[QUOTE=UlysMom;7888328]
Dude. Seriously. She’s no Temple Grandin.
That’s a messed up comparison right there[/QUOTE]
You prove my point.
Thank you.
So even playing the Devils Advocate if she’s misguided and uninformed at what point should she be held responsible for continuing the same “therapeutic” actions on the horses and causing them pain and suffering. After the first died , what about the second or third not enough what about the two lying recumbent in her barn?
At what point in the suffering she personally caused , should she be held responsible Rob?
From what I read over the weekend, Monica Thors has been “odd” at least since 2008. I only want to post what I can find again. I read other first hand accounts of her, by Standardbred folks, that were not nearly as, uhm, polite shall we say. More to the tune of she has been what the fruitbat for a very long time.
http://www.barntowire.com/smf/index.php?topic=68996.0
Example, the explicit way in which other peoples horses verbally in English complain to Monica Thors about hay:
Quote:
“she took bucky lambert to court for playing the radio too loud. do you really think shes all there. donna marshall told me once that while stabled together once, Monica came up to her and told her that, donna’s horses told her that they didn’t like the hay they were feeding. donna looking a little puzzled told monica to tell them to, better learn to like it because that’s the only hay that they are getting. when using pen and paper, she would write everything backwards. get where im going with this.”
Another person writes
:
[I]I’ve communicated with Monica quite a few times. I own lots of her photo’s. Beautiful work.
Different yeah. Horse abuser…no. However, the pictures tell a story that cannot be denied. She’s tried to fix the unfixable.
Anyway, she doesn’t always write backwards as evident in this part of a 12/2008 email:
But for you taking the time to send me the e-mail, it made me cry when I got it, I was happy for him, very much
srohT annA acinoM
daoR nwotnedroB 870
submuloC yesreJ weN 22080
aciremA fO setatS detinU
htraE
dlroW weN
[/I]
I am really scratching my head at Monica Thors adding in “New World.” No, Europe & Scandinavia does not address mail sent abroad to the USA with New World on it!
laserRob, I do not know you. I was more than willing to give you total consideration, even though others warned not to.
Post 295, you lost a lot of credibility with me with that one. :no:
[QUOTE=laserRob;7888317]
So, what’s the most logical explanation here. It’s been on the radar for at least 10 months (Wow, and it wasn’t COTH…OMG) with knowledge from authorities.
All of a sudden the complaint is Facebooked and authorities are suddenly inundated with complaints from constituents viewing pictures that tell 1,000 different words to 1,000 different people. It gets real ugly real fast. Like Hiroshima in slo-motion. Authorities succumb to pressure/perception 'cause they’re now the abusers.
That’s all.
You’ve got a highly successful, hard-driven Scandanavian woman, used and abused by the industry trying to stay afloat both mentally and financially while maintaining a dream of promoting the dying harness racing industry.
Then she made the mistake of using/misusing a hooving product. With trust lost in others, she goes about using all the vet/blacksmith knowledge she’s accumulated over the years. The timeframe, even with professionals, takes many, many months. Minute glimpses of progress fuels her. She doesn’t lose hope, until it’s taken…and probably, appropriately. It sent her over the edge.
No prior abuses, simply a misjudgement.
She’s very different in her ways. Those tend to be misjudged.
Misjudgement X misjudged = firestorm…especially in the equine arena.
Just ask Temple Grandin.[/QUOTE]
What did you just tell us that we did not already know? Nothing!
[QUOTE=Ghazzu;7887838]
I just hope they get the cats out, too.[/QUOTE]
Apparently the cats are not out yet. From the Facebook page:
We want to let everyone know that this is FAR from over. We saved the horses and goat. We still need to help save the cats and dog. We will keep everyone update on the cats and what we need to help them. Also on court dates and when we can use your voices again! Monica was officially charged with animal cruelty and her 7 horses and one goat were removed from her custody. It took everyone on of you to get this done. We are forever grateful and I know the horses are also. Like we said,this isn’t over and we WILL need your help again!! THANK YOU!!! We did it!!!
Also this update:
Please say a prayer for the 2 horses who were picked up from Monica Thors farm today and are presently at a clinic being treated and are in a bad state. The horses were given pain medication and are comfortable at the moment. These are two very brave horses who have been fighting bravely through a very difficult situation they were entered into. My thoughts are with these horses and the Vets who are doing the best they can to help these horses.
At first I thought these were the 2 horses that were left behind, but now I think they are 2 of the 5 that were picked up 
I’m not sure.
I don’t necessarily like the tone of this blog, but it is one of the best summaries if you can cut through the sarcasm.
http://thedamienzone.com/2014/11/29/who-is-monica-thors-and-why-is-everybody-hating-her/
It seems to me that since you know her and have intimate knowledge of the situation… But we don’t know her and just found out about it recently… YOU failed her. WE didn’t.
You knew about this all along and did nothing to assist her? Her harness racing community knew and did nothing to help her? Shame on you and everyone else who knew she was struggling and did nothing.
[QUOTE=laserRob;7888317]
So, what’s the most logical explanation here. It’s been on the radar for at least 10 months (Wow, and it wasn’t COTH…OMG) with knowledge from authorities.
All of a sudden the complaint is Facebooked and authorities are suddenly inundated with complaints from constituents viewing pictures that tell 1,000 different words to 1,000 different people. It gets real ugly real fast. Like Hiroshima in slo-motion. Authorities succumb to pressure/perception 'cause they’re now the abusers.
That’s all.
You’ve got a highly successful, hard-driven Scandanavian woman, used and abused by the industry trying to stay afloat both mentally and financially while maintaining a dream of promoting the dying harness racing industry.
Then she made the mistake of using/misusing a hooving product. With trust lost in others, she goes about using all the vet/blacksmith knowledge she’s accumulated over the years. The timeframe, even with professionals, takes many, many months. Minute glimpses of progress fuels her. She doesn’t lose hope, until it’s taken…and probably, appropriately. It sent her over the edge.
No prior abuses, simply a misjudgement.
She’s very different in her ways. Those tend to be misjudged.
Misjudgement X misjudged = firestorm…especially in the equine arena.
Just ask Temple Grandin.[/QUOTE]
This situation has been haunting me ever since I learned of it on this thread. I cannot fathom what would lead someone to file off horses hooves. With a smile on her face. And a helmet on her head. Just how could someone torture those horses like this?
I can’t get the images out of my head. The suffering of those horses must have been immense. And no where for them to go to get away from it.
Add me to the list that says YOU failed her Mr. Inside Information. Being poor and/or distrustful is no excuse for maiming the living &@$; out of your animals to the point they can’t survive any longer. If you believe it is simply misjudged you better hope people start pulling out the Internet mental illness diagnosis for you as well because the alternative does not reflect well.
Here’s what Monica Thors has to say about this (initial comment is about the horse perhaps going to be euthanized): ““They’re killing an innocent horse in the next couple of days,” she said. Thors said she will try to get her horses back and is looking for a lawyer to help her with her quest.”
http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/96d4f6097e8b48d7b98fd8a4c3d0204a/NJ--Horse-Abuse-Allegations
She killed an innocent horse.
Not they.
She.
Whether she did it by madness or by cruelty, she did it. Just absolutely heartbreaking.
[QUOTE=laserRob;7888317]
You’ve got a highly successful, hard-driven Scandanavian woman, used and abused by the industry trying to stay afloat both mentally and financially while maintaining a dream of promoting the dying harness racing industry.[/QUOTE]
She hasn’t raced any of her horses in quite a while, and she didn’t bother renewing her membership with the USTA this year. Sounds to me like she wasn’t trying too hard to get back into racing, if she didn’t renew her membership!
[QUOTE=laserRob;7888317]
Then she made the mistake of using/misusing a hooving product. With trust lost in others, she goes about using all the vet/blacksmith knowledge she’s accumulated over the years. The timeframe, even with professionals, takes many, many months. Minute glimpses of progress fuels her. [/QUOTE]
What “glimpses of progress?” Every horse she owns that she’s posted video of is in varying states of lameness.
And this isn’t just about a hooving product, it looks like she overfed her horses to the point of founder, so this isn’t about trying to “fix” or rescue a horse, it’s about something SHE did to cause all of this to set in motion.
And her obsessive trimming/filing/cutting thing is observable in other animals too. I wholeheartedly believe she has some sort of severe OCD thing at the very least, and I don’t think she was intentionally causing her animals harm. But they MUST be away from her for their safety. I’m sorry it’s very distressing to her and that she’s had a hard time - I feel the whole thing is more sad and tragic than anything. But just because she means well and is a nice person and loves standardbreds doesn’t mean squat to the animals involved.
I hate to bring up too many personal details, but I feel very badly for her. It looks like she’s lost her family and her son (to me the idea of being estranged from my son is about the most heartbreaking and painful thing I can imagine). She’s now lost her horses. There definitely seems to be something going on with her mental state that she needs help for, and half the internet is screaming horrible things about how she should die or suffer herself.
I’ve seen intentional neglect, I’ve seen intentional abuse, I’ve seen willful ignorance when people take too much on and don’t do the work to take care of their horses. I know what that looks like, and I don’t think this looks like any of those things. And I’m very upset at some of the lynch mob mentality I’ve seen (mostly on facebook, not so much here). But the horses must be away from her.
I’m not sure what you’re trying to argue, exactly - that she’s just “misunderstood?” That may be true, but it doesn’t change what the animals in her care are experiencing.
I hope that the suffering horses are soon free of pain, I hope those that can be re-habbed get that care, and I also sincerely hope Ms. Thors gets help and support because she clearly needs it.
[QUOTE=laserRob;7888317]
So, what’s the most logical explanation here. It’s been on the radar for at least 10 months (Wow, and it wasn’t COTH…OMG) with knowledge from authorities.
All of a sudden the complaint is Facebooked and authorities are suddenly inundated with complaints from constituents viewing pictures that tell 1,000 different words to 1,000 different people. It gets real ugly real fast. Like Hiroshima in slo-motion. Authorities succumb to pressure/perception 'cause they’re now the abusers.
That’s all.
You’ve got a highly successful, hard-driven Scandanavian woman, used and abused by the industry trying to stay afloat both mentally and financially while maintaining a dream of promoting the dying harness racing industry.
Then she made the mistake of using/misusing a hooving product. With trust lost in others, she goes about using all the vet/blacksmith knowledge she’s accumulated over the years. The timeframe, even with professionals, takes many, many months. Minute glimpses of progress fuels her. She doesn’t lose hope, until it’s taken…and probably, appropriately. It sent her over the edge.
No prior abuses, simply a misjudgement.
She’s very different in her ways. Those tend to be misjudged.
Misjudgement X misjudged = firestorm…especially in the equine arena.
Just ask Temple Grandin.[/QUOTE]
Are you out of your mind? Or do you just like to hear yourself talk? If you think Monica is misjudged, you’re as sick as she is. There’s nothing acceptable or understandable about what she did and your sneering here is very inappropriate.
Evidently this person is a devotee of a cult practice called “Consegrity”
http://skepdic.com/consegrity.html
Treating an equine for founder/laminitis is always going to be visually unpleasant and involve pain - although treatment can be successful and some horses can even return to full work. Just because a horse is in a sling does not mean it is being tortured or abused. Except in this case.
What she is practicing is vivisection. Without pain management. And I am appalled that anyone would label her “misunderstood” or “misjudged”. She didn’t accidentally leave the feed room door open, or forget to close the pasture gate. She’s torturing those animals.
[QUOTE=ThisTooShallPass;7887912]
jvanrens, I am not a Standardbred person. So perhaps you can explain to me why it took until after the STOP MONICA THORS Facebook page blew up, for Standardbred powers that be to “reach out” to their contacts in state government? 
It is an honest question. Not an attack.[/QUOTE]
I honestly don’t know. Like I said, I only heard of the whole mess recently when my daughter told me about it and the FB group you mentioned.
My SO (who has been in the STB racing business for a long time) has heard of her, but in the past when she was with Ron Waples. He said she was a bit off then, but hasn’t heard a word about her for years, but he usually races in Ontario or upper NY state, he and my daughter spent the summer and fall racing at Vernon Downs until it closed for the season and didn’t hear a peep about her, so news of her deeds was not that widespread. FWIW, my SO was so disgusted by the few pictures I showed him posted on the FB page, he couldn’t look after the first couple.
[QUOTE=caffeinated;7888591]
What “glimpses of progress?” I hate to bring up too many personal details, but I feel very badly for her. It looks like she’s lost her family and her son (to me the idea of being estranged from my son is about the most heartbreaking and painful thing I can imagine). She’s now lost her horses. There definitely seems to be something going on with her mental state that she needs help for, and half the internet is screaming horrible things about how she should die or suffer herself.
I’ve seen intentional neglect, I’ve seen intentional abuse, I’ve seen willful ignorance when people take too much on and don’t do the work to take care of their horses. I know what that looks like, and I don’t think this looks like any of those things. And I’m very upset at some of the lynch mob mentality I’ve seen (mostly on facebook, not so much here). But the horses must be away from her.
I’m not sure what you’re trying to argue, exactly - that she’s just “misunderstood?” That may be true, but it doesn’t change what the animals in her care are experiencing.
I hope that the suffering horses are soon free of pain, I hope those that can be re-habbed get that care, and I also sincerely hope Ms. Thors gets help and support because she clearly needs it.[/QUOTE]
I agree with this 100%.
Thors only charged with two counts of animal cruelty:
http://www.ratemyhorsepro.com/news/criminal-charges-filed-against-monica-thors-for-horse-cruelty.aspx
And, apparently, the NJ SPCA has opted to ignore the many (I have read 50) cats in her possession since they were not on the same property as the horses. This, despite scores of folks asking them “what about the cats?”, along with photos:
Excerpt from the link above:
"When asked about the cats allegedly being abused, Matt Stanton, NJ SPCA Spokesman said he was not aware of any cats on the property. “Our subpoena did not have cats on it.”
[QUOTE=caffeinated;7888591]
I hate to bring up too many personal details, but I feel very badly for her. It looks like she’s lost her family and her son (to me the idea of being estranged from my son is about the most heartbreaking and painful thing I can imagine). She’s now lost her horses. There definitely seems to be something going on with her mental state that she needs help for, and half the internet is screaming horrible things about how she should die or suffer herself.
I’ve seen intentional neglect, I’ve seen intentional abuse, I’ve seen willful ignorance when people take too much on and don’t do the work to take care of their horses. I know what that looks like, and I don’t think this looks like any of those things. And I’m very upset at some of the lynch mob mentality I’ve seen (mostly on facebook, not so much here). But the horses must be away from her.
I’m not sure what you’re trying to argue, exactly - that she’s just “misunderstood?” That may be true, but it doesn’t change what the animals in her care are experiencing.
I hope that the suffering horses are soon free of pain, I hope those that can be re-habbed get that care, and I also sincerely hope Ms. Thors gets help and support because she clearly needs it.[/QUOTE]
This is very well put, caffeinated. Thank you.
This whole thing with Monica Thors and her OCD over-trimming, over-grooming and over-feeding reads a bit to me like the body dismorphic disorders that cause anorexia and bulimia. I wonder if her view of her animals is just as warped as a 87 lb girl who continues to starve herself because she looks “fat” to herself in the mirror.
I sincerely hope that Ms Thors is able to find some peace and understanding about why her animals were taken away. And that these poor horses find homes better than this one, or are quickly euthanised if they’re too far gone.
