PCF president Deb Warner received a call about a horse kept in a stall for the past 3 months only being fed and watered every 3-4 days if then! Four phone pictures were sent of a emaciated horse in a stall. Cruelty calls are the hardest part for PCF since Centre County doesn’t have a cruelty officer. The PSPCA is closing all their branches except Danville and Philadelphia, and are scaling back on their cruelty officer positions. State Police are required by law to enforce Cruelty Law 5511, but many do not have the experience or equipment to handle animals. And if they do confiscate an animal, where do they take it? And who pays for board and veterinary bills? If there is a court case it can take up to 6 months for a trial date.
In the meantime that animal cannot be spayed or neutered and only life threatening illnesses can be treated. So when the call came in for this particular horse, Deb called humane officer Regina Martin of Hog Heaven Rescue for advice. After notifying the local state police and showing them the phone pictures, Deb went to the farm to see the horse for sale.
A 4 year old 16 hand Thoroughbred gelding weighing maybe 800 pounds was offered for sale for $800! The normal weight for a horse this size would be at least 1200 pounds. After asking what the best price the owner would take ($600!) Deb told her that she was with PCF and she had two choices–either surrender the horse to PCF or the state police would be called and she could face cruelty charges. The woman signed the surrender papers and the gelding was taken immediately to a local vet for an exam and documentation. It was thought the young horse was wormy, but a fecal check showed very few worms–he was just not fed!
Now named Justin, he resides at Deb’s rescue farm and is slowly putting weight on. It took a few weeks for him to realize that the food would keep coming and he could relax at supper time! He hangs out with Johnson, a 16.3 Quarter Horse gelding, who was used for hunt seat lessons until a soft tissue injury forced his early retirement.
