Horse sent to Mill Creek farm Retirement not doing well!

[Frizzle]

Wow. That is SO not right.

OP, I just sent them an email. I was polite, but I said that the horse is clearly [edit] in need of immediate care, that he should be either put down or released to you, etc. Hopefully if enough people do so, they will do the right thing.

Jingling like crazy for you and Max! What a gorgeous hunk of horseflesh he was back in the day! I really hope he can come home to you. And I would definitely be going after the girl who claimed she would give him a great retirement and then abandoned him!

[Lynnwood]

Here are some further photo’s of his current condition.

http://oi40.tinypic.com/291i2xz.jpg

http://oi42.tinypic.com/35ktthl.jpg

[Frizzle]

I also just contacted the South Florida ASPCA and directed them to this thread, asking for any advice they can give. I’m not familiar with the city this retirement facility is in, but I figured it’s the same state so hopefully the SFL ASPCA will know the correct procedure.

[Lynnwood]

Any help I can get to get this horse pulled from Mill Creek I would greatly appreciate. Even if it is just to bring him to where I board and let him go with a full belly and a day out of the heat.

[CVPeg]

Well, I withdraw my suggestion about nudging the facility to release him with the suggestion of an investigation. Now that you’ve posted the photos, looks like he needs to be out of there ASAP. Since the vet mentioned his condition, I’d guess he was giving a warning, and would “have” to testify as to his observations. Only if they can prove he has some kind of end-of-life disease should they have an excuse - although there was a horse at our barn who passed away with cancer who didn’t look anywhere near this bad. If that was the case, he should be PTS instead of on 4 legs so they can grab another $50 a month. :mad:

I hope he is otherwise fine, and can be taken out of there ASAP. He looks like he was a spectacular guy, and needs the care and respect he earned.

And it disgusts me that the animal control officer is standing up for him. Find out who he answers to and e-mail them the pictures. [edit]

[edit] And if the place is operated as a retirement facility, they have the highest standard of care owed to him - not the lowest.:no:

[RxCate]

Did no one notice “Winnie” on their page ? I don’t really know the scale for thinness but she’s pushing a -2. There is even a ‘before’ picture right next to a current one, where she is fat. WTH?

[tinah]

[QUOTE=RxCate;7202262]
Did no one notice “Winnie” on their page ? I don’t really know the scale for thinness but she’s pushing a -2. There is even a ‘before’ picture right next to a current one, where she is fat. WTH?[/QUOTE]

There is no “-2” on the body scale score. A 1 is a skeleton with skin stretched over it and a heartbeat.

[LauraKY]

[QUOTE=Lynnwood;7202144]
If anyone has the numbers for any of the agencies above I would greatly appreciate them.

LauraKY If you have that HSUS number I’d appreciate it.[/QUOTE]

That’s really tough to get…took me a couple of days to get the KY number…let me work on it.

OK, sent an email to the KY director. [edit] PM me your email Lynnwood so I can pass it along to anyone who is willing to help.

[Crockpot]

Go public if necessary- local news

[TimeBandit]

Florida - especially Hernando Co - SUCKS as far as caring about the horses!
There is a “rescue” in the Brooksville area that has been turned in over & over again. Guess what ? No one does anything! The people down here are sick & tired of them getting in horses and then tieing them to trees to keep them away from the hay. They have been in the news, in the papers, etc, and still they operate.
Google Domino Effect Rescue Ranch, or RDA Equine Services
See for yourselves. Or look at the facebook page - The Good, the Bad, the Unforgivable of Animal Rescue.
WARNING****
There are some very graphic photos on the fb page.

[trubandloki]

Can not offer any advice but can certainly add some jingles for your old guy.

I can not understand how anyone seeing his rapid decline can think he is doing fine.

[Lynnwood]

[QUOTE=trubandloki;7202311]
Can not offer any advice but can certainly add some jingles for your old guy.

I can not understand how anyone seeing his rapid decline can think he is doing fine.[/QUOTE]

A student who is now a successful trainer in her own right called this am and spoke to Mr.Gregory of the rescue attempting to inquire about would they allow the horse to be adopted out.

His response to the horses condition was “little girl haven’t you ever seen an old and dying horse before”. So he is well aware of his decline in condition but simply attributes it to the dying process. [edit]

Shortly there after he hung up on her. Not willing to allow the horse to leave the facility

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

So it sounds like contacting the “retirement facility” is going nowhere slow.

When we rescued the Mini out of Great Bend, we did it because Travis put it all over FB, and it got shared, and shared, and shared again. And then it came here. So it sounds like social media is one way to go about this. If we can all put it on our FB pages – or Lynnwood, if you can create a post that can be shared, that might work better, I’m new to FB – then we might be able to get more and more people to put pressure on the local sheriff and AC to get these people shut down, or at least get this poor guy out of there.

I would also contact the local media – especially then TV networks. Most of them love stories like this.

[RxCate]

[QUOTE=tinah;7202264]
There is no “-2” on the body scale score. A 1 is a skeleton with skin stretched over it and a heartbeat.[/QUOTE]

Yes I knew that. I was being facetious in that she looked so bad, if there was a -2, she would be it.

[Angela_Freda]

When I first start looking as suspicious ‘rescues’ and organizations I go right to their IRS and Guidestar to verify that the status they claim to have is what they have.
The 2011 990 for this org shows that they loaned $75k to a member of the board living in Miami. That’s interesting to me. NEVERMIND, I misread it, it’s a loan TO the organization from that board member.
Not alot of other information on it, like annual expenses for Vet, farrier, board/property lease, etc.
Why would their insurance be $16k a year?

I agree, there are many unthrifty looking horses on their website.

[merrygoround]

Aren’t nonprofits required to have a published Board of directors. That could be a point of approach!!

[Angela_Freda]

[QUOTE=merrygoround;7202362]
Aren’t nonprofits required to have a published Board of directors. That could be a point of approach!![/QUOTE]

The BOD are listed on their 990s

What I would like to know is how many horses they actually have. Anyone find that? The amounts spent don’t make much sense if you have no idea if they have 10 horses or 100.

[WinsomeTK]

I will retract my previous opinion now that I’ve seen pictures of a few horses that look like they either could use some TLC or a good needle to end their days.

They need to learn the benefits of an euthanasia for the animal’s sake if they can’t keep them moderately in shape, but they seem to think that a slow natural death is the way to go…

Get them inspected, and I feel like it’s reasonable in any case that taking a horse away from them allows them to “save more horses” so if you can’t stop them maybe “help them” that way.

On a neutral point of view, quite a few horses seem to be faring well, but who knows how old the good pictures are.

[Lynnwood]

I agree Winsome I do believe that most of the horses. At least those that don’t require anything special or those that thrive on a pastoral setting do just fine there.

However there certainly are photo’s of others that look in just as poor condition as Max.

[Lynnwood]

[QUOTE=Angela Freda;7202369]
The BOD are listed on their 990s

What I would like to know is how many horses they actually have. Anyone find that? The amounts spent don’t make much sense if you have no idea if they have 10 horses or 100.[/QUOTE]

Angela as far as I know they have about 130 horses give or take which I feel is an insane number of animals for two 80 year olds and volunteers to be taking care of WELL.

With that number of horses nobody is getting special care.