November 2010 Carroll, IA Quarter Horse Seizure

  watch the video  read the story

  Last of ill horses given new homes at Omaha.com

A haunting case of abuse, neglect

The trail to animal-neglect heartbreak

All the way from Arizona we've received offers of help from wonderful people.

On HorseTalk

We do have some horses that are ready for adoption from the seizure of the 35+ horses that we rescued in November 2010 and also some others that we have rescued that are also looking for a family to love them and care for them for the rest of their life.

We would like to share with you some of their pictures of the horses needing forever homes. As with all of our adoptions we will require an adoption agreement and horse ready property. We ask that adoption agreements are sent to this e-mail address along with any questions you may have regarding any horses you are interested in.

We currently have 60 plus horses in foster care and we are full here at the rescue with both horses and large breed dogs. Many of the horses and large breed dogs at our facility are forever residents due to health and/or behavior issues so our plate is full. We need adoptive homes for many incredible animals to make room for more so we never have to say no to those in need.

Adoptions are critical for our horses and dogs in foster homes so that we can make room for others that need a safe place to call home until adoption is possible.

This is Abby. She was one of the 35+ horses that was removed during the seizure we did in Carroll County, IA.She is a 18 year old Arab mare. She is doing very well. She has been vetted and is current on all her shots. We have not evaluated her under saddle, but she leads well, is very spirited and alert. Abby has been adopted by Harold & Beth in Iowa. They are huge Arab lovers and she will have a wonderful forever home with them. Your a beautiful mare Abby. Be happy pretty girl!

Bucky, a huge Buckskin was one of the 35+ horses that was removed during the seizure we did in Carroll County, IA. He is 6 years old, gaining weight nicely, very sweet & a smart boy. He has been vetted and is current on all his shots. We have not evaluated him under saddle but he leads very well and has no issues at this time. Bucky has been adopted by a young man in Nebraska who fell in love with him the first time he seen Bucky. He is doing very well and being trained to work on a Ranch. Be happy Bucky. You have a job now big boy!

**We are asking that all our fosters send updated pictures and reports regarding the horses that you have. Remember, do not send huge files when you send pictures. I know everyone is busy but we want to get the horses posted on our website ASAP so everyone is aware of who we have coming up for adoption.**

We will be having an adoption day at the rescue in the spring for all of our horses in foster care and in our care who will be ready for adoption. We have many nice horses that will be looking for their forever homes. So if your looking for a horse please check with us to see who we have that is looking for a family to love them. We have many not listed yet on our website that need homes now and in the future once they are healed inside & out.

We want to send a special thank you to all of our foster homes. Without our fosters we could not save as many animals as we have over the years. We are always in need of foster homes and also safe houses. Please contact us if you are interested in becoming a foster home or a safe house for either horses or large breed dogs. Help us save the life of an animal until adoption is possible.

November 16, 2010

We have been contacted to help approximently 35+ Quarter Horses that have been neglected & starved. Included in this herd are handful of Stallions, several Mommy mares with new babies on their side. Some as young as (2) months old, yearlings and many bred mares. So when I say 35+ this is because all of the mares that are bred. They are going to count as two. At this time we can't give the location out where the horses are at for their safety. We will be sharing more information very soon. We are desperate for many items to help these horses when they are ready to be moved and we need your help. Please, even if you can't help by fostering or adopting a horse there are many other items we need to save these horses.

We need to hear from everyone ASAP so that we can get everything ready to go and in place so that when we get the word we can remove these horses we do not waste any time getting them to safety.

How You Can Help

**Most Important - We need foster and forever homes. Without these we can't save these horses and they will end up at auction according to the authorities. We do not want this to happen. Our e-mails reach on an average 1,800 or more people but we need this to double. We need you to help us place these horses in either foster homes or forever homes. So please, cross post this e-mail to everyone you know. All adoptions will require an adoption agreement which can be found on our website under forms. These adoption agreements can be e-mailed or mailed. A home check will be required on all adoptions. If you can adopt a horse we will provide education regarding how your new horse friend should be be fed until they gain their weight back. If you want a Mommy mare and her baby is less than (6) months old they must be placed together due to the condition of the little ones.
**We need people to do home checks on any party that is interested in adoption. These home checks will need to be done as soon as we receive the adoption agreement. So if you can do home checks this will really help us.
**Adoption fees will vary depending on the condition of the horse. We will discuss this on a case by case basis with each adoptive party. Our main goal is to find foster or forever homes for these horses. The adoption fees will be waived to any party who has adopted from Hooves & Paws Rescue in the past.
**We need horse wormer.
**We need hay, both round and square bales. This is critical. These horses are going into winter and they have been starved. We need to get weight on them.
**We need horse feed, foal feed and supplements.
**We need donations for Vet Care. All of these horses will need their shots and many are in need of extensive Vet care.
**We need donations to get the Stallions gelded. We have a Vet that will geld each Stallion for $150.00 each.
**We need a Vet that will donate or discount all of the Vet care these horses will require.
**We need farrier services. Either donated or discounted.
**If you are not familiar with horse feed we will gladly accept gift cards from Tractor Supply so that we can get what these horses need.

100% of the donations will be used to care for only these horses. Please mark your donations Quarter Horses 2010.

Donations for the care of these horses can be mailed to the address listed above or made directly through our website using Pay Pal. All donations large or small will help and are greatly appreciated!!

This is going to be a huge project but we are going to do our best to save as many horses as possible. Even if you are not a horse person please get involved. There is a horse crisis right now in the U.S. Many horses are standing in fields starving and not being cared for. We are picking horses up that are walking down the road that have been dropped out of horse trailers. It is happening all over the U.S. We know we can't save them all. But we are going to save as many as we can for as long as we can. Without your help we can't continue the work we do. So please, help us get these horses to safety. They all deserve a chance. They did not ask to end up this way.

November 21, 2010
Adoptive Homes Still Needed for (12) Starved Horses
Forever Home Will Be Needed For Those Placed In Foster

Today was a huge success as we rescued (19) of the 35+starved & injuried horses that we were contacted by authorities to help. We want to send a huge thank you to everyone who came to help. We had (11) horses trailers and many helping hands to evaluate, load and help these horses get on trailer to either their new foster homes and some were lucky enough to find their forever homes. We will be rescuing the remaining (19) horses Saturday November 27, 2010. We need firm commitments for these horses by the end of the day Monday November 22, 2010. If you can help in anyway Saturday November 27, 2010 we need to hear from you, please!

There were many beautiful horses running in this herd. Although they had been starved and some had injuries they were very loving and knew we were all there to help them. Even the stallions were fairly well behaved. They really gave us no problems.

People who had never met each other worked as if they had known each other forever. The teamwork was truly incredible. We thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts. We could not have done this without every single person who came to help.

December 4, 2010

We would like to update everyone on the 35+ starved horses that were rescued from a property in Carroll, IA. recently.

First of all we would like to send a huge thank you to everyone who has helped in any way & those who have been involved with this rescue. It was a long (2) days to remove these horses and get them to safety. Many people viewed sites that they had never imagined could happen to animals. There were (2) dead weanlings on the property which was truly heartbreaking. Two others had to be humanely euthanized due to severe health issues. We have also lost one other weanling due to starvation & pnemonia. (8) of the horses went to ARL who also was present on the site to offer their help & support. There were many mares that were bred and many had little ones still nursing on them. It was a very bad situation. Many of the younger horses are still in guarded condition as they are still very weak and sick.

At this time all of the horses are receiving much needed Vet Care, food, love and plenty of TLC. We are asking all of our foster homes & adoptive homes to please keep us updated as to the condition of the horses along with pictures.

Some of our foster homes were short term emergency fosters as we needed to remove all the horses. Those horses in their care will need to be moved to longer term foster homes ASAP. All of our emergency foster homes are asked to contact us and let us know when they feel the horses in their care can safely be moved to longer term foster homes to continue healing. We have received some long term foster care agreements so we have agreements in place for those who need to be moved. If possible our goal at this time would be to place those horses in short term foster into forever homes but this may not be possible at this time unless forever homes are found.

We have weanlings, yearlings, & horses up to 20 year old needing forever homes. We also have many mares that may be bred. If you can provide a forever home we ask that you contact us, fill out an adoption agreement which can be found on our website under forms and get that to us ASAP. We are doing our best to filter through agreements, return phone calls and also care for the rescued horses and large breed dogs at our facility. So please be patient with us. If we do not return your phone call or e-mail within 24 hours please feel free to call or e-mail us again. We have had many calls and e-mails and we thank everyone for their kindness and offers to help. Everyone has been truly wonderful.

We would also like to thank Channel 6 News and Mike McKnight in Omaha, NE who we work with on a regular basis covering the work we do at Hooves & Paws Recue.

We are also working on many other cases with the Sheriff's Department & other agencies in many areas across the U.S. regarding horses and dogs that are being neglected, abused or those who just need a place to call home. So we are spread very thin here.

We are in desperate need of Volunteers to do home checks for us for both horses and large breed dogs. If you are interested in doing home checks for us we welcome the chance to speak with you. This allows us to work on other things that require our attention.

Again, we thank everyone for their kindness & support during this recent rescue. We could not have done this without the help of so many caring & wonderful people.

We did take a video of the actual rescue of these horses and as soon as things settle down here a little we will be putting the video on our website to share with everyone.

We have received feedback from some of our adoptive homes and wanted to share with everyone. This makes what we do all worth while. I think you will agree.

Hello. I am sending some photos of our little rescue filly. These pics are from the day she arrived 11/21. We decided to call her Cinderella because we are going to turn her into a Princess. The vet came out Wednesday 12/1. He gave her a body condition score of 2. He also drew some blood for testing---results she needs antibiotics for the next 21 days. She was also dewormed... definitely needed. So far her diet is strictly grass hay. My daughter, Faith has fallen in love with Cinderella. Faith brushes her everyday including picking out her feet (good practice). She even takes Cinderella for a short walk around the pasture almost everyday--Cinderella is great at being lead so far. The little walk is great for the filly's legs (they are a little swollen from the infection and stress). We are enjoying this adventure and I believe Cinderella appreciates all the love and attention. Thank you.

Sincerely, Andrea

We will adopt the colt from the rescue. You know how they just kind of win your heart over. It only took about 12 hours for this little colt to work that kind of horsey magic.

Funny thing though we thought we had a filly. On Sun. we were finishing getting things set up for "Lacey" and my husband Mark says "What is that down by her tummy?" and I say maybe she has a hernia. And while we are discussing it "she" looks at us and drops "his" penis like he was saying "Let me clear this up for you two dummies" and so Mark feels up under and he says "Yes we have a boy!" So now we have a "Bullet" because Mark says "He dodged a bullet" His testicles never dropped. So at first glance....out in that field.

The vet came last Wed. and said he will need a surgery at the vet office to remove the testicles. But will wait until Spring when he is stronger. Also, to get some trailering lessons done. His heart and lungs are strong, pretty good muscle tone, body scored at 3 to 3.5. He weighs 625# and is 13' hands, aged him at about a year and a half (still has all of his baby teeth). The vet wants to wait to vaccinate. Since he is in quarantine. Also, wait until he is a little stronger and put some weight on. Bullet is very easy going, pretty much can already do about anything with him. I wormed him last Thurs. He is doing just great and everyone at the barn can't wait until he can become a member of our horse family.

My husband wants Bullet to be HIS trail riding horse. In 20 years of owning horses, Mark has never said that!! Sorry I didn't get right back to you, but I needed a little quiet time to respond. If there are typos you will understand because I am writing this in between the tears.

Because of the work of you and your husband, this little guy has a very bright future. Have a very Blessed Christmas. Mark and Pam

12/14/2010
Hey, Royal is doing awesome. He has come so far. I named him Royal because he thinks he is all that. It took me about a week of round pen work before he finally let me put a halter on him. He is halter broke but very head shy. He seeks comfort from me when my dad is around. We are pretty sure he is head shy because he had a halter that was way to small on him, it shaped his nose differently, most likely when he was young. He goes in a stall at night and is outside during the day. He is liking it here.
Thanks, Brianna

Update 12/18/10
Mommy & Foal at their foster home healing. Both look much better than the day they were removed. They are getting lots of love, attention and time to heal. A huge thank you to Peg & Sherm and all the kids helping these two beautiful horses heal. The Mommy Mare has been named Lady. Baby has not been named yet but soon will be.