I read in a recent newspaper article that a woman in Washington state will be prosecuted for animal abuse. As the story read, she owned several horses, many of which starved to death during December and January. The article also reported that during the arctic cold that we experienced in January the horses had no drinking water because it had froze. The authorities have a few horses in their care, but there are no guarantees that they will survive. It is feared that they too may die because they may have been discovered too late.
The ranch where the horses were kept was out of sight of neighbors and the passersby.
When the woman was asked why she allowed this happen she stated simply that she ran out of money.
I guess I have to wonder why she didn't call the Humane Society and let them know her plight. Surely they would have helped her. Why didn't she advertise the horses in the newspaper and either sell or give them away to good homes? Why didn't she do the right thing, and why didn't it click in her brain that are options? Any law enforcement agency would have gladly directed her to through the proper channels if she really didn't know what to do.
Now the law will direct her to prison, where it is estimated that she will receive 1 year per horse. So far I believe the tally is somewhere between 8-11 years, provided no others die.
Ordinarily, I would say this is a just sentence for this type of crime, but now I wonder, who is going to take care of her children while she is in prison? She not only victimized the horses, but now her children will suffer too for her ignorance.
It is a very sad story.
3 comments:
Poverty is a poor excuse for not giving them water, though. This is indeed sad. Remember when you posted that entry about everyone taking care of their pets in the upcoming wintry days? At that time, these horses were being neglected. (These type of things make me angry: abuse and neglect.)
It is a very sad story. It's unimaginable that she could neglct these animals to this extent. And now her children will ultimately suffer the consequences.
How tragic both for the animals & humans involved. But anyone having that many horses & claiming not to know better is either lying, ignorant or BOTH. The number of cases of animal cruelty actually taken to this level are miniscule compared to the number of cases that go unpunished,.. so many more animals are suffering that we'll never hear about. A sad statement on our society. You're very courageous to have addressed this & your writing style is excellent. ~Holly
Post a Comment