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July 10, 2008 Volunteers rally to rescue, adopt four horses
By Jennifer Larsen News editor
The care and adoption of four horses and a foal as well as the costs associated with the endeavor are top priority for the Adams County Pet Rescue, which recently changed its name from the Ritzville Othello Pet Rescue. Adams County Pet Rescue is launching a fundraiser to help pay for the costs of feed, medical/dental visits and supplies for the animals. For a $1 donation, anyone may submit an entry form to Name the Foal, which was born on June 10. The entry form was published in last week’s issue of the Ritzville Adams County Journal and was scheduled for publication in the Othello area last week. The winner will receive a family fun basket filled to the brim with fun pet toys, supplies and goodies from area businesses. All proceeds garnered through the effort will benefit the non-profit organization and its care of cats, dogs, horses and other animals. Adams County Pet Rescue legally obtained possession of the animals three weeks ago after rescuing the four adult horses at the end of March. The animals were rescued when volunteers and sheriff’s deputies converged on a 10-acre pasture west of Othello and spent a chilly couple of hours on March 30 trying to safely capture four injured, weak and abused horses. An article written by one of the volunteers, Lisa Leitz, publisher of the South County Sun, was published in the April 3, 2008, issue of the Othello Outlook. “It took eight volunteers and two sheriff’s deputies nearly two hours to load the horses onto a stock trailer to be hauled to a foster care home near Ralston. The volunteers all listed their names, birthdates and phone numbers with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office as witnesses to the conditions the horses were living in.” Leitz explained that the sheriff’s office had received complaints for several months before the four starving horses were rescued. According to the article, the horses were running loose in the pasture that was filled with broken bottles, garbage, abandoned cars and discarded barbed wire. Kison added abandoned campers and campsites, vehicles, six-foot holes and downed fence to the list. Fresh water wasn’t available to the horses; instead, they were drinking out of seep holes. Although some weren’t ‘horse people,’ each jumped in and did what was necessary to load the horses onto a volunteer’s stock trailer, according to equestrian homeopathy/acupressure practitioner and volunteer Mikki Kison of Ralston. “It went exactly the way it should’ve gone,” Kison said. The four horses were destined for Kison’s home, where the area native has rehabilitated numerous horses, including the three residents – Roxy, Kira and Cherish – and Jessie Jaguar, a registered buckskin quarter horse who’s happily living out his life in Granite Falls, Wash., that was rescued in June 2006. Using the Henneke Body Scoring Condition Chart, which was developed by Don R. Henneke, Ph.D., of Tarleton State Texas University in 1983, Dr. Jill Swannack of Sprague assessed the four animals. The Henneke Body Scoring Condition Chart is printed on the back of several horse feed products and is available at numerous university Web sites as well as in several leading national horse magazines. The ratings are: 1 – Poor; 2 – Very Thin; 3 – Thin; 4 – Moderately Thin; 5 – Moderate; 6 – Moderate to Fleshy; 7 – Fleshy; 8 –Fat; and 9 – Extremely Fat. Evita Volunteers suspected that the black mare, later named Evita, was pregnant. Kison guesses the mare is less than 10 years old. “She had that baby on her own,” Kison said. “Mother Nature did well.” The mare continues to avoid human contact, and volunteers used pasture panels instead of a halter to load her that day. Evita’s foal was born early on June 10 during a vicious rain storm with a wind chill factor that concerned Kison. Lillie Lillie is a black filly about two or three years old. She was assessed at a Henneke Level 1, but had a little more body fat than Rusty. She had some hair loss, but it quickly came back once she received proper care. She is very halter broke, Kison added. Pepsi Pepsi is a white Appaloosa stallion with striped hooves between the ages of three or four years. The animal was initially assessed at a Henneke Level 3 and as a gelding. It was penned with Lillie in Ralston until Kison saw Pepsi attempting to impregnate one of her horses. There is still a slight possibility that Lillie is pregnant, Kison said. He is halter broke and Kison has since determined that the stallion has only one testicle. Rusty Rusty is an Arab thoroughbred cross that’s seen about 17 years. He’s well educated, but not able to be ridden because of permanent damage of the right elbow due to an injury. “He would make an excellent pasture gelding,” Kison said. He wasn’t strong enough to stand when he arrived at Kison’s. Rusty’s injury coupled with malnutrition left the thoroughbred extremely weak. In fact, the horse fell during the loading process and volunteers collectively held their breath until the Arab was uprighted. When Rusty was first trimmed, the farrier had to use a block and trim the hooves over the weight because he couldn’t put any weight on the injured leg. His feet are improving, and Rusty has started to put some weight on the injured leg. Rusty lost hair on his whole face and right shoulder. He had an abscess on the frog on the back right hoof. Swannack assessed Rusty at a Level 1. Dr. Erin Zamzow is donating complete equine dental services for Rusty and is scheduled for a visit on July 23. Anyone interested in equine dental work is encouraged to contact Kison at 659-0663. The additional visits scheduled at the same time will help defray the equine dentist’s costs. The four horses and foal consume about one ton of hay per month. Kison expects to have castration costs for Pepsi in the upcoming weeks. A storyboard of the rescue and rehabilitation is on display at Connell Oil in Ritzville. Connell Oil is currently accepting donations on behalf of the non-profit organization to help defray some of the costs associated with rehabilitating four horses suffering from malnutrition and physical abuse. Harvest States provided 400 pounds of Running Horse Trail Mix, and the Lyle Bakken family donated one ton of hay. Local veterinarian Tim Johnstone provided parasitic control advice while Swannack provided the initial evaluation.
Information box Contact Adams County Pet Rescue volunteers for adoption information: Mikki Kison at 659-0663 or Janet Bowman at 994-7576 Name the Foal, Adams County Pet Rescue, 202 Curtis Drive, Othello, Wash., 99344 |