Would you please cross post this to the Off Course forum thread?
Thanks.
I attended the press conference and posted my cellphone video of the entire thing as a Public post on my facebook page, which hopefully is at this link:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100006108076530
Or just find it on Facebook under the name “A Fox Hunter”
She is being held without bond overnight and has a bond hearing tomorrow morning. She had a few warrants out in various counties for Failure to Appear on minor traffic violations; perhaps those will affect the bond decision. Also, search warrants were executed in Albemarle County on storage units she rents which were emanating a “unique smell,” and I wonder whether those will be discussed at the hearing tomorrow morning.
Better news is that the members of the Board of Directors of the nonprofit have been summonsed for a hearing regarding the seizure of the last ten horses removed from the farm (the previous 71 horses she surrendered; law enforcement did not have to seize them to remove them).
I am absolutely livid about the fact that last Saturday, I watched little 4-H kids in a neighboring county – where the primary employer is a Wal-Mart distribution center – collecting donations from hardworking country people to feed these animals, while millions of dollars in donations and grants from her well-connected friends, and while the high-net-worth individuals making up her board, have done absolutely NOTHING to provide for these animals.
At a minimum, the individuals on the Board – not legally, just morally, just Do The Right Thing-ly, should send a check to the legitimate rescues with a note reading, “Enclosed kindly find our contribution to the ongoing care of the animals removed from Peaceable Farm.” With five zeroes. FIVE ZEROES! They could easily get that money together. Instead, it is down to Wal-Mart workers and kids begging in parking lots. Disgusting.
[QUOTE=The Anonymous Foxhunter;8375743]
I attended the press conference and posted my cellphone video of the entire thing as a Public post on my facebook page, which hopefully is at this link:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100006108076530
Or just find it on Facebook under the name “A Fox Hunter”
She is being held without bond overnight and has a bond hearing tomorrow morning. She had a few warrants out in various counties for Failure to Appear on minor traffic violations; perhaps those will affect the bond decision. Also, search warrants were executed in Albemarle County on storage units she rents which were emanating a “unique smell,” and I wonder whether those will be discussed at the hearing tomorrow morning.
Better news is that the members of the Board of Directors of the nonprofit have been summonsed for a hearing regarding the seizure of the last ten horses removed from the farm (the previous 71 horses she surrendered; law enforcement did not have to seize them to remove them).
I am absolutely livid about the fact that last Saturday, I watched little 4-H kids in a neighboring county – where the primary employer is a Wal-Mart distribution center – collecting donations from hardworking country people to feed these animals, while millions of dollars in donations and grants from her well-connected friends, and while the high-net-worth individuals making up her board, have done absolutely NOTHING to provide for these animals.
At a minimum, the individuals on the Board – not legally, just morally, just Do The Right Thing-ly, should send a check to the legitimate rescues with a note reading, “Enclosed kindly find our contribution to the ongoing care of the animals removed from Peaceable Farm.” With five zeroes. FIVE ZEROES! They could easily get that money together. Instead, it is down to Wal-Mart workers and kids begging in parking lots. Disgusting.[/QUOTE]
And I believe that these people who allowed their name to be associated with this scam rescue as members of the board of directors, should be publicly outted
and held to some degree of responsibility. Let’s hope that will happen.
“Had Mrs. Goland not voluntarily released many of them, we would have had no authority to take them from her.”
This is the problem. The laws are too vague and weak.
The Board has been summoned to appear at the November hearing. See last paragraph below.
http://wina.com/news/064460-peaceable-farmer-owner-arrested/ :
[i]"Anne Goland has been charged with 27 counts of animal cruelty. Peaceable Farm, which Goland owns, was thrust into the spotlight when Orange County deputies responded to a report of seven dead horses last week. Five other horses were so far gone they had to be euthanized. Authorities say while a handful of the hundred-plus horses were healthy, most were neglected, starving or both. In all, 81 horses were eventually taken away, including ten that were seized by the county when Goland refused to turn them over. Investigators also found dead dogs, cats and chickens.
Peaceable Farm is listed as a 501c3, but Goland (pictured) also bred horses there. One question is how many, if any, of the horses had actually been rescued. Some had been purchased for personal use. Many had previously been living on a farm in Maryland. Authorities suspect when Goland learned she was facing the possibility of charges there, she took them to Orange County.
Investigators are now following animal cruelty leads in both Maryland and Pennsylvania. The IRS is looking at possible fraud charges. Commonwealth’s Attorney Diana Wheeler says additional charges are pending in Orange County, but it will take quite some time to go over the veterinary reports of the 81 horses that had to be put into the care of volunteers and animal rescue groups. Eighteen horses and a handful of other animals did not meet the criteria for animal seizure. They are now being cared for on-site by a friend and a family member.
There will be a separate seizure hearing November 4th on the animals taken by the county. Peaceable Farm’s five-member board of directors, which includes Goland’s ex-husband Tony Goland, have been summoned to appear."[/i]
[QUOTE=sid;8375577]
Would you please cross post this to the Off Course forum thread?
Thanks.[/QUOTE]
If you’re referring to my post, it was posted there also.
[QUOTE=LookmaNohands;8375927]
“Had Mrs. Goland not voluntarily released many of them, we would have had no authority to take them from her.”
This is the problem. The laws are too vague and weak.[/QUOTE]
Exactly. And that is why there is a concerted effort to fix the law. See below:
https://www.facebook.com/anna.russau/posts/10206368739470970?fref=nf&pnref=story
I can not think of a single time that politicians created a useful law out of the hysteria, chaos and finger pointing generated by a situation like this. It is ALWAYS bad law that we live to regret over time.
First of all, how about waiting to determine what the problem actually is / was, and then specifically address it.
This is clearly about much more than just one “bad person” doing bad things.
To fix a problem, we have to take the time to understand the problem. And i think one inquiry worth taking a second look at is: "WHY WERE SO MANY HORSES IN RESCUE TO START WITH?
Over my lifetime I have seen a cavalier and reckless disregard for horses, from selling to anyone who shows up with a check, to abusive training methods, to discarding horses like used Kleenex when the owner is done with them, or has broken them, or has out grown them. I see horses across the board dumped at killer auctions with absolutely no care what so ever for the journey “from auction to slaughter.” We can all probably name breeders who send their unsaleable “stock” to market at killer auctions, only to turn right around and breed more, that also go to killer auctions.
We have allowed this, we turn a blind eye to it. If you owned and /or bred a horse, that you now do not know where it is, you may be part of this horror simply because you saw the horse only in terms of how you would benefit from the horse. And so did everyone else, right down the line until the horse died, exploited, abused and in agony.
How did the horse you owned and/or bred die? Who was there at the end?
Let’s take a hard cold look in the mirror before we start pointing fingers every where else.
One issue we have to face is what to do with aged, injured horses, and horses that for one reason or another have no real market value except to the meat man. In my community I pay about $25-$30 per day, per horse, by the time I factor in all feed, vet care, farrier, staff, supplies, overhead, mortgage, taxes, etc. That is without training, showing etc. So I have that fixed cost, per horse, for twenty - five to thirty years. If you do the math, it is unsustainable.
Maybe an issue we need to address is how do we make humane euthanasia available so that there are options for death with dignity for our beloved aged horses.
[QUOTE=Cartier;8376011]
I can not think of a single time that politicians created a useful law out of the hysteria, chaos and finger pointing generated by a situation like this. It is ALWAYS bad law that we live to regret over time.
First of all, how about waiting to determine what the problem actually is / was, and then specifically address it.
This is clearly about much more than just one “bad person” doing bad things.
To fix a problem, we have to take the time to understand the problem. And i think one inquiry worth taking a second look at is: "WHY WERE SO MANY HORSES IN RESCUE TO START WITH?
Over my lifetime I have seen a cavalier and reckless disregard for horses, from selling to anyone who shows up with a check, to abusive training methods, to discarding horses like used Kleenex when the owner is done with them, or has broken them, or has out grown them. I see horses across the board dumped at killer auctions with absolutely no care what so ever for the journey “from auction to slaughter.” We can all probably name breeders who send their unsaleable “stock” to market at killer auctions, only to turn right around and breed more, that also go to killer auctions.
We have allowed this, we turn a blind eye to it. If you owned and /or bred a horse, that you now do not know where it is, you may be part of this horror simply because you saw the horse only in terms of how you would benefit from the horse. And so did everyone else, right down the line until the horse died, exploited, abused and in agony.
How did the horse you owned and/or bred die? Who was there at the end?
Let’s take a hard cold look in the mirror before we start pointing fingers every where else.
One issue we have to face is what to do with aged, injured horses, and horses that for one reason or another have no real market value except to the meat man. In my community I pay about $25-$30 per day, per horse, by the time I factor in all feed, vet care, farrier, staff, supplies, overhead, mortgage, taxes, etc. That is without training, showing etc. So I have that fixed cost, per horse, for twenty - five to thirty years. If you do the math, it is unsustainable.
Maybe an issue we need to address is how do we make humane euthanasia available so that there are options for death with dignity for our beloved aged horses.[/QUOTE]
All points well taken and needs to be said. As a “breeder” I wound up keeping mine for the very reasons you point out. Spent a ton of money on training to boot so they could live here and teach others the discipline of dressage.
Not what I had planned when I started breeding, but I figured out that I could not, morally, having brought these horses into the world (MY decision, not really understanding what the “end” might be for them in aged years at that time), not know their eventual fate.
Has it been a financially killer for me. Yes, but I had to make a choice. Them first.
That said, I respectfully do not agree with the assertion that no good laws come from highlighting this sort of thing that has been around for a long time, and unfortunately becoming more commonplace. Well, maybe we know more about it now because of the internet and social media.
I will never “regret” a law that allows animal control officers to have the legal leeway to get a horse to safe keeping, before it may have its dying breath from a long, slow and painful starvation. Better to put a bullet in its head to suffer this kind of agony.
I don’t believe this is “hysteria” as you call it. It is a wake up call and needs to be addressed here in Virginia.
Susan,
I did not mean to imply that you or any of the wonderful people who are stepping up here were a part of the " hysteria" but I can see where you might have misunderstood me and for that I apologize.
You and I are very similar, in that we accept the life long comittment we make when we create an animal. Not everyone feels the way we do. I think too many people see horses as a disposable commodity to use, abuse and exploit, and then dump.
Ilona was talking about Summer Camps that routinely send all the riding horses and ponies to killer auctions at the end of the summer because it’s cheaper to buy more next spring than carry the ones they’ve used all summer over the winter. Come next spring they just buy more horses and ponies,
I think that the number of animals in “rescue” is alarming, and “rescue” itself is becoming a lucrative business. We see that in dogs as well as horses. There is a type of personality drawn to this, that is not always healthy. We hear again and again about Rescue Nazis who will not allow people to even adopt dogs if they work. And there are rescues that let dogs go to homes that are just not suitable, that a breeder would never accept (i.e., a home with no fenced yard.)
I doubt we’d all even agree on what the definition of “acceptible home” is. And I think we should have some leeway to disagree. We can not legislate ethics or morals.
I am vigorously opposed to laws that impinge upon a lawful citizen’s rights. And I am more concerned with giving minimum wage poorly trained poorly supervised government employees the power to seize property without a warrant based upon probable cause.
As much as it is a Disney fantasy to believe that most horses die peacefully of old age, on a warm spring morning in the pasture where they were born, surrounded by their extended family and tended by those who loved them, it is also a fantasy to believe that all rescues are credible and all AC officers act professionally or even have a clue what they are doing.
On its face it appears that a lot of credible people dropped the ball here. Before we pass more laws that take rights away from you and me, and other law abiding citizens, we might want to wait to see where the system failed, if at all. And then promlagate laws narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling state goal.
Thanks, Cartier.
I’m not one to want to pass more laws, that may infringe on individual rights either. I’m totally against that and have been often criticized of my more libertarian views.
That said, this has, in grand form, shown exactly where the “system” failed in spades.
Remember, had this chronic perpetrator of horse/animal horrid abuse, not agreed to relinquish them the authorities who discovered the carnage, the horses that were still barely alive among those and other animals dead all over the property, she could have kept them and let them die.
In Virginia, that’s the law. The authorities may have been able to take the dead carcasses off the property, but they had no ability to actually seize the desperate others, had she not agreed to.
That is the crux of the problem as I see it.
That is sickening. But as we all know, horses do not starve to death over night.
From what I have read, they are some very prominent horse people on the Board of this rescue. Where the hell were they over the months it took for this situation to get so bad? And where are the last owners of these 81 horses that were in this rescue to start with? I’d give each of them a fork and tell them to get to work cleaning stalls. And they can whip out their check books for feed, vet care, shavings, staff, blankets etc that these horses will need for months and months to come.
Btw, when / if these precious horses are restored to health, where are they going? Where do you go to be rescued from rescue?
-Elaine
I think outlawing slaughter is this country is one example of a bad law passed because of hysteria and sheer ignorance. When slaughter was allowed in the USA we could regulate it and set and monitor minimal humane standards. All outlawing slaughter did was move it to Mexico and Canada - which means a longer more brutal, horrific ride for the horses, and effectively no monitoring at all for slaughter in Mexico.
What the lawmakers totally ignored was that there will always be horses that for one reason or another need to be humanely euthanized. Not everyone has the acreage to bury a horse, and not everyone can afford euthanasia.
I have never had to euthanize a horse, and we do have sufficient acreage, but when our 27 year-old mare died, I had to have a man with a back hoe come and bury her. He did it as a favor, but I believe he normally charged something like $500 just to bury a horse. I do not know what a vet would charge to put a horse down, but I would guess it would be about $150-$200. So it is not a cheap proposition.
If it were legal to have horses humanely euthanized and used for food or glue or whatever, at least we would be returning them to the earth in a meaningful manner.
[QUOTE=Cartier;8377173]
That is sickening. But as we all know, horses do not starve to death over night.
From what I have read, they are some very prominent horse people on the Board of this rescue. Where the hell were they over the months it took for this situation to get so bad? And where are the last owners of these 81 horses what were in this rescue to start with? I’d give each of them a fork and tell them to get to work cleaning stalls. And they can whip out their check books for feed, vet care, shavings, staff, blankets etc that these horses will need for months and months to come.
Btw, when / if these precious horses are restored to health, where are they going? Where do you go to be rescued from rescue?
-Elaine[/QUOTE]
Many of the bonafide rescues who were called with the massive horse emergency do keep many for life if they cannot find suitable homes (mostly as companions for those who will never full recover to “serviceable” use). Many of them do and do not let them fall off the radar. After all, the good deeds they do, because these creatures DID fall off the radar, is why they are so careful on placing and follow up constantly.
It’s tough for these folks, but the good ones are not only good, they’re great.
It’s a tragedy that anyone can set up a “rescue”, non-profit and not do what the supposed mission is.
I this case it was a scam for donations to fund other horse operations. As I said before, better to have them get a bullet in their head than to have such a long, slow and horrible death from starvation.
No easy answers. You can’t change people, but you can change laws to try to stop the bad guys that are chronic abusers. A bit like pedophiles. You can stop all of them, but you CAN try to track them interstate. This gal was interstate.
Have you noticed that we are all getting older, and starting to think alike. And that no matter how careful I try to be, I can’t hit the right keys to save my life so for every post I make, I spend twice as much time going back and fixing typos? I guess it doesn’t help that I use my Ipad, and the keyboard is too small for my fingers, and often I have a friend on the phone when I’d really rather just finish a thought.
As horses get to a certain age you have to either keep them for life, or humanely put them down. Denali, the oldest mare I have on the property, is just turning twenty. She’s cranky as hell on her best days, and slightly out of it on her “not so good” days. The other day she walked over and started to nurse from her 13 year old daughter. I swear Lourdess looked at me like, “What the hell is she doing?” but she did not kick or really react at all. Denali seemed to realize what she was doing and abruptly pulled back, but then just sort of wandered away.
I think she has a mild dementia. She has no value at all as a riding animal, and marginal value as much of anything else. So, would I dump her. Not on your life.
[QUOTE=Cartier;8377096]
As much as it is a Disney fantasy to believe that most horses die peacefully of old age, on a warm spring morning in the pasture where they were born, surrounded by their extended family and tended by those who loved them, it is also a fantasy to believe that all rescues are credible and all AC officers act professionally or even have a clue what they are doing.
On its face it appears that a lot of credible people dropped the ball here. Before we pass more laws that take rights away from you and me, and other law abiding citizens, we might want to wait to see where the system failed, if at all. And then promlagate laws narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling state goal.[/QUOTE]
Agree. Maybe the law was the problem here; maybe the way that the individual actors – the sheriff’s deputies, animal control officers, and the Commonwealth’s Attorney – chose to apply the law was the problem. It’s a subjective standard, and none of those people are veterinarians, to my knowledge. I don’t have enough information to answer the question, but I, too, am reticent to pass more laws or create a new statewide regulatory body IF the present law simply wasn’t enforced correctly due to human error/laziness/ignorance/other.
FYI I plan to attend the hearing at which the Board members are requested to appear. So #staytuned.
With respect, because we are all trying to find a solution that works for horses, and for those of us who enjoy them, I fall into the category of people who opine that if you can’t afford $200 to euthanize a horse and another $300 to bury it/have it taken away to the renderers’, you had no business owning a horse in the first place. I have been present when my veterinarians and I made the decision to euthanize a dozen (well, in two cases there was no other option). In an incredibly urgent situation in a very suburban, expensive area, the burial cost $500 – the guy dropped everything and drove his tractor down the local highway to bury the horse before the afternoon lesson kids arrived. In the rural central Virginia area where I presently dwell, I was charged $175 to bury a horse this past August.
Regarding the cost of euthanasia, the alternative of a well-placed bullet, however gruesome it may seem, is humane, cheap, and it would not have been difficult to find a skilled person in Orange County, Virginia, willing to dispatch these doomed animals in this manner, probably for almost nothing. That’s assuming that the area veterinarians wouldn’t have done it for free rather than watch this suffering (the vets working this case with whom I’ve spoken are shattered, and there are some tough oldtime horsemen types among them).
Again, I mean my comments only with respect. We are all upset about this entire situation and it is good to have these discussions to prevent it from happening again.
