Redwings Horse Sanctuary: State of Emergency Appeal

As a member of Redwings with virtual adopted horses ( See below about Adoptions) from their centre; I received the grim news through the post. I wish I could show you the appalling & very upsetting pictures the state the horse were found in, but I can’t; however I can tell you how some of the rescuers described the scene:- 

“This was the worst cumulative case of horse suffering we had ever witnessed. Seeing the pain & distress of so many horses was worse than you can imagine. This is a tragic & upsetting situation, but we have to share the harsh reality of this crisis. In the hope that we can stop it from happening again…

Scenes from the Somme – stranded in a vast expanse of deep wet mud, surrounded by barbed wire, with no food & no hope the site was reminiscent of a battlefield with all the horrors of war – the horses were utterly desperate.

Death Camp – the Redwings team likened the scenes to a ‘ concentration camp for horses’ with the vulnerable youngsters & their mothers most likely to succumb to starvation & disease.

The Fallen – over 100 horses were so sick, injured & malnourished that they lost their lives.

“Read more from the news below”

Multi-agency operation in South Wales

Redwings Horse Sanctuary, the Vale of Glamorgan Council and the RSPCA have spent over a week working to safeguard the future welfare of more than 400 horses at a location between Bridgend and Llantwit Major in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Following a report to the Vale of Glamorgan Trading Standards team, welfare officers and vets moved quickly to assess the horses and provide treatment for those needing it. Over six days (12-17 November), more than 300 horses were removed from the site to places of safety by the organisations involved, with assistance from South Wales police and Bristol-based charity HorseWorld who provided vital support.

These horses will be cared for and receive further treatment as necessary whilst the investigation continues. Redwings have taken immediate responsibility for 19 horses from the site, including 12 orphaned foals.

Sadly, as the operation on site progressed and more animals were assessed, it became clear that a number of the horses were in such a state of suffering that there was only one option for them. Over 100 of the horses had to be put to sleep on veterinary advice.

Redwings Head of Welfare and senior vet Nic de Brauwere said, “I am incredibly proud of the work my team and staff from the other agencies have carried out over the last week to deal with what was an incredibly severe welfare situation. Our interest at all times was to do the best we could for each horse we found, and tragically for some that meant giving them a peaceful end after all their suffering. This operation has been an astonishing feat considering the small number of people involved and the overwhelming number of demands on our time and resources. Our staff worked tirelessly to meet the needs of the animals on the site despite the incredibly difficult circumstances, and we must give special mention to Vale of Glamorgan Trading Standards team who took quick and decisive action in what was nothing less than a state of emergency for these horses.”

Martin Hubbard from the RSPCA said: “This was a difficult and tragic situation that developed very quickly, leaving many of the horses in a desperate condition. It is thanks to the Vale of Glamorgan local authority and to the fast response and hard work of everyone involved that we managed to attend to the animals and get the majority moved to safety.”

Christina Roberts-Kinsey, Principal Trading Standards Officer for Vale of Glamorgan Council, said, “We take all complaints regarding animal welfare very seriously. After visiting the site and witnessing the appalling conditions it was necessary to take this prompt action to prevent any further suffering to the animals. This action would not have been possible without the help and support of Redwings, the RSPCA and South Wales Police.”

This case is sadly typical of the situation right across the UK, where it is believed up to 7,000 horses and ponies are currently at risk of abandonment or neglect. Welfare charities have produced a report into the current equine welfare crisis, which can be downloaded here http://www.redwings.org.uk/news-updatedhorsecrisis.php.

Since January 1st this year we have taken 219 horses and ponies into our care, and we are currently looking after 1300 rescued residents at our Sanctuary sites across the UK. To donate and help us continue to help horses, please text code RWHS00 followed by the amount you’d like to give (eg RWHS00 £5) to 70070, or follow this link to the donation pages, thanks so much.

News Link:-http://www.redwings.org.uk/news-glamorgan13.php

Please do whatever you can to help – and do it today.

Click here to donate now… or text code HORS30 followed by the amount you’d like to give (eg HORS30 £5) to 70070. Thank you.

There are other ways to help too – you can write to your MP, recycle your mobile phone, or send us your unwanted Christmas presents and old horse tack. It all helps!

Thank you.

News Link:–http://www.redwings.org.uk/news-stateofemergency.php

Equine crisis – urgent update

We are in the middle of an equine crisis situation in the UK. Redwings has just helped rescue 300 horses from a site in South Wales, a few weeks ago we helped move 46 seemingly abandoned horses from a site in Hampshire, and we are already operating at capacity, with over 200 horses having coming into our care this year already.

Fly grazing and abandonment are two of the major issues contributing to this crisis. We have been delighted to see the fast tracking of new legislation from the Welsh Government to tackle the fly grazing of horses and ponies in Wales and are urgently asking the UK Government to follow suit in England to help stem the tide of unwanted horses across the country.

The new Control of Horses (Wales) Bill was passed in the National Assembly on December 10th and just needs to receive Royal Assent to become law. It grants more powers to local authorities to take action to help fly grazing and abandoned horses. However, the UK government has no such plans in England at a time when thousands of horses are at risk of suffering and death and landowners and local authorities struggle to cope with the problem.

On Tuesday 26th November 2013, MPs held a debate in Westminster Hall and we would like to thank everyone who asked their MP to go along. there was a really good turnout and a fascinating discussion which we hope will have helped pushed this issue up the political agenda. You can watch the full debate here: http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=14264

As 6,500 horses remain at risk of needing rescue in England and Wales, Redwings, the RSPCA, World Horse Welfare, The British Horse Society, Blue Cross and HorseWorld have released a series of devastating case studies to illustrate how current laws permit horses to suffer needlessly including two recent cases rescued by Redwings; Stephen the foal who was left to drown in a river in Essex and Lottie the pony who was found wandering the streets of Diss.

Stephen was found abandoned at just one day old in a stretch of the River Lea in Essex

You can download a copy of our updated report on the equine crisis below:

http://www.redwings.org.uk/documents/SecondhorsecrisisreportFINALsmaller.pdf

Rescue update of Alton Horses

At the end of September, welfare charities joined forces to remove 46 very hungry and many thin and sickly horses from a bare field in Alton. Eight of the most poorly horses came into the care of Redwings, while the rest found homes at private yards, where the RSPCA is providing for their care.

We very tragically lost Georgiana, only two weeks after her rescue. Georgiana was suffering with salmonella – a disease which several of these horses have – and also had an horrendous small redworm burden. Thousands of small redworms can hide inside the walls of the digestive system undetected, and can suddenly erupt out all at once, causing terrible diarrhoea and internal damage.

News Link:-http://www.redwings.org.uk/news-altonupdate.php

Details of how you can get involved, including a quick and easy way to write to your local MP can be found here: http://bit.ly/Um6rKc

News Link:-http://www.redwings.org.uk/news-updatedhorsecrisis.php

Redwings Adoption Club

The Redwings Adoption Club is the fun way to support our charity and make a new friend in the process! A year’s adoption of a Redwings horse, pony, donkey or mule costs just £12.50, which goes directly towards the daily care of your chosen equine and their friends.

Web link:–http://www.redwings.org.uk/adopting/

Useful Links:–http://www.redwings.org.uk/about-us/useful-links/

Faith’s Rescue & Recovery

Published on 27 Nov 2013

The moving story of Faith, who was rescued from Essex after she had collapsed and could not get up by herself – she was taken to Redwings Horse Sanctuary and against all the odds, she survived – watch her story here and read more about her at www.redwings.org.uk. Text £5 to RWHS00 to 70070 to donate to Redwings.

Five Abused Toy Poodles On Path To Recovery

NEW MILFORD -Five abused toy poodles, recently found crammed in a crate on a New Fairfield roadside, will be transferred from the regional canine facility to a poodle rescuer Tuesday morning.

Daryl Masone, who has taken in poodles from all over Connecticut for 12 years, said she’ll work to nurture the dogs back to a point where they can be adopted. Regional Animal Control Officer Audrey McKay told Masone that at this point, the dogs are not approachable and had to be wormed and treated for parasites.

“Hopefully, I can turn them around,” Masone said Monday afternoon. “But it depends on how much damage they have suffered.”

Masone, who has taken in as many as 40 poodles at once from a hoarding situation, and McKay, an ACO for 26 years, were stunned by this case of animal cruelty. They wondered why the person who abandoned the dogs chose to leave the crate on a tiny side street outside of New Fairfield center, rather than dropping them at the animal shelter on Route 37, or the Animal Welfare Society on Dodd Road in New Milford, or the Regional Canine Facility on Erickson Road in New Milford.

“If you are going to abandon dogs, at least do it at a shelter, where they will be found immediately. I don’t know why people do what they do,” McKay said.

She said the dogs had no identifying chips.

“We have no leads on the owners,” said McKay, whose office serves six towns.

On June 16, McKay received a call at 1:30 a.m. from the New Fairfield resident trooper’s office reporting that a crate had been found containing the five poodles. McKay took custody of the dogs and later called Masone because she was a breed-specific rescuer whose work was well known in the state.

The poodles, all adults, are apricot in color. Their coats were clipped, “but they were very, very nervous. They would not let us handle them,” said McKay. “It’s going to take a lot of work to bring them around.”

Tuesday morning ends a seven-day holding period that follows the posting of an advertisement in the local media. By law, shelters have to hold abandoned dogs and give the owners a chance to claim them.

“But this person is going to be long gone,” Masone said.

Masone said she’ll pick up the dogs in her SUV. McKay, using gloves, will put the dogs in individual crates. The dogs will be treated by a veterinarian on Wednesday and Thursday. They’ll be spayed and neutered, treated for their symptoms and checked for heartworm, Masone said.

Masone said she will post news of the dogs’ progress on her website, poodlerescuect.org.

News Link:–http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-poodles-abandoned-0626-20120625,0,4506987.story

Abused puppy left for dead

EL PASO, Texas — 

A puppy adopted from No Kill El Paso animal shelter had been left for dead in the dessert two months later.

The founder of the rescue group received a call this weekend that she had been found abandoned.

No Kill El Paso brought the puppy to the Eastwood Animal Clinic to be evaluated. Veterinarians said the dog has a complicated break that could only result from “trauma.”

X-rays reveal a complicated break that vets say could potentially cost $10,000 in surgery to fix.

Since the shelter can’t afford that Socks will need a splint but will always walk with a limp.

If the splint doesn’t heal, the break the leg could need to be amputated. 

No Kill El Paso has been constantly trying to find the family who originally adopted and abandoned socks, but they address they listed on their adoption forms doesn’t match and no one is answering the phone or returning emails.

KFOX14 tried to track down the family. They did no answer their door or our phone calls.

No Kill El Paso said they are referring the case to animal services to be investigated for abuse and neglect.

No Kill El Paso started a website to raise money to offset the pups medical bills.  http://nokillelpaso.chipin.com/socks-dislocated-front-leg

News Link:–http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/news/abused-puppy-left-dead/nPYz8/

RESCUE OF RAMSES – Little Dog Found Limping Along Road

“In support of my dear friend & fellow animal warrior, Carol, I am posting this link for anyone who can help in any way at all. The shelter does an awesome job of caring for animals, abandoned, distressed or in pain…the shelter will always speak for those who are voiceless! “

TWO DAYS AGO COQUI WAS OUT IN HER CAR LOOKING FOR A FRIEND’S LOST DOG, WHEN SHE SAW A VERY SMALL DOG TRYING TO CROSS THE STREET THAT WAS HEAVY WITH TRAFFIC…COQUI, STOPPED AND HELD UP TRAFFIC, AS SHE GATHERED THE WEE DOG IN HER ARMS AND GOT HIM TO THE VET…WE’VE NAMED HIM RAMSES…HE IS TERRIBLY EMACIATED, AND HI LEGS ARE VERY WEAK…HE ALSO, HAS A BAD CASE OF THE MANGE…HE HAS A DEFORMITY IN HIS FRONT LEGS DUE TO LACK OF CALCIUM…HE WILL BE NEEDING A LOT OF CARE

RAMSES IN THE HOSPITAL IN ISOLATION…HE WILL HAVE TO STAY THERE UNTIL THE MANGE IS CLEARED UP AND UNTIL HE IS ABLE TO STAND ON HIS LEGS…SEVERAL OF OUR GROUP MEMBERS WILL VISIT HIM EVERY SINGLE DAY SO THAT HE DOESN’T THINK HE IS ABANDONED.

DONATIONS FOR RAMSES WILL BE APPRECIATED

Page Link:-http://www.cvfaf.org/Ramses.html

CANADIAN VOICE FOR ANIMALS

AN ORGANIZATION THAT PROMOTES THE NECESSITY OF

SPAYING AND NEUTERING ALL OF OUR FOUR-LEGGED COMPANIONS.

We’re entirely funded by donations and receive no money from governments or corporations. Our dedicated team ensures even the smallest contributions go a long way.  Our Registered Charity number is: S-53007 British Columbia Certificate of incorporation

Home page:-http://www.cvfaf.org/Index_1.html

A Video about the Canadian Voices for Animals Shelter

This is The Canadian Voice for Animals´s sanctuary in Argentina.
Este es el santuario de The Canadian Voice for Animals en Argentina

Police identify suspects in 30-dog dumping case

“Come on, somebody knows who these dogs used to belong to, that many dogs don’t just disappear from a neighbors yard without the usual, ‘street curtain twitcher‘ noting it! I can’t for the life of me understand, why dump them an not take them to a shelter! Unless they are either the end or the beginnings of a puppy mill, & they don’t want to get caught! Whichever it is, 30 dogs in 2 crates like that is cruel!”

LAGUNA HILLS – Police have identified two women and a man suspected of dumping 30 small dogs boxed in two kennels at a local park, sheriff’s Capt. Steve Doan said late Friday afternoon.

Witnesses said the dogs were left at the neighborhood park around 5:20 p.m. They had no food or water.

 “We have interviewed two and are conducting a third intervie

w,” Doan said. “After the interview we will determine the level of involvement of each of the people and determine what the possible charges could be.”Doan said the case will be turned over to the District Attorney’s Office and likely charges could include animal crueltyand endangerment. No arrests have been made in the case. Investigations are continuing but so far have revealed that the dogs were owned by one woman for quite a while, Doan said.

The incident was reported to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department after witnesses saw a woman in a Toyota truckstop in the parking lot of San Remo Park at San Remo Drive and Taranto about 5:20 p.m. Sunday. The park is located in the middle of a neighborhood surrounded by houses. It also has a volleyball and tennis courts.

“Overall their health is pretty good,” Ryan Drabek, director of OC Animal Care, said. “Some were matted and had overgrown nails. Their temperaments are good but they’re scared.”

The woman put the crates stuffed full of Lhasa Apso and Chihuahua-mixes on the sidewalk of the neighborhood park right near the road and under some trees. According to witnesses, two others helped unload the dogs. The two women and a man then left the crated animals on the sidewalk and left the park in a black Mercedes. The Toyota truck was left behind.

Sheriff’s Lt. Tom Behrens said investigators tracked the license plate from the truck to a Huntington Beach address but the suspected woman no longer lived there. Continued investigations of the license plate eventually led detectives to the three suspects now being interviewed.

The puppies and dogs ranging in age from six months to six years were picked up by animal control officers and taken to the Orange County shelter.

They are being cared for there while the investigation continues, Ryan Drabek, director of OC Animal Care said.

“Overall, their health is pretty good,” Drabek said. “Some were matted and had overgrown nails. Their temperaments are good but they’re scared.”

Police are looking for a woman accused of dumping 29 small dogs boxed in two crates at a local park.

Drabek said no one has come forward to claim the dogs.

“Situations like this can overburden an already overburdened shelter,” he said. “When the animals become available, we’ll reach out to the community to get them homes. We’ll need the public’s help.”

The woman accused of leaving the dogs could face animal cruelty and abandonment charges, Behrens said.

Behrens called the incident ‘very odd’ especially when the woman left a car behind with the abandoned animals.

The origin of the animals is unclear. Some volunteers from animal rescue groups believe it could be an example of backyard breeding. There have been numerous Twitter and Facebook posts in an effort to find more details about the woman.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Animal Shelter at 949-249-5160 or the Orange County Sheriff Department’s Crime Stopper at 855-TIP-OCCS or 855-847-6227.

News Link:-http://www.ocregister.com/news/woman-355933-dogs-park.html

Rare dogs dumped at Newstead and found washed up in Lincolnshire

THE RSPCA is investigating after rare breed dogs were found mysteriously dumped at three locations – including Newstead Abbey.

Inspectors want the public’s help after the Hungarian Vizslas were rescued at the beauty spot in the same week as other dogs from the same breed were found washed up dead in Lincolnshire and abandoned in Newark.

Although the RSPCA cannot directly link the incidents yet, officers say it is a strange coincidence that dogs of this breed have been found at different locations in such a short space of time.

Reports of two Hungarian Vizslas abandoned in Newstead Abbey Park were received on 6th May.

A member of the public had seen a silver 4×4 vehicle pull up and the dogs were then thrown out of the vehicle and the driver drove off.

The two dogs – one male the other female – were around six months old and extremely nervous and jumpy when they were collected by RSPCA inspector Chris Shaw.

They were taken to the RSPCA Radcliffe on Trent Animal Centre where they are currently being cared for.

On 9th May, inspectors in Lincolnshire were called to the Lade Bank Pumping Station in New Leake after workers there discovered the bodies of two dead females which had washed up together.

The dogs were between four to six months old and it is thought they had been in the water for around two days.

The following day the RSPCA was again called to the same location after two more bodies of the same breed of dog were found. The dogs were the same size and similar age.

And a further two Hungarian Vizlas which were then found dumped in the Farndon Road area of Newark last Wednesday.

The incident was reported to the RSPCA at around 10pm and the dogs were found abandoned and tied to a For Sale sign.

The dogs were both female and around five months old and are currently being cared for by fosterers.

Insp Shaw said: “I, like my colleagues in Lincolnshire, am completely puzzled by this incident involving this breed of dog.

“We very rarely have to deal with Hungarian Vizslas as they are a rare bred and one which people will pay a lot of money for, which makes it more curious that someone would dump them.

“The RSPCA is clearly very keen to hear from anyone who may have owned any of these dogs, or perhaps knows of a breeder who has suddenly got rid of dogs of this description and age in a short space of time.

“We need to know why all these dogs have suddenly been dumped, and we hope the public can help us in our appeal.

“These are blatant cases of animal cruelty and we would urge anyone with information to contact the RSPCA cruelty line on 0300 1234 999.”

Hundreds of donkeys abandoned in drought – Weather

With pastures withered from a lingering drought, farmers in Texas and northwest Louisiana have abandoned donkeys by the hundreds, turning them into wandering refugees that have severely tested animal rescue groups.

The nation’s biggest donkey rescue group says that since March 2011, it has taken in nearly 800 donkeys abandoned in Texas, where ranchers mainly used the animals to guard their herds. Many of the cattle and goats have been sold off, largely because of the drought and the nation’s economic slump, putting the donkeys out of a job.

And although the drought that began in late 2010 is over now, the flood of donkeys continues, said Mark Meyers, executive director of Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue.

“Last week I spent two days on the road and got 20 donkeys each day,” he said Wednesday. Since then, he’s had a call of about 12 more in the Midlands, Texas, area.

“Hay prices still haven’t come down. And what little grass is growing, people are going to save it for the animals that are going to make them money,” he said.

In the north Louisiana town of Athens, Keith Gantt, who rounds up loose livestock for the Claiborne Parish Sheriff’s Office, says he has dozens of donkeys that he can’t give away. Some he’s had for two years.

“People just turn ’em out on the highway. The sheriff’s department makes me go catch them and then I get stuck with them,” he said.

The donkey market has shriveled with the dried-up fields of Texas, where auction houses won’t take them.

“The last ones we tried to sell, they brought the donkeys back to us. They tried to get a $5 bid for both of them and couldn’t get a $5 bid,” Deputy Bill Pentecost, who wrangles stray livestock for the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office north of Austin, said last month.

Texas has 1.4 million fewer cattle than it did a year ago, a drop of 10.5 percent.

“Texas has large, large, large, large ranches. As the wells dried up and grazing’s gone down, animals are coming up to the fence to eat. People are realizing they’ve sold all their cattle … but they’ve got 20 donkeys,” Meyers said earlier this year.

His organization, the largest such group in the U.S., normally takes in about 400 donkeys and burros — small, feral donkeys — a year. Since March 2011, he said, the group has accepted nearly 800 donkeys abandoned in Texas — 600 last year, 172 so far this year. Some were abandoned, some abused and some caught in roundups of herds on federal lands.

The drought, the economy and the high price of hay have forced ranchers across the state to sell off their livestock. Meyers said he’s been paying $290 to $350 a ton for hay, compared to a top price of $90 in normal times, and must send as far as Montana and Minnesota to get it. Even if the weather allows a crop this year, the price isn’t likely to go down immediately, he said.

via Hundreds of donkeys abandoned in drought – Weather – msnbc.com.

Vive – Video of Disfigured Dog – Rescued

“I found this rather touching video of a dog, terribly disfigured dog, who now has a forever home. If you love something, looks shouldn’t matter”

“Part of the description of the video below is translated from Spanish using Google translation “

http://www.asokaelgrande.org lives in their new is LIVE, today. For those still unfamiliar with his case, Vive was rescued last June in a field where he was left in the open, alone, without food or water, and surviving, “thank you” to the crumbs of bread to a neighbor missed occasionally.

For who knows how long, Live malvivió thus evicted, despite his young age, by their former owners, and indifferent to all the people who were daily witnesses to the tremendous state of malnutrition and suffering that was, and they never did anything for him!

Animal Cruelty; Dog found along the highway had it’s legs bound with duct tape – MyABC50.com… Start Here

Animal Cruelty; Dog found along the highway had it’s legs bound with duct tape – MyABC50.com… Start Here.

Argyle, NY — The New York State Police are currently investigating a cruelty to an animal case in which a dog was found alongside a roadway with its legs bound with duct tape.

At 11:44 AM on Thursday, Troopers responded to investigate a report that employees from the Town of Argyle Department of Transportation had found a dog in the ditch alongside the west shoulder of Couch Road in the Town of Argyle. The DOT employees had found the dog at that location with both the front and rear legs bound with duct tape. It also appeared that the animal’s mouth had also been bound with duct tape but had fallen off at some point as the remnants of tape to indicate that were lying alongside the animal