Benny, Chester, Honey & Phoenix

FOUR TO ADORE

It was early October when one of our investigators responded to a complaint regarding a group of thin horses in Will County, IL.  We arrived at the scene to find three horses turned out in a small mud paddock.  The horses had scores of 2.5 to 3 on the body condition scale.  Though these three horses were not in immediate danger, chances were they soon would be with the impending winter.

Upon further investigation, two additional and severely emaciated horses were discovered inside the barn sharing one manure filled stall.  Resigned to a worse fate, these horses had body scores of 1 to 1.5 at best and one of the horses was covered from head to toe with the most horrible case of fungus many of us had ever seen. 

The stench coming from their unsanitary stall was nearly unbearable.  To make matters worse, no food or water was to be found.  Needless to say these horses were listless and depressed.  Despite the appalling condition of the horses and the fact that there was currently no feed whatsoever on the premises, the owner refused to admit that any of the horses were underweight or lacking for anything. 
Realizing the severity of the situation, negotiations were soon underway by HAHS to get the horses relinquished and taken to safety.  The owner reluctantly agreed to relinquish the two horses that were in the worst condition but did not want to give up his hold on the three others.  He told us that these three had only recently arrived at his property. 

During the interim, things just got worse for the horse covered in fungus.  He began exhibiting signs of severe colic later in the day and was not able to recover.  Due to his awful overall condition and poor health the decision was made by a local veterinarian that he be relieved of his suffering and was humanely euthanized on location. 

HAHS quickly joined forces with County authorities; the owner of the horses was arrested and taken to jail for the deplorable treatment of his horses.  In the meantime, with a little bit of persuading, the three remaining horses were also relinquished to HAHS. 

Benny, Chester, Honey and Phoenix are currently residing at HAHS and are looking forward to the day when they can all find a new home.  Each of them have an amazingly sweet attitude and are very easy to handle.  Two have already started work under saddle.  Their futures look bright. 

Without a phone call to HAHS from a concerned passerby surely all of these horses would have soon suffered the same fate as the first.  If you see a horse that you suspect is being neglected, please call.  That phone call might just save a life.