# Horse neglect, abuse cases on the rise, authorities say



## testmg80 (Jul 28, 2008)

Economy leaving many families struggling to find homes for their horses

By Steve Schmadeke | Tribune reporter 
February 7, 2009

A dead horse found hanging last month by its bound hind legs from a tree along a rural Kankakee County road is just the latest sign, officials said, of the rising number of horse abuse and neglect cases in the wake of a slumping economy.

People are tearfully calling horse humane societies trying to find someone to take their animals. Others have stopped feeding their horses, turned them loose, abandoned them in stables or worse, officials and stable owners said.

"It's not going to get better; this is just the beginning," said Donna Ewing of the Hooved Animal Rescue and Protection Society, or HARPS, in Barrington Hills. "I've had to stop taking them because we'd have hundreds of them."

Riverside Police Officer Mary Beale noticed two gaunt horses on property near the Countryside riding school where she takes lessons. She eventually learned the owner had lost his job, refinanced his home to pay bills and owed more on the house than it was worth. Beale began buying feed for the horses, who hadn't been cared for in about three years. One died last summer and the other is doing well at HARPS.

Neglected horses removed from Chicago carriage operation 
"When he lost his job, the horses had to fend for themselves," Beale said. "They were the last thing he cared about. He was trying to pay for his house."

But it is easier than ever to buy a horse. The market, hurt not only by the economy but by the shuttering of a slaughterhouse in DeKalb, has dropped dramatically. Horses now go at auction for less than $100, but novice buyers are sometimes unaware it costs at least $500 a month to care for themand horses can live to be 35, officials said.

Julie Boudreau, director of animal control in Kankakee County, said last month her shelter, which is set up to deal with cats and dogs, typically handles two or three horses a year but is paying farmers to care for 11. She said owners facing a financial squeeze have no desire to pay $500 to euthanize a horse and either bury it with a backhoe or have a rendering company haul it away.

The Illinois Department of Agriculture, which investigates cases but has no power to prosecute, said it went from handling an average of about 435 horse-neglect calls between 2002 and 2006 to taking 617 in 2007, when the financial crisis hit, and 730 last year.

Dr. Colleen O'Keefe, manager of the agency's food safety and animal protection division, said she's hearing of more horse neglect and recently was told of a first: A documented case out of Winnebago County of someone abandoning horses in a forest preserve.

"We've always thought it would happen," she said. "Our big fear is that a family in a minivan is going to hit a 1,000-pound horse, which would result in major damage and possibly fatalities."

The Hooved Animal Humane Society in Woodstock said it has been caring for twice as many horses as normal. Last year, the group took in nearly 40 horses, on top of the horses it already was trying to place, program director Hillary Clark said.

Typically, about 30 horses are cared for, but the non-profit now has 51which is about its maximum, she said last month.

"We're just getting overwhelmed by calls," Clark said. "We do give every horse as much of a chance as we possibly can."

At Hooved Haven in Willow Springs, co-owner Joe Brannigan said that last year he started seeing an increase in the number of customers who abandoned their horses.

"It's unfortunate," Brannigan said. "These animals have been with the family for 15 years; it's part of their family. I think people lose their job or times are tough. It's usually a couple months' rent, after they're not answering their phone, that I get the picturethey're not coming back for this little one."

[email protected]

Horse neglect, abuse cases on the rise, authorities say -- chicagotribune.com


----------

