https://scvnews.com/2017/12/07/count…ng-creek-fire/
I have rarely been this angry about anything. This is beyond criminal.
Was it the BO, then, that had padlocked the stalls? The conflicting reports are confusing. Regardless, BOs and HOs alike should know to never padlock a stall, paddock, or barn. I hope this serves as a wake up call for those who are somehow unaware.
Edit to add to the original post, the more I think about it, either party is as guilty as the other. One enforced it, the other enabled it.
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Perhaps some good will come of this for future decision making by BOs…note the arena was a safe haven for at least some time but those locked in the stalls weren’t given the option. To think first responders had plenty of time to remove some horses then go back to cut the padlocks off another 10 as the barn burned around them, how many coukd they have evacuated without having to cut the locks off…a County shouldn’t have to remind horse caregivers not to leave the animals locked in stalls, particularly when they have fenced areas away from the buildings that could temporarily serve. Perhaps they were afraid of minor injurues caused by herd squabbles and being held liable? Still…padlocks???
Something I never thought I’d say, God Bless LA County for actions taken to quickly transport and house affected animals plus authorizing immediate vet treatment. Words aren’t available to praise the first responders enough…speechless…and I don’t ever want to hear trackside employees don’t love those race horses after those videos from the Bonsall Fire.
I think we need to get rid of the widespread idea that it doesn’t matter because horses won’t leave a burning barn so there’s nothing you can do. Awful lot of them seem to have left burning barns or allowed themselves to be lead out and kept going away from the flames all by themselves. Some didn’t but why not offer the chance?
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It was the BO.
This report confirms that there was time for the BO to let the horses free before they left. These officers showed up almost an hour after the owner evacuated. What on earth was she thinking, leaving those horses to die in their stalls?
From the article;
Horse stalls should never be padlocked or otherwise made inaccessible. Early evacuations are key to ensuring these tragedies do not occur.
Criminal charges should apply here. That owner should be absolutely ashamed of herself.
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Disgusting the Barn Owner should be charged and should be sent to jail- can you imagine the suffering those poor horses went through? It would have taken a few minutes to unlock the stalls then evacuate- what is wrong with people?
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I hope there is a follow-up on the story, curious why the BO left and why horses were locked in their stalls. What a tragedy.
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I would be the crazy b*!%h serving 25 to life for manslaughter of that BO if my horse burned to death because she paddocked the stall! She didn’t care about them but sure got her happy ass to safety :no:
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“The officers could see and hear horses in distress and quickly retrieved two horses and a puppy.”
And WHY was a puppy left behind??
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Absolutely criminal. I certainly hope that charges will be filed against the barn owner. How incredibly heartbreaking to think of those horses burning to death because of completely CRIMINAL behavior
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This is unbelievably upsetting, I can’t imagine what the owners of those horses are going through. Barn fires are one of my biggest fears.
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This isn’t really a barn fire, it’s a huge brush, forest, house and whatever gets in its way fire in an area known for big, fast moving fires with a red alert fire warning in place because of drought and high winds. I don’t get how anybody could operate a barn out there in that location surrounded by volatile brush with a history of big fires and not have a plan in place. Even if it was just turning them loose in an area away from the barn when they left an hour ahead of the fire.
The SLR folks had no almost no warning and did a far better job with animals they don’t own, making low wages, and at the expense of their safety while many of their nearby dorms with everything they owned were going up at the same time. I don’t get the priorities of some people. In hopes the racing community out there will step up to help the trainer who was badly burned trying to rescue horses and other workers who suffered injuries going well beyond reasonable expectations trying to save horses. And that goat.
I wonder if the insurance people might have some questions for the BO about the padlocked horses when they review the mortality claims. If that’s not gross negligence, don’t know what is.
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I hope they prosecute this BO. I hope that she is never allowed to have another boarding barn or be allowed to have any animals. Those horses never had a chance…what a rotten way to die.
And major kudos to the Animal Control officers who kept coming back and trying to free those horses.
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Bump
This is so disturbing…I just cannot fathom why this was done.
As far as I know, the only time BOs padlock horses in their stalls is when they have a lien against the horse for back board. In 35+ years of horse-keeping in commercial and private boarding stables, I have only heard of horses being padlocked in at rather low-end-of-the-market commercial barns where the BO somewhat regularly deals with HOs who abandon their horses rather than pay back board owed.
No one has mentioned this possibility in the article. And so, perhaps, part of the blame properly comes to rest on an owner who is a “dead-beat” and puts his horse in jeapardy?
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A deadbeat boarder with 30+ horses?
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Those poor horses 
and the people trying to save them will have horrific nightmares about what they experienced.
I knew one barn owner that was in a board bill dispute with horse owner and she put a padlock on the horses’ stall. I talked to the bo the next day and she took the horse to their home farm. No locks on stalls, ever. :mad:
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Well… I can say that I have known at least 5 horses that I felt were (no questions what so ever) so dangerous that I would not cut them loose in such a circumstance. It is possible that the animal in this case was such an animal.
The clip of the dangerous stallion from the Buck Brannaman documentary comes to mind. If that animal were stuck in such a circumstance, I doubt anyone would advocate cutting it loose.
Ideally, you would put it down. But I doubt there are many people around with the gun and horsemanship skills to destroy a horse in such an emergency situation.
There were 30 horses lost, and locked in stalls, this isn’t non-payment, or dangerous horses, but a cruel, and unfeeling person. Who even has a stockpile of that many locks anyway?
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The high number seems to eliminate the deadbeat or dangerous theories
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