Craig Miller
Well-known member
My local vet has many great stories. He also has a knack for retelling them. He post them on facebook occassionally and id like to pass them on to yall as he does. I hope you enjoy them as well as I have.
I never intended to share this story, but after some recent events, I think some folks might benefit from it. Rescue organizations are needed. They serve a great purpose and there are many of these people who do it for all the right reasons. There are also many people who see an animal that is in poor condition and automatically assume that the owner is neglecting or abusing the animal when that is not always the case. If you want to do animal rescue, please do so with an open mind and an open heart for both the animals and the humans involved. Do not immediately start a campaign to crucify the owner of an animal that you deem malnourished before you know the entire situation. When abuse and neglect are truly an issue, then those animals definitely need to be removed and assisted. However, there are times when that is not the case. There are many situations where the owner is doing everything they possibly can to keep their animals healthy and the only way to know that is to know the entire situation. When abuse or neglect is evident, I do not hesitate to state that because it is my job and those animals need help. Sometimes, the owners just need a little advice and assistance that they may or may not have been able to receive.
I had been in practice for approximately 5 years. I had been told by numerous people that a man was deliberately starving two horses in a community about 20 miles away. People told me that he kept the horses fastened in a dry lot and would not feed them at all. People told me that he was a long time animal abuser and said very hateful things about this old man. After hearing this story from multiple people I began to form an opinion about a man I'd never met who owned horses I'd never seen. One day a deputy from another county called me and asked me if I would meet him at the residence I'd heard so much about to examine those horses. I get involved in a lot of these situations and I don't really enjoy that part of my job because my professional assessment can often lead to legal ramifications for the people involved. I pulled up to the residence and it was obviously the home of a very poor person. The home was an old dilapidated trailer with an overgrown yard full of weeds. The fences were shabby and I didn't really see how they could possibly contain an animal that had any desire to escape. From a distance I saw two horses that were in poor body condition. The deputy knocked on the door and a feeble old man came to the door. He was a very pleasant person, but he was obviously in very poor health. We began to ask questions about the horses and asked if I could take a look at them. The old man walked out with us and he whistled to his horses. Both horses immediately picked their heads up and nickered a weak response as they began to make their way toward us. There were two old garbage can lids on the ground inside the fence and the horses walked directly to their respective feeding place. It was obvious that these horses had been fed in these garbage can lids, even thought their body condition would make you think they hadn't eaten in weeks. There was absolutely no grass in the front part of the pasture which was visible from the road, but there was a fair amount of grass in the pasture behind the man's house. The horses did have access to the grass. One of the horses stuck his head over the fence and the old man ran his fingers into the horses mouth and pulled out a big wad of grass that was packed up in the horse's jaw. The horse was missing most of his teeth so chewing his food was a challenge. The old man laughed and said he had to get Charlie's "chaw" out for him every day at feeding time. The horses' feet were adequately kept. Their hair and skin was reasonable. Their manes and tails were meticulously kept free of tangles and debris. There was no evidence of lameness and neither horse had any signs of injury. There was an old barrel outside the fence and the old man reached inside and scooped out some shelled corn for both horses. Then he pulled out a loaf of bread and split it between the two garbage can lids. After a thorough exam, I didn't find anything to suggest that the horses were in pain, but they were incredibly thin. The deputy explained that we were there because the man had been reported for animal abuse and the old man began to cry. He told us that he had been threatened and numerous people had stopped to say terrible things to him regarding his horses. He began to tell us the story of those two horses and his family. There had been three horses up until one year prior when the youngest of the three had to be euthanized. The horse had been in poor condition just like the two who were still there. When the horse became too weak to go any farther, a friend had come over and taken care of the situation for him. As he told us about these horses we learned that they were full siblings that he had raised from birth. The deceased horse had belonged to his wife. One belonged to his son, and one was his personal horse. He asked us to come inside so he could show us some pictures. He showed us multiple albums with photos of a happy family on numerous trail rides with their beautiful horses. He also showed us some pictures of his son and his horse barrel racing at some small community events in another state. He and his family had lived in another state until his son developed substance abuse issues. He and his wife spent all of the money they had accumulated to try and help their son. After they had run out of money, the only thing he knew to do was to move to an area where his son would not know anyone and hopefully would learn to live a healthier life. They bought a small place that was in poor condition because that is all they could afford and their new neighbors were not welcoming because of their appearance. A few months later, his son died due to his substance abuse issues. A short time later his wife was diagnosed with a terminal illness. The two horses in the pasture were all he had left of what had once been a happy and healthy family. He fed his horses daily and he had adequate pasture. The horses were just old. He showed us the registration papers. One horse was 37 years old and the other was 39. He had lived alone with his horses for the past several years and he knew that the horses were in poor condition. He said he had wanted to call me but he couldn't afford to pay me and he didn't really think his horses were sick. He was correct. Those horses weren't sick. They were just old and needed some dietary changes. I talked to him about some dietary changes he could make to try and help the horses gain a little weight and the deputy agreed to come back by in a few days to check on them again. He asked if we were going to take his horses away and I told him that decision was not mine. After the appropriate reports were filed with the authorities, the man retained ownership of his horses. Whenever I knew I'd be in that area, I'd try to make time to stop by and check on them. Two of the times I stopped by and met the deputy as he was leaving. There would be a couple fresh bags of feed in the barrel and the garbage can lids were always licked clean. I knew that deputy was helping this old man buy better feed for his horses and he may have been assisting with regular feeding. The horses never did get fat, but they weren't neglected. When the old man passed away, I got another call. The deputy and I did what needed to be done. I know that deputy will see this and I hope he knows how much I appreciate his compassion for both people and animals. He was a true rescuer of both humans and animals. He approached that situation with an attitude of willingness to help.
I never intended to share this story, but after some recent events, I think some folks might benefit from it. Rescue organizations are needed. They serve a great purpose and there are many of these people who do it for all the right reasons. There are also many people who see an animal that is in poor condition and automatically assume that the owner is neglecting or abusing the animal when that is not always the case. If you want to do animal rescue, please do so with an open mind and an open heart for both the animals and the humans involved. Do not immediately start a campaign to crucify the owner of an animal that you deem malnourished before you know the entire situation. When abuse and neglect are truly an issue, then those animals definitely need to be removed and assisted. However, there are times when that is not the case. There are many situations where the owner is doing everything they possibly can to keep their animals healthy and the only way to know that is to know the entire situation. When abuse or neglect is evident, I do not hesitate to state that because it is my job and those animals need help. Sometimes, the owners just need a little advice and assistance that they may or may not have been able to receive.
I had been in practice for approximately 5 years. I had been told by numerous people that a man was deliberately starving two horses in a community about 20 miles away. People told me that he kept the horses fastened in a dry lot and would not feed them at all. People told me that he was a long time animal abuser and said very hateful things about this old man. After hearing this story from multiple people I began to form an opinion about a man I'd never met who owned horses I'd never seen. One day a deputy from another county called me and asked me if I would meet him at the residence I'd heard so much about to examine those horses. I get involved in a lot of these situations and I don't really enjoy that part of my job because my professional assessment can often lead to legal ramifications for the people involved. I pulled up to the residence and it was obviously the home of a very poor person. The home was an old dilapidated trailer with an overgrown yard full of weeds. The fences were shabby and I didn't really see how they could possibly contain an animal that had any desire to escape. From a distance I saw two horses that were in poor body condition. The deputy knocked on the door and a feeble old man came to the door. He was a very pleasant person, but he was obviously in very poor health. We began to ask questions about the horses and asked if I could take a look at them. The old man walked out with us and he whistled to his horses. Both horses immediately picked their heads up and nickered a weak response as they began to make their way toward us. There were two old garbage can lids on the ground inside the fence and the horses walked directly to their respective feeding place. It was obvious that these horses had been fed in these garbage can lids, even thought their body condition would make you think they hadn't eaten in weeks. There was absolutely no grass in the front part of the pasture which was visible from the road, but there was a fair amount of grass in the pasture behind the man's house. The horses did have access to the grass. One of the horses stuck his head over the fence and the old man ran his fingers into the horses mouth and pulled out a big wad of grass that was packed up in the horse's jaw. The horse was missing most of his teeth so chewing his food was a challenge. The old man laughed and said he had to get Charlie's "chaw" out for him every day at feeding time. The horses' feet were adequately kept. Their hair and skin was reasonable. Their manes and tails were meticulously kept free of tangles and debris. There was no evidence of lameness and neither horse had any signs of injury. There was an old barrel outside the fence and the old man reached inside and scooped out some shelled corn for both horses. Then he pulled out a loaf of bread and split it between the two garbage can lids. After a thorough exam, I didn't find anything to suggest that the horses were in pain, but they were incredibly thin. The deputy explained that we were there because the man had been reported for animal abuse and the old man began to cry. He told us that he had been threatened and numerous people had stopped to say terrible things to him regarding his horses. He began to tell us the story of those two horses and his family. There had been three horses up until one year prior when the youngest of the three had to be euthanized. The horse had been in poor condition just like the two who were still there. When the horse became too weak to go any farther, a friend had come over and taken care of the situation for him. As he told us about these horses we learned that they were full siblings that he had raised from birth. The deceased horse had belonged to his wife. One belonged to his son, and one was his personal horse. He asked us to come inside so he could show us some pictures. He showed us multiple albums with photos of a happy family on numerous trail rides with their beautiful horses. He also showed us some pictures of his son and his horse barrel racing at some small community events in another state. He and his family had lived in another state until his son developed substance abuse issues. He and his wife spent all of the money they had accumulated to try and help their son. After they had run out of money, the only thing he knew to do was to move to an area where his son would not know anyone and hopefully would learn to live a healthier life. They bought a small place that was in poor condition because that is all they could afford and their new neighbors were not welcoming because of their appearance. A few months later, his son died due to his substance abuse issues. A short time later his wife was diagnosed with a terminal illness. The two horses in the pasture were all he had left of what had once been a happy and healthy family. He fed his horses daily and he had adequate pasture. The horses were just old. He showed us the registration papers. One horse was 37 years old and the other was 39. He had lived alone with his horses for the past several years and he knew that the horses were in poor condition. He said he had wanted to call me but he couldn't afford to pay me and he didn't really think his horses were sick. He was correct. Those horses weren't sick. They were just old and needed some dietary changes. I talked to him about some dietary changes he could make to try and help the horses gain a little weight and the deputy agreed to come back by in a few days to check on them again. He asked if we were going to take his horses away and I told him that decision was not mine. After the appropriate reports were filed with the authorities, the man retained ownership of his horses. Whenever I knew I'd be in that area, I'd try to make time to stop by and check on them. Two of the times I stopped by and met the deputy as he was leaving. There would be a couple fresh bags of feed in the barrel and the garbage can lids were always licked clean. I knew that deputy was helping this old man buy better feed for his horses and he may have been assisting with regular feeding. The horses never did get fat, but they weren't neglected. When the old man passed away, I got another call. The deputy and I did what needed to be done. I know that deputy will see this and I hope he knows how much I appreciate his compassion for both people and animals. He was a true rescuer of both humans and animals. He approached that situation with an attitude of willingness to help.
