Post by honeybee on May 1, 2011 12:01:49 GMT -4
Hopefully the good people of QAC will help out these wonderful volunteers who are working hard to rehabilitate all these horses rescued from a QAC farm.
Tax deductible donations can be made to Days End Farm Horse Rescue, Attn. Arabian Emergency, P.O. Box 309, Lisbon, MD 21765.
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.
Tax deductible donations can be made to Days End Farm Horse Rescue, Attn. Arabian Emergency, P.O. Box 309, Lisbon, MD 21765.
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.