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Post by Rich Fisher on Apr 29, 2011 12:04:14 GMT -4
Pretty nasty...
(WNAV) More than a dozen horses were rescued from a farm on the Eastern Shore.
Earlier this month Animal Control removed numerous neglected horses from the Canterbury Farm in Centerville. Authorities say a herd of 146 horses were found on the property. 13 of them were in poor condition and malnourished.
The animals were sent to horse rescue farms. Six of them were so severely neglected they had to be humanely euthanized.
Officials say they are considering filing criminal charges against the woman who owns the animals.
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Post by Scooby on Apr 29, 2011 15:37:43 GMT -4
i hope they do file charges - this farm is shown as an upscale breeder of Arabian horses - so very sad.
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Post by Auntie~M on Apr 29, 2011 16:14:12 GMT -4
Absolutely!! Ditto that!! File! File! File!
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Post by mcbeth on Apr 29, 2011 18:31:54 GMT -4
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Post by AquaHolic on Apr 30, 2011 11:30:44 GMT -4
Makes me sick. That far is right down the road...it is gorgeous...to let those horses look like that...omg...You can't see them from the road as they have a lot of land...
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Post by AquaHolic on Apr 30, 2011 11:39:42 GMT -4
www.trulia.com/property/1052055242-160-Melfield-Ln-Centreville-MD-21617The house/farm is for sale...I'm thinking someone might get a deal now. Why didn't that stupid woman sell off part of her property 5 perks on her property!!!!! ugh...I hope they throw the book at her. Especially since she could have prevented this by selling property..hell she has 212 acres...
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Post by funnel101 on Apr 30, 2011 16:13:16 GMT -4
So sad. Horses are such majestic animals, to treat them like that...  |
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Post by sharon on Apr 30, 2011 17:17:13 GMT -4
Makes me sick. That far is right down the road...it is gorgeous...to let those horses look like that...omg...You can't see them from the road as they have a lot of land... You answered my question....how could no one know about this situation & report it? If the property was large & the animals were out of sight I understand. Not like your (not you personally) neighbor has 75 cats & dogs in their house & arent caring for them. Now the laws need to be adjusted so that violators of such cruelty severely punished & not just a slap on the wrist & removal of the animals. Alien on the property to cover costs of care & rehab to start with & if this isnt a feasible option jail time with additional community service. Its time we start to stick up for our 4 legged creatures that cant help themselves. |
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Post by funnel101 on Apr 30, 2011 18:51:04 GMT -4
The Humane Society of the United States is helping with this rescue effort. I'm going to be making a donation to them ASAP; maybe others on here can help, too.
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Post by honeybee on May 1, 2011 11:57:45 GMT -4
Yes - they need donations - 133 horses! I hope lots of folks in QAC step up and help all the locations that have stepped forward to help out. This must be a result of the economy. It's heartbreaking.
133 horses seized at QA's farm By ANGELA PRICE Kent Island Editor The Star Democrat |
CENTREVILLE The largest seizure of horses in state history took place at Canterbury Farm on Melfield Lane Friday and Saturday.
The Queen Anne's County Department of Animal Services, with the help of Days End Farm Horse Rescue, the Humane Society of the United States and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, removed 133 Polish Arabian horses from the 200-acre breeding farm owned by Marsha Parkinson.
Animal Services Director Dave MacGlashan said his officers had been monitoring conditions at the farm for a while and things had started deteriorating rapidly in the last 45 days.
"The horse market has fallen on hard times. The owner just could not provide for their upkeep. The property is dilapidated. The barns and stalls are dirty. The horses just aren't getting fed the amount of substance that they needed," he said. "Our main concern here is the welfare of the animals."
With the large number of horses involved, "I knew there was no way our tiny Animal Control could handle this," MacGlashan said. "We had to ask for help."
He contacted Days End, based in Lisbon, Md., and HSUS.
A team went to the farm April 15 to inspect the horses. That day, they removed seven horses determined to be in the poorest conditions and had to humanely euthanize another, MacGlashan said. Parkinson surrendered her ownership rights to those, he said.
They returned to the farm April 17 and put down five more horses, all older brood mares, he said.
"All the horses were in very poor health," MacGlashan said. "There are horses needing hoof work, needing dental work, infested with lice and other parasites, just all around neglect. Some horses are several hundred pounds underweight. They're certainly not getting what they need."
"It's heartbreaking," said Stacy Segal, equine cruelty specialist with HSUS. "There's no excuse for starving or neglecting an animal. Every horse needs care. To have a horse is to have a responsibility. It's the responsibility of every horse owner to provide humane, responsible care for their horses at all stages of their life."
Parkinson purchased the farm in 2001, moving here from California, MacGlashan said. She brought more than 100 horses with her.
Canterbury Farm was at one-time a well-respected operation that imported horses from Poland and bred them for sale, Segal said. The farm's website bills it as America's largest breeder of Polish Arabian horses.
Dozens of volunteers gathered at the 4-H Park near Centreville at 8 a.m. Friday to launch a full-scale rescue.
A team from Animal Control and HSUS, led by MacGlashan and accompanied by sheriff's deputies, met with Parkinson Friday morning and asked her to voluntarily surrender the horses. When she didn't sign the papers, they told her they were going to seize them.
Lands End already has 80 horses at its farm, so it arranged for several different off-site emergency shelters to receive the Centreville horses. Two farms in New Market agreed to take about 60. Summerwinds Stables horse rescue, with locations in Hartly, Del., and Warwick, Md., sent volunteers and trailers and took several horses. Others went to farms in Iamsville and Mt. Airy.
Originally, the plan was to remove 90-some horses and leave the ones in the best shape to be monitored by weekly visits from Animal Control officers.
That plan changed mid- to late afternoon.
"We had one mare in really bad shape. She had gotten choked on something," MacGlashan said.
The veterinarian, Dr. Michael Forney, who had been at the farm that morning had returned to Chestertown, so MacGlashan called in Dr. Terry Corkran, who lives in Centreville.
"I knew Terry had all the equipment right on his truck," MacGlashan said. Corkran got to the farm in about 15 minutes and was able to save the mare. "He was great!"
Corkran stayed, helping care for the horses, on into the evening. As more of the horses were brought in from the outer pastures, Corkran expressed concerns about any animals left on the property, said Adam Parascandola, director of animal cruelty investigations for HSUS.
"Untreated medical conditions put the horses at risk, and there was evidence they were not getting needed medical care," Parascandola said. "To leave anyone at that point would be leaving them at risk."
The rescue team leaders discussed it, and MacGlashan called Queen Anne's County State's Attorney Lance Richardson for approval.
"I just thought, how could I leave anything here?" he said. "I called Lance and said I think we have to take them all."
In all, 110 horses were removed from Canterbury Farm Friday, including one field full of foals all yearlings or younger that had never been handled, which made loading them into trailers a challenge, volunteers said.
A lot of the babies had contagious warts on their mouths and needed special medical care, MacGlashan said.
The operation wrapped up around 8:30 to 9 p.m. Friday and resumed at 9 a.m. Saturday with 23 horses left to be removed.
Removing all the horses was for the better, said Parascandola. "Now they can all get thorough medical exams" and whatever treatment they need.
"They'll be held in custody. She (Parkinson) has the opportunity to argue to get the horses back. In the meantime, they'll have a couple months rehabilitation," he said.
HSUS officials indicated they hoped ownership would be surrendered or severed so the horses could be adopted once they are nursed back to health.
"We'll get them assessed. We'll get them back to health. And they'll have bright futures," Segal said.
HSUS will assist Days End with the cost of caring for and rehabilitating the horses, and both groups are looking for donations.
Dan Zalewski, development director for Days End, estimated bills of more than $1 million over the next six months just for the Canterbury Farm horses.
Parascandola urged anyone wanting to help these horses to do so through a special fund established by Days End.
Tax deductible donations can be made to Days End Farm Horse Rescue, Attn. Arabian Emergency, P.O. Box 309, Lisbon, MD 21765.
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Post by Water Lady on May 2, 2011 22:46:59 GMT -4
I hope they put a lien on her property for every penny of the cost to rescue and rehabilitate...then a HUGE fine and a good few years probation. She should never be given a license to breed or otherwise operate in the horse (trade) for the rest of her life.  |
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Post by eshorsewoman on May 3, 2011 1:05:45 GMT -4
I met the woman who brought, at a considerable expense, those horses from CA. At that time I was impressed at how she had set up the operation and with her love of the horses. She very carefully and proudly introduced the CA bare-ground horses to our lush grasses on the ES. She was very knowledgeable of the breed and knew each of her horses well.
I visited her again several years later and it appeared that the farm was suffering from overbreeding. Too many mares, too many foals and farm help seem to be lacking.
I guess that continued until the situation got to be what it apparently is today. What a shame!!!
Is this a classic case of "be careful what you dream, it might come true and become a nightmare?"
One cannot help but wonder what happened...economics, aging, physical or mental incapacity. How did this get to be so bad that no one intervened sooner???
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Post by bluecrabber on May 3, 2011 7:12:20 GMT -4
I suspect it is another case of a hopeless romantic who loves animals and loses touch with reality and ends up with many more animals than they can support.
Happens all the time with dogs and cats. Unusual to hear about horses..
Over the last few months I had noticed when driving by the farm that suddenly there was a bunch of horses out in the pastures in the front. I had never seen that before and was wondering where they all came from.. I wondered to myself how much it would cost to provide supplemental feed and regular care to that many animals..
Apparently more money than the woman had..
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Post by KimberlyMMills on May 3, 2011 13:50:44 GMT -4
I made a donation to Days End... I hope they get enough money to get the health of these horses back to where it belongs!
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Post by charliejohn on May 7, 2011 16:23:44 GMT -4
The video of the horse rescue is on the Humane Society of the United State's website: www.hsus.orgIt is shocking to watch- I'm very disappointed in our County Animal Control Services- this should not have taken them months to act on. An international spotlight on Queen Anne's County's animal abuse issues is pretty sad to see. Hope these horses are able to be brought back. Can anyone get the local papers to bring attention to this video? |
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Post by AquaHolic on May 7, 2011 16:35:37 GMT -4
The video of the horse rescue is on the Humane Society of the United State's website: www.hsus.orgIt is shocking to watch- I'm very disappointed in our County Animal Control Services- this should not have taken them months to act on. An international spotlight on Queen Anne's County's animal abuse issues is pretty sad to see. Hope these horses are able to be brought back. Can anyone get the local papers to bring attention to this video? That video makes me cry. This website is better then the papers...plus I just shared it on my face book page... |
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