Desperate Help Needed Save Neglected Horses
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 8:47 am
In early October, PETA began receiving complaints regarding the inhumane conditions suffered by a group of horses reportedly belonging to Morris Smith of R&R Stables in Wurtsboro, New York. Photographs obtained by PETA depict flooded corrals and horses standing in muddy, wet pastures. Complainants tell us that these horses are sometimes left for a week or more without food and that they are so often seen standing in deep water that they have been dubbed the “swimming horses” by local citizens. Upon receipt of this complaint, PETA immediately contacted local officials who were, as it turned out, quite familiar with this notorious property.
Conditions improved somewhat for the horses until February, when the animals reportedly began to lose weight again as a result of insufficient food. PETA once again contacted Sullivan County officials, who informed us that charges against Mr. Smith were imminent. PETA rallied rescue groups from all over the state of New York and secured placement for the horses, as we were informed that the greatest obstacle to confiscating these animals was where to keep them. Still, charges were not filed and phone calls by the rescue groups went unreturned.
PETA has just received reports that at least two of Mr. Smith’s horses have died during a recent flood. Complainants also claim that the remaining horses have had “nothing but manure-filled water to drink since the flood.” Meanwhile, the sheriff’s department has apparently taken this matter from the Sullivan County SPCA, denying its humane agents access to cruelty cases until they enroll in a “peace officer training course.” The all-volunteer SPCA cannot afford such a program, and the county is not funding them.
These horses have suffered long enough. Please politely ask Sullivan County officials to immediately seize these horses and file appropriate charges against Mr. Smith. Please also urge them to fund peace-officer certification for SPCA staff, so that experienced humane officers are again allowed to perform cruelty investigations.
It is imperative that all correspondence be courteous; otherwise, our campaign will suffer:
Sheriff Daniel Hogue
Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department
8 Bushnell Ave.
Monticello, NY 12701
845-794-7100
845-794-0810 (fax)
County Manager Daniel L. Briggs
Sullivan County Government Center
P.O. Box 5012
Monticello, NY 12701-5192
845-794-3000, ext. 3322
845-794-0230 (fax)
The Honorable Stephen F. Lungen
Sullivan County District Attorney’s Office
414 Broadway
Monticello, NY 12701
845-794-3344
845-794-3646 (fax)
The Honorable Ed Handford
Mayor of Wurtsboro
P.O. Box 157
Wurtsboro, NY 12790
845-888-2522
845-888-2816 (fax)
Info also available here
http://www.peta.org/alert/automation/Al ... sp?id=1320
Conditions improved somewhat for the horses until February, when the animals reportedly began to lose weight again as a result of insufficient food. PETA once again contacted Sullivan County officials, who informed us that charges against Mr. Smith were imminent. PETA rallied rescue groups from all over the state of New York and secured placement for the horses, as we were informed that the greatest obstacle to confiscating these animals was where to keep them. Still, charges were not filed and phone calls by the rescue groups went unreturned.
PETA has just received reports that at least two of Mr. Smith’s horses have died during a recent flood. Complainants also claim that the remaining horses have had “nothing but manure-filled water to drink since the flood.” Meanwhile, the sheriff’s department has apparently taken this matter from the Sullivan County SPCA, denying its humane agents access to cruelty cases until they enroll in a “peace officer training course.” The all-volunteer SPCA cannot afford such a program, and the county is not funding them.
These horses have suffered long enough. Please politely ask Sullivan County officials to immediately seize these horses and file appropriate charges against Mr. Smith. Please also urge them to fund peace-officer certification for SPCA staff, so that experienced humane officers are again allowed to perform cruelty investigations.
It is imperative that all correspondence be courteous; otherwise, our campaign will suffer:
Sheriff Daniel Hogue
Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department
8 Bushnell Ave.
Monticello, NY 12701
845-794-7100
845-794-0810 (fax)
County Manager Daniel L. Briggs
Sullivan County Government Center
P.O. Box 5012
Monticello, NY 12701-5192
845-794-3000, ext. 3322
845-794-0230 (fax)
The Honorable Stephen F. Lungen
Sullivan County District Attorney’s Office
414 Broadway
Monticello, NY 12701
845-794-3344
845-794-3646 (fax)
The Honorable Ed Handford
Mayor of Wurtsboro
P.O. Box 157
Wurtsboro, NY 12790
845-888-2522
845-888-2816 (fax)
Info also available here
http://www.peta.org/alert/automation/Al ... sp?id=1320