Neglected horses rescued

By: Kelly Gillespie | SCNow
Published: March 19, 2009

The Florence Area Humane Society recently responded to what they call an animal neglect case involving horses.

Rescuers found two horses tethered to the ground without proper food, shelter or clean water at an out-of-county residence, humane society president Jayne Boswell said.

“It was an extremely dangerous situation,” she said. “One of the horses especially was in pretty bad shape, and we felt it was in the best interest of the horse to be removed.”

One of the rescued horses was nearly 300 pounds underweight, Boswell said.

“One of them was emaciated, but also about the dangerous situation — they were in a junkyard type of situation with metal all around,” she said. “A horse can easily get injured.”

This is just one of many horse neglect cases to which FAHS volunteers have responded, Boswell said.

“In the last couple of years we’ve definitely seen an increase in the number of horse neglect cases that have come to our attention through the humane society,” she said. “We certainly weren’t prepared to take in horses, but I couldn’t turn away any calls of neglect.”

Now the two horses are recovering, well cared for and at a foster home, Boswell said, Their owners aren’t facing any criminal charges.

That’s because it’s often easier to ask the owners to surrender the animals rather than deal with the court system, Boswell said.

The court process can take a long time, and, this way, the animals receive immediate attention, she said.