SPCA of Texas Awarded Custody of Five
Starving Horses
Seized
on September 2, 2009
(LANCASTER, TX/McKINNEY, TX); September 9, 2009-Judge
Valencia Nash awarded custody of five starving horses to the SPCA of Texas
today at a custody hearing held at 9 a.m. at the Lancaster
Sub-Courthouse, Justice of the Peace Pct. 1-2. Restitution in the amount of
$3,134 was also awarded to the SPCA of Texas.
"The
Court finds that based on the evidence the animals have been cruelly treated.
The Court is ruling that the SPCA (of Texas) take the animals into custody
for their health and safety," said Judge Nash.
"I saw five horses
severely malnourished, one with a severe injury. He couldn't even straighten
out his hoof and walk on his hoof," said Detective Karnes with the
Hutchins Police Department.
Detective Hinojosa, also with
the Hutchins Police Department, said, "I saw five horses, one was
penned up and his ankle was injured. All were very, very thin. One of their
harnesses had grown into one of their faces."
The horses
will now be individually evaluated for potential adoption or placement
on a case by case basis.
In
an effort to find homes for the horses currently available for adoption
at the SPCA of Texas, the organization is offering a 50% off adoption fee
special through September 13. To view all horses (and
other pets) currently up for adoption at the SPCA of Texas, people
may visit www.spca.org/findapet.
Under
the authority of the Hutchins Police Department, the SPCA of Texas
seized five horses on Wednesday, September 2 from a
property in Hutchins, TX in Dallas County.
To
download photos from the location, visit www.spca.org/hutchenshorses.
SPCA
of Texas vehicles transported the horses to the Perry Animal Care Center
in McKinney, where they were cared for until the custody hearing.
The
five horses--two mares, two foals and one stud--were being housed at an
unattended boarding stable and were not being given appropriate food and
water. They are all extremely underweight and have severely overgrown
hooves.
The
stud was locked in a stall and appears to be suffering from a severe
medical condition involving one of his hooves. The mares and foals were
located in a fenced enclosure. Witnesses to the situation stated that the
horses' owner hadn't given the animals food and water on a regular basis.
Acting at request of the Hutchins
Police Department, SPCA of Texas Humane Investigators visited
the property in question in late August. The SPCA of Texas made multiple
attempts to contact the horses' owner, but with no response of any kind
forthcoming, the SPCA of Texas agreed with the Hutchins Police
Department that immediate action was needed as the horses were in
severe distress.
The
SPCA of Texas has several horses that are already looking for homes at the
Perry Animal Care Center in McKinney and encourages the public to consider
adopting a horse if now is the right time to add a large new family member.
This will help the SPCA of Texas make room for these seized horses. To view
all horses (and other pets) currently up for adoption at the SPCA
of Texas, people may visit www.spca.org/findapet.
Those
who are interested in livestock adoptions through the SPCA of Texas may visit
www.spca.org/livestock at
their convenience to complete an application to begin the adoption process.
It is not necessary to have already picked out a livestock animal to adopt to
begin the process.
To
help the SPCA of Texas fund future rescues like this and to support the SPCA
of Texas' other programs and services, please visit www.spca.org/helptheanimals. To
learn more about the SPCA of Texas, please visit our website at www.spca.org/.
The SPCA of Texas is the leading animal welfare agency in North
Texas with two shelters and two spay/neuter clinics located in Dallas
and McKinney, and serves as an active resource center providing an array
of programs and services that bring people and animals together to enrich
each others' lives. A comprehensive animal welfare agency, the SPCA of Texas
is not affiliated with any other entity and does not receive general
operating funds from the City of Dallas, State of Texas, federal government
or any other humane organization.
