Horses Hooves Not Trimmed For 15 years – Grow to 3 Feet Long

“OMG…can you believe the picture below?? I’ve only seen hooves like that once before; on a dead horse!! How can the owner have let them get into such a state they could barely move? It’s not like their so skinny they haven’t been fed, ok not a lot of food, but somebody had to have been giving them something; they couldn’t have lived to their ages without any food or water!! I just can’t understand how anyone, even someone with no knowledge of horses at all, is that dumb, to think it’s ok to just leave them! The poor horses must have been agony, any horsey person knows to keep a horse fit & pain free, a farrier is God; horses hooves need trimming between 6-8 weeks it varies; even if they don’t have shoes on, they still need to be trimmed!!

“I just pray whoever owns these horses, get what they deserve; in this instance prison without probation, along with having to pay in full, all vet & farrier bills. It’s going to take a lot of work from a very good farrier to get their hooves back into shape….but even if they do, the horses may be unfit to ride; due to irreversible damage to the structure of their hooves. I’m just in shock & have nothing but utter disgust at the owner’s blatant abuse & disregard for the health & welfare of these poor innocent horses!! R.I.P little one. Many thanks to (http://www.defhr.org/)USA for taking care of these equine!”

By Charlotte Ricca-Smith on 25th-Aug-2015

‘Critical condition’

The emaciated animals were discovered standing knee-deep in muck and with hooves more than three feet long. 

A miniature mare had to be euthanised at the scene due, because ruptured ligaments had caused the fetlocks to dislocate. The two others – one a full-sized stallion and one a miniature stallion ­– were in a ‘critical condition’.

“It’s the worst we’ve seen in our 26-year history,” Caroline Robertson, the development director of Days End Farm Horse Rescue told Caroll County Times. “They could barely move without being at risk of getting tangled in their own hooves.”

Three neglected horses have been found, with feet so overgrown it is believed they were locked up for at least 15 years.

Hooves removed

Before the horses could be removed from the scene, they had to be sedated so they could lie down and have the excess hoof removed. They were then taken to Days End Farm Horse Rescue (DEFHR) in Maryland, (http://www.defhr.org/)USA for rehabilitation.

The horses were discovered when a member of the public called the Humane Society of Washington County with concerns about pet pigeons kept there. It was during the welfare inspection that the equines were found.

‘Long road’

Both horses have been aged at around 18. The horse has been called Quest, while the surviving pony has been named Rio. Both have received further treatment from a farrier and vet and are now on the “long road” to rehabilitation.

An investigation into the case is on-going and cruelty charges could be brought.“Never mind could be…they definitely should be!!”

Days End Farm Horse Rescue is a non-profit organisation which currently provides rehabilitation and ongoing care for 78 rescue horses

News Link:–http://www.horseandcountry.tv/news/2015/08/25/horses-hooves-not-trimmed-15-years

 

Reston Zoo: Director Pleads Guilty to Animal Cruelty After Drowning Wallaby

The former director of the Reston Zoo has pleaded guiltyto one charge of animal cruelty after she drowned an injured wallaby early last year, the Post reports:

Meghan Mogensen, 27, of Silver Spring, was sentenced to one month in jail and is barred from making decisions about the care or euthanasia of any animal if she serves as an animal caretaker or manager of a zoo or sanctuary. “WTF…she drowned a living creature, this sentence is pathetic, at the very least she should have been banned from being around animals for a minimum of 10 years. I wonder if someone else had done it; would they receive the same sentence?? Don’t forget her daddy owns the park’ perhaps they thought her father shouldn’t have had to deal with the stress of sacking his precious daughter!”

Under the terms of the deal, a second charge for possession of an animal euthanasia drug without a license was dropped. “One month in jail for an animal she killed… I just don’t get all these deals etc. Were talking about animal killers or abusers, some heinous sadistic killers, yet they seem able to get deals, why??? They get more deals on their prison terms & conditions, than decent animal lovers, get on their pet insurance…it’s crazy & a slap in the face at animal advocates!”

Mogensen had already been found guilty a court last year, but she appealed those verdicts. Last Friday she apparently changed her mind and opted to plead guilty. “So she is allowed to swap her mind as & when it suits? Then just decided that, actually she did kill the Koala by drowning it…makes me bloody furious. All this swapping  around should be considered into the trial, for wasting’s every ones time & money etc.!!”

Mogensen drowned the wallaby after it had been injured in its cage. While she originally claimed that she had euthanized it by injecting it with drugs, tipsters at the zoo told investigators that they suspected that she had drowned it in a five-gallon bucket instead.

At her trial last September, a former curator at the zoo testified that other animals had been killed in similarly brutal ways: in one case, chickens were fed to pythons. A year prior a researcher at the National Zoo was found guilty of trying to poison stray cats.

Mogensen’s father owns the 30-acre zoo, which is closed for the winter but is scheduled to reopen in March.

News Link:–http://dcist.com/2013/01/reston_zoo_director_pleads_guilty_t.php

Related

• https://preciousjules1985.wordpress.com/2012/06/26/reston-zoo-director-meghan-mogensen-charged-with-animal-cruelty/
  
• https://preciousjules1985.wordpress.com/2012/10/01/zoo-head-found-guilty-in-wallaby-death/

Deadly mistake: Wrong dog killed at Hernando Animal Services, again

 

Hernando County Animal Services has been plagued with problems over excessive euthanasia. On Friday it was discovered that yet another dog fell victim to their mistakes and paid for it with his life.

Poor recordkeeping and confusion resulted in killing the wrong dog
Credits: Maryann Tobin

Poor record-keeping and confusion in cage placement resulted in switching a yellow Labrador mix with another dog.

When it was time to euthanize the dog, Animal Services worker Michael Steele, did not verify the identity of the dog, and instead used the cage number, unaware of the fact that the dogs had been switched. Then the wrong dog was killed.

Hernando County Animal Services has a long history of being more eager to kill than to adopt.

In July 2010 on a visit to the shelter I reported that… “Kennel Worker, Dave Krusko appeared angry and frustrated as he walked past me. Then I heard him comment that he had been “euthanizing all day”, and complained that the people in the front office should not be “letting people back here (to the adoption area) when I’m busy euthanizing.”

In March 2012, the county agency was in the spotlight again after an 8-month-old dog, Zeus, was killed just 15 minutes after arriving at the shelter.

Local residents and shelter volunteers have been suggesting staff and policy changes to remedy the problems at HCAS.

While some changes have been made in recent weeks, deadly problems and bad publicity persist.

The solution may only be found in cleaning out the entire agency from the top, down to the last kennel worker, since partial efforts for improvements appear to continue to fail.

Brooksville’s Pet Luv Clinic director Richard Silvani, who donates veterinary services to Hernando County Animal Services, expressed his concerns and frustration in an email in April, calling the situation at HCAS a “crisis… from failure to vaccinate on intake, to poor record-keeping, to euthanizing at will rather than going through a real evaluation procedure.”

Silvani added, “Things are at a breaking point, and we will either have a house-cleaning and a great leap forward or the whole effort will end.”

With yet another wrongful death of an undeserving dog, it appears that the “breaking point” has passed. Hernando County Animal Services is simply not doing the job taxpayers are paying for.

News Link:http://www.examiner.com/article/deadly-mistake-wrong-dog-killed-at-hernando-animal-services-again

 

Iles-de-la-Madeleine harp seals spared after worldwide outcry

One of two seals at the Aquarium des Iles who were set to be killed because they could not be released into the wild. They have been given a reprieve, but petitioners will need to raise $73,000 by next week.

The fate of two harp seals at an aquarium in the Iles-de-la-Madeleine has raised an international outcry, with more than 124,000 people from around the world signing an 11th hour petition to save them.

Originally slated to be killed Saturday, the strength of the opposition has led the Aquarium to spare six-month-old pups Zak and Mika – for now.

But it is still not clear who will take care of the seals, and at whose expense.

Every spring for the last 25 years, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans catches two whitecoat harp seals to put on display at the aquarium in the Iles-de-la-Madeleine, to be released back into the wild when the aquarium closes in the fall.

But with new directives from the DFO this year barring their release because of concerns they may transmit disease to wild populations of seals and other animals, the aquarium planned to kill the two seals Saturday as it closed its doors for the fall and winter.

One of the workers at the aquarium alerted a wildlife rehabilitation centre on Saltspring Island, B.C., however, and the petition was born, drawing thousands of signatures a day for the past week.

In response, the Aquarium des Iles issued a statement Friday suggesting it could send the animals to Oceanopolis, a facility in Brest, France – if those who signed the petition come up with the $73,000 needed to care for them in the meantime, by Sept. 21.

Wildlife organizations were not impressed.

“It feels a little like they’re taking the seals hostage – like a ransom note: “Now that you’re upset, give us some money or we’ll kill them,” said Michelle Cliffe, a spokesperson for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, which is helping to organize the effort. “We think it’s the responsibility of an aquarium to have a plan and the finances to care for animals prior to taking on those animals.”

Cliffe said the sheer number of people that have signed on, from as far away as Russia and Greece and across the U.S., show that people do care about the animals, and so should the aquarium.

“The mandate of the aquarium is to educate the public about these animals, and create a bond with them,” Cliffe said. “It seems very strange and very sad that they would then destroy the very animals they are trying to educate people about – what is the message and what is the learning there?”

Aquarium directors could not be reached for comment yesterday. But a caretaker said it’s been “hell” for the last three days, as the fate of the seals is all anyone is talking about.

Cliffe said her organization is in contact with the DFO and is looking into whether there is a way to mitigate the medical risks of releasing the seals to the wild — the best, and cheapest solution.

Barring that the IFAW is also examining the conditions in which the seals would be cared for, both en route and at Oceanopolis. In terms of minimizing suffering, euthanasia may be preferable to putting the seals in a cage on an airplane for eight hours, she said.

But the situation raises bigger questions about why the DFO is capturing marine mammals to begin with — at taxpayers’ expense — and about the lack of legislation protecting marine mammals both in the wild and in captivity.

Based on the testimony of three workers at Marineland, the Toronto Star has published a series of stories highlighting the poor living conditions at that aquarium in Niagara Falls, and more than 76,000 people have now signed a petition calling on Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty to enact laws and regulations to protect animals in zoos and aquaria.

The DFO stopped the capture of whales for the benefit of aquaria following recommendations made in 1999, Cliffe said. It should now stop capturing all marine mammals

News Link:-: http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/Iles+Madeleine+harp+seals+spared+after+worldwide+outcry/7248949/story.html#ixzz26aJwwsLJ

240 starving cows killed on farm, New Zealand

 

Animal welfare officers have euthanised 180 cows and calves found starving and near death on a West Coast farm.

The Ministry of Primary Industries is considering laying charges under the Animal Welfare Act over alleged neglect at a leasehold farm in the Lake Brunnerarea.

Not related. Ref. only

An investigator who inspected the farm on August 28 found several cows dead and the rest of the 940-strong herd in “various stages of starvation”.

Local veterinarians, a farm consultant and additional animal welfare officers assessed the cows.

They were found to be in such an emaciated state that they were unlikely to survive more than a few days.

An MPI veterinarian supervised the euthanisation of 150 cows and 30 calves. A further 60 cows were transported to the local freezing works.

There were concerns over the welfare of the 700 cows remaining at the farm, the MPI said.

It said alleged breaches of the Animal Welfare Act 1999 had been carried out at the farm, though no charges had yet been laid.

Federated Farmers West Coast president Katie Milne said the organisation was assisting the MPI investigation.

She implicated financial problems in the failings at the Lake Brunner farm.

“The critical message we need to get out is whatever happens financially you are a farmer first. This is not the 1960′s so be open to your family, your friends and your bank. Above all, be honest to yourself.

“Failing at a business does not mean you have failed as a farmer but failing your stock does.”

The affected farmer should have reached out to Federated Farmers for support, Ms Milne said.

“You will find we all want to help so no one needs to be an island.

“I also need to make it clear that there is no way anyone can condone the maltreatment of livestock. Aside from an obvious and significant destruction of commercial value, it is ethically unacceptable.”

News Link:- http://beforeitsnews.com/mass-animal-death/2012/09/240-starving-cows-killed-on-farm-new-zealand-2430310.html

 

Delaware SPCA Unable to Take in Cats

FELTON, Del.- When Kristen Giles found two abused kittens in the middle of Route 113 in Milford, she knew she had to take them home. 

“When I found them, it looked like someone took a lighter to their eyes, they didn’t have any fur around their eyes.

Their eyes wouldn’t open. They were in pretty bad condition. Their spines were showing, they were really skinny,” she said. “We couldn’t get them to eat or drink.”

After bringing them to her house she believed the next step for the kittens would be a trip to the Delaware SPCA.

“I just took them and I thought the SPCA would take them the next day and I went there and they wouldn’t take them,” she said.

Kevin Uliston with the Kent County SPCA said Giles should not have been turned away since her kittens were hurt.

“It could have been some miscommunication,” Uliston said. “But if the animal is injured then we do take the cat in, but there is a high risk that the cat will have to be euthanized because there is no cage available this time for any cats.”

Recent high-profile animal abuse cases have flooded the SPCA with cats but the organization does not have the money to take in and care for more animals.

“We could take the cat in but we’d have to euthanize it,” Uliston said. “We’re not in the business to just euthanize animals. We’re trying to find animals homes.”

Video & News Link:–http://www.wboc.com/story/18849614/delaware-spca-unable-to-take-in-cats

Help to save the Bosnian bears from euthanasia – occupy for animals!

Please speak out for the Bosnian bears!
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http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/bosnia-herzegovina-intends-to-euthanize-10-captive-be.html
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