media attention will help matters, simply contacting the local TV stations and newspapers is probably the most effective. Knowing someone there may help but it isn’t necessary.

[meredithbarlow]

If you visit this link at the bottom a poster has posted a copy of the letter the state vet posted.
http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?p=5131229&posted=1#post5131229

[horsetruth]

I actually do believe in giving people second chances. And i think that even a convicted murderer deserves another chance. But he should not be working around children, and he’s threatened more than one person at the farm. So I don’t think he’s using his second chance very well. And was just arrested for possession of marijuana.

But in so many ways I realize its not related to the neglect.

[onelove]

any updates?

I had visited this rescue last year and was deeply saddened by the whole state of affairs. I wanted to know if anything has been done to shut this place down? I have been watching the Complaint board and it seems that this is still an ongoing issue.
For the life of me, I can not understand why this place has been left open for this long? Can someone please update me on what is going on with them?

[Eventer55]

@onelove;5307232

I had visited this rescue last year and was deeply saddened by the whole state of affairs. I wanted to know if anything has been done to shut this place down? I have been watching the Complaint board and it seems that this is still an ongoing issue.
For the life of me, I can not understand why this place has been left open for this long? Can someone please update me on what is going on with them?

Good point and maybe someone can tell me why the place on Rt 20 was not closed down. Yes, the vet went out when a cop called in a dead horse in full view of the road. Some horses were confiscated, but the rest were just moved to a different location with the owners and nothing changes.

[onelove]

Oh Geez…

I didn’t know that had happened. I am about to move back to the area and am very curious why she is still there. I interviewed with them last year and have a great resume so I was surprised that I was hired immediately being a eq vet tech, having started babies and youngsters, etc. Then I found out that she says she is hiring to make it look good to the public, like it’s an attempt to try to make things better but it’s just for show, not reality.

I’m told that she leases the property the rescue is on, but I wonder from who and why haven’t they been notified that this place is being kept the way it is?

I think more needs to be done and I really just don’t understand why it isn’t. If this was a private farm, ACOs would be seizing left and right…

[coinslot]

You say she is such a horrible person. At least shes supplying a home for all the horses. I am a regular voluntary, and they treat the horses with respect. There may be alot of horses, but they can keep a good home, until they find there everlasting home with another family. Its a rescue horse farm… the horses are going to be skinny. They are not going to be little beautys, but at least she trys.

[Carolinadreamin]

[QUOTE=coinslot;6077067]
You say she is such a horrible person. At least shes supplying a home for all the horses. I am a regular voluntary, and they treat the horses with respect. There may be alot of horses, but they can keep a good home, until they find there everlasting home with another family. Its a rescue horse farm… the horses are going to be skinny. They are not going to be little beautys, but at least she trys.[/QUOTE]

No. Just no. You are wrong, plain and simple.

[TKR]

If she has complaints and has been told not to take in any other horses, why couldn’t the state vets go in and get a head count and identify all the horses currently there. They could at least have a bit of control by doing that and putting down the condition of each horse. A recheck would confirm whether she is doing her job and if a horse is missing or added. As always, the animals are the victims. If someone would film or photograph the feed, hay, water and how things look at feeding time, downed or dead horses, etc. that might get something done. It takes documentation. If she’s been told not to take other horses, has anything been issued in writing to that effect so she would be in contempt or breaking the law if she does? What a shame!
PennyG