Horse Abuse Brings Felony Charges

The Chicago Sun-Times reported today that, acting on a tip, Cook County sherrif's police raided a boarding stable, seized several undernourished and badly neglected horses and took the stable's owner and caretaker into custody. Two of the horses were in such bad condition they had to be euthanized. According to the article, "[e]ach man faces four counts of felony aggravated animal abuse."

I can only say that I am grateful local law enforcement has stepped in here, and hope these individuals are punished accordingly and made an example of. But, at the same time, it also shows how animal welfare issues cannot be left solely to law enforcement because, as in this case, help almost always comes too late. And with the vast majority of people in this country facing long-term economic stress or hardship, I fear we will be hearing more stories of abuse and neglect in the future.

Follow the link above to read the article and watch a video of the horses being rescued.

Comments

  1. I'm sure you're right about this turning into an epidemic. I can understand some people cannot take care of their horses regarding feed because of a money situation. They should get help from a local shelter or try and give the horses to a caring individual. There must be a way to get help for a starving animal. However, I feel there is no excuse to have horses standing in 2 feet of manure that just shows laziness and disregard for the animal. I'm also disturbed by the fact that there were 11 other horses in the barn that were fed and not in abusive conditions. Where were these people when the horses needed them to step in?
    I do hope these two get the punishment they deserve.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I hope it doesn’t turn into an epidemic but the bottom line is don’t own horses if you can afford them. This, as well, has a lot to do with over breeding of horses. There are too many horses and too many poorly bred, poorly trained horses than there are homes for. It’s great that the stable owners are charged but where are the horses’ owners? If the owners aren’t visiting to make sure their horses are OK then the owners should be charge with abandonment.

    ReplyDelete
  3. i agree. and i was most disturbed by the fact that these people had other boarders who were there, saw what was going on and 1) didn't leave or 2) didn't do something themselves.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I enjoy reading all your comments and welcome discussion and debate. I do my best to post and/or answer most comments in a timely manner, but this may not always be possible. I will publish all comments providing they are relevant to the subject.

Thank you for reading. We look forward to hearing from you.