Listen, I don’t think most dissenters here are calling PP a “witch” or screaming “burn, burn, burn!”. I think we’re giving credit to both sides of the story.
PP’s side: She’s been struggling financially for a significant amount of time. She is a knowledgeable horse person with years of practical experience under her belt. She breeds her mares to her stallions every year in hopes of producing foals each spring, and that hasn’t materialized for the past few seasons. She has a giant heart that has put her into the good graces of many people on this board. Her horses do not appear to be in terrible condition.
She was given the opportunity to go to the WEG for 14 days in July of 2010. She accepted the offer and decided to go. She hired a pet sitter to check them once a day and left.
AC’s side: PP has 2 prior citations with their organization. One for loose dogs, and one for animal cruelty*. They have been working with her for the past year, in some capacity. The neighbors call AC a lot about the property. The fencing is deplorable. The horses get loose a lot. There is no shelter, and the shelter that has been erected in the past has been inadequate (collapsed under the weight of snow, flooded [see PP’s own thread on this issue], or otherwise).
There is no electricity to the property, which they know, because this is a matter of public record. You simply call the gas and electric company and ask if there’s power at her address. Not hard. The neighbors have called and say she is gone. She hasn’t been there for days. The horses don’t have access to food or water. You go out to investigate and confirm that this is the case. You see the fencing has not been addressed, that there is still dangerous debris in the are where the horses are kept. No one seems to know where PP is, and you deem the animals to be in a high-risk situation.
*In my part of the US, animal cruelty is one of many charges that can be brought against you by animal welfare authorities. Animal cruelty is defined in a way that it is NOT simply “loose horses” or “lack of appropriate shelter”. Animal cruelty is one of those citations that implies severe neglect to the well-being of your animals, and includes feed, water, vet care, farrier care, etc. I am not sure how it works in ME, but here, animal cruelty is a very serious charge.
Here’s what I know:
PP is a breeder. She actively attempts to breed those horses every year, most of which I don’t thin are breeding material. That aside, she could have triple registered and approved WB superstars that were perfectly matched, and that farm is not in any state for TWO stallions to be kept in very close proximity to mares.
I have, what appears to be, a much higher standard for what is an “acceptable” standard of horse care. At bare minimum, the fencing should be such that the horses do not escape regularly.
PP also really loves her horses. But love is not enough at the end of the day. It takes money, time, and physical capability to maintain a farm to appropriate standards. That farm has not been maintained to ANY standards from the looks of things. It doesn’t make PP a bad person. It means that while she’s free of the burden of horse care, she needs to CLEAN IT UP, fix the fencing, and erect shelter for the upcoming winter months. I have a feeling PP is going to get horses back on her place in the very near future. I also have a feeling that I am never going to share the same standards of horse care with her.
