Animal-Abusing Criminals

I actually wanted to call this post "ANIMAL ABUSERS SHOULD DIE", but I decided that this was a bit strong for an opener.

(Warning #1: there are photos included in this post that some people will find extremely disturbing.)

Now, I don't rant much. I don't get up on a soap box regularly to announce my opinions on the latest controversial subject. I am, however, quite passionate in my thoughts on animal welfare and I need to share something extremely upsetting that is going on quite close to me at the moment.

Let me just begin by saying....

Animal abuse is a criminal act.
Animal neglect is -without a doubt- a form of animal abuse.
What this means to me is that people who do not care for, or allow harm to come to, their animals through inattention, malicious or benign, are criminals. Any person who fails to provide the most basic of needs (food, shelter, safety) to their animals should be arrested and tried to the full extent of the law. I do not see any gray area here. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it for me.

I simply expect people to do right by the animals in their care. If a person finds him or herself unable to care for their animals sufficiently, it is their responsibility to locate a new home for them. Sadly, people frequently shirk this responsibility. I am distressed, sickened, and furiously angered every single time I see or hear stories of animals being damaged by humans.

In the town of Scio, Oregon (the very same town where the Lighthouse Farm Animal Sanctuary is located that my son and I volunteer at), a horse neglect case has reared its ugly head. The sheriff’s office was recently alerted to seven horses being kept in a pasture less than two acres in size. Three of the seven horses are malnourished and in very poor condition.

You can read a local news story of this abuse case by clicking here: Case of malnourished horses under investigation.

Here's your second warning, the pictures below will be very hard to look at.

What you will see below is emaciation (note protruding spine and pelvic girdle) and severe rain rot:



The rain rot is covering most of this horse's back. This is not generally heard of during dry weather. Rain rot is caused by a bacterial infection that usually is only seen during wet weather. Her hair and skin actually peels off:

Look at the despondence in the eyes of this beautiful boy. Who knows the last time he wasn't hungry. Look at the debris he is trying to live amid:

Our sanctuary was contacted early on about this case and Wayne Geiger, the President of the Lighthouse Farm Animal Sanctuary, has been involved daily ever since. Wayne recently issued the following statement:

"On August 6, 2008, reports of several starving horses surfaced from a small pasture containing nothing but dried stubble and weeds. The Linn County Sheriff Dept. served a “Search and Seizure Warrant” to the owner on August 9, 2008. Two of the horses arrived at the Sanctuary and one was returned to a “previous” owner. The horses will be held in “Foster Care” until the case is resolved. During this time the horses will be rehabilitated under the directions of the Sanctuary’s Veterinarian and care from the Sanctuary’s volunteer Staff."

These horses now actually have a chance at survival.

Here is "Pepper" upon arrival at the Sanctuary last Saturday, 8/09:

Details on "Pepper":
Age: 25
Condition: Needs major dental work in about 2 weeks - will work on improving her condition a bit first, though, as she will probably need to be transported the clinic. Needs hoof trim to help with thrush in hooves. Needs coal tar base shampoo for rain rot. Good gut sounds, lungs clear, heart good - no murmur. Stocked up in the hind end. Vital signs all within normal range (temp., respiration and pulse). 200 lbs underweight (!!) Body score - 1 out of 10.

Here is "Jacks" upon his arrival at the Sanctuary last Saturday:

Details on "Jacks":
Age: 10
Condition: Minor thrush in hooves - needs trimming. Vital signs - normal. Lungs - clear. Heart - clear (no murmur) Good gut sounds, Body Score - 2.5 to 3 out of 10

Here is the new clean and safe area set up for Pepper and Jacks at the Sanctuary:

Pepper looks a bit better after her "spa bath" to treat the rain rot. Lots of hair and scabs came off:

Jacks looked beautiful, but still very skinny, after his bath:

Two sweet horses, safe again, finally getting the food they deserve:

I am so grateful the Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary exists for, if it didn't, these horses would face an uncertain future. This abuse case is generating significant local attention which is wonderful for these two horses, but incredible for the 160+ other animals living at the sanctuary also. It costs a lot of money to feed and shelter all these precious creatures and funding, as you might imagine, is always an issue.

Please keep your fingers crossed that people hearing about this story will value this sanctuary as much as I do and decide this is a place they would like to support financially!

Click on any of the links below to see some of my other posts about the wonderful Lighthouse Farm Animal Sanctuary :

11/14/2007: Lighthouse Farm Animal Sanctuary - A place to behold
1/18/2008: A belated "Thank You"
3/21/2008: A night out for a good cause
3/05/2008: This and that...oh, and the coop.

Jacks getting a well-deserved mouthful:

Photo credit: Wayne Geiger

It's WHAT day?

Happy Birthday to YOU, Marcee-Maude, also known as our beloved blogging-friend FrugalMom!

And now, for your listening pleasure...please turn up your speakers.
This one's for you, Marc:


All kidding aside...I hope you have a most wonderful day, full of laughter and hugs from everyone close by!

Another Farm First: Fresh Basil Pesto

I have had a big moment in my personal gardening history: I harvested my first basil. And not only was it my first basil, this is basil that I grew from seed. Those sickly, yellowing basil seedlings that I showed pictures of back in June :

actually changed their minds about dying and grew big and strong instead:

The first harvest happened on Thursday:

The smell in my kitchen was heavenly:

Following incredibly helpful harvesting techniques from Dina (Dina's Hip Chick Chronicles) and a quick and simple pesto recipe from Judy (No Fear Entertaining), I made my first-ever batch of homemade pesto:

All of this with a specific promise and goal in mind: my husband's favorite dish, Pesto Pasta. Using spiral noodles from my favorite store:

Fresh avocados:

and a handwritten recipe from a once-dear friend who is, sadly, a friend no more:

I loved the fact that I didn't have to use store-bought container pesto this time:

My husband was in pesto pasta heaven. It was so YUMMY:

I am in love with the smell of basil....

Late Night Barn Party

As I was coming down the stairs from watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympic games late last night, Jim met me halfway with a startling message.

"The donkeys are in the barn, did you put them in there?" "No...." I say, "They should be out in the pasture." "Well," Jim says, "somebody has played a prank then, because the donkeys are all wandering around inside the barn."

Normally, it wouldn't be unusual for donkeys to be in the barn, however, since the weather has been nice, the donkeys have been spending their nights outside under the trees. It has been weeks since they stayed overnight in the barn. Their evening routine currently is: eat dinner hay outside the barn, have a quick drink from the stock tank, enjoy a couple licks on the mineral blocks, and head down the hill into the woods for their nighttime snooze.

Last night, though, was different. Jim went outside to look at the stars and heard a clanking up at the barn. Thinking raccoons were causing mischief, he shined his flashlight up the hill and 5 pairs of reflective donkey eyes shone back at him.

We (my son, Aidan, Jim and I) raced up to the barn, flashlights in hand, anxious to assess the situation, confirm the donkeys were safe, and make sure they hadn't gotten into anything dangerous.

Fortunately, it appears that no prank was played. There were a number of (approved) visitors to the barn during the day yesterday and it seems that someone forgot to latch the gate between paddock and barn entry:

The donkeys just pushed the gate open and walked in.

Unfortunately, the barn was a mess. Donkey dung was dropped and stomped throughout.

Fortunately, it appears they had a really good time. The tarp was pulled off the hay bale:

and they had had quite a feast:

The old milk crates I use to prop open the stall doors for ventilation were thrown about the place (notice the fly spray bottle in the background):

The hose holder was carried from outside the paddock and dropped, about 20 feet away, in the middle stall:

One of their halters was pulled off its hook and dropped on the middle of the barn floor:

Curry brush and fly spray sponge were nosed carelessly to the ground:

Buckets were gleefully overturned:

Despite their great fun, the donkeys fortunately did themselves no harm, even though there were set mousetraps scattered around the floor and loose screws and plastic bags on the shelves within easy reach of their mouths:

The next morning, everyone behaved like nothing unusual had gone on the night before:

Who would ever guess that these are the faces of late night party animals?:

Rescue 911

Snake Rescue, that is.

I went out for my evening blueberry picking session and found a (damn large) garter snake caught in the blueberry netting. Is THIS the pest that has been eating all of my berries? Probably not, but caught he was, and looking pretty mad about it:

As I came nearer, he panicked, making things worse by twisting, turning and further tightening the netting around him:

Thinking this was helping, he then started to roll:

Great, now there are sticks wrapped up with him, too:

I take one look at the sight before me and did what any pansy-assed city girl with a dislike of snakes would do: I call my husband at work. I pull my cellphone out of my back pocket:
(for illustration purposes only - not my cell phone, not my hand)

...and see that (yay!) it has one bar of reception. I dial. No answer. Hmpf. So I leave one of his favorite types of voicemails: "Jiiiiim, there's a snake all caught and twisted up in the blueberry netting and there's NO way I can keep him from biting me while cutting the netting off him...when are you coming HOME? I need help!!"

Why is this his favorite type of voicemail? Well, because with only one bar of reception, it comes through to him like this..."Jiiiiim, snake....caught and twisted.... biting me....cutting...help!!"

Meanwhile, back at the blueberries, I pull myself together. I remember that the pansy-assed city girl doesn't live here anymore. I pull up my big girl pants, retrieve my extremely thick canvas gloves and a small pair of scissors, and get to work.

He doesn't like me. He makes this perfectly clear:

Trying to keep my mind on the goal and not the fact that I'm holding a snake in my hands who's biting me repeatedly, I get a firm hold on his head:

...and start snipping away at the netting. It's so tight in places at this point, it's underneath his scales:

It's almost impossible to hang on to a snake's head with one hand, snip netting with the other, and somehow pull away the netting as you go along. I need another hand. I think briefly about using my teeth, but opt against that and decide to use gravity to help me instead:

Yes, that does the trick. After much snipping, the remaining netting slides down his body and gathers at the tip of his tail:

That falls away and I am able to release my vice-like grip on the poor guy's head. Off he slithers into the grapes with not even a hissed note of thanks:

Minutes later, Jim arrives home to assist with the "snake emergency".

"I took care of it," I say, like it was no big deal.