Press

Dec 31, 2008 7:41 pm

Ponies Rescued From West Newton Man’s Property

Humane officers in Westmoreland County rescued several ponies and a  horse from a man’s property in West Newton.

Agents wouldn’t give the name of the person cited, but say he has been cited  before.

“This was necessary because there were three ponies and one horse that  were not getting adequate care to their feet, or their nutrition, or their grooming  and general husbandry,” Cathy Bricker, of the Western Pa. Humane Society,  said. “And it’s a situation that’s been going on for six or seven years.” A local organization will help with the next steps.

“We don’t have a facility but we are based out of Mt. Pleasant Township,” says  Chris LaJeune, from Second Chance Equine Association. “And we set up basically to help humane officers because they have nowhere to take horses when they seize them.”

The animals will be in quarantine for about 30 days and after that they’ll be put up for adoption.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Shelters inundated as owners can’t care for horses

A growing need to care for confiscated horses spurred a Western Pennsylvania horse owners group to form the Second Chance Equine Association, which rescued 35 horses in its first two years.”I never knew there was this great a neglected or abused problem in the area,” said the group’s president and co-founder, Bryce LeJeune. Most owners who surrender their horses do so to avoid prosecution, LeJeune said, “People have called us to ask if we’d accept their horses, but we can’t,” he said. “We’d be overrun”

Eric Schmadel / Tribune-Review

Horses Found Dead, Starving In South Huntingdon

Two horses are dead and three others clinging to life after Humane Society agents said their owner abandoned them at his South Huntingdon Township home. When officials with the Westmoreland County Humane Society found the three living horses, they were near death. Thanks to a devoted group of volunteers, Ruby, Pocco and Joey have a chance to survive. Second Chance is the name of the association who found a farm in Hempfield where the trio could be nursed back to health.

Indiana County GirlGives Horse Second Chance At Life

A bruised, starving horse was adopted Tuesday by a girl with a big heart.The owners of Hilltop Farms in Brush Valley, Indiana County, have fostered a horse named Freckles for several months after rescuing it from a Somerset County farm where the horse’s back legs had infected open sores.

Morgan Mack, age 9, took one look at Freckles on Channel 4 Action News in August 2007 and knew she had to have her. A fourth-grader at United Elementary High School, Mack saved $200 to buy Freckles.”Birthdays, holidays, and some people just gave me some money so they could see a horse in the pasture,” said Mack.Mack bought Freckles at the Second Chance Equine Association, where her $200 will be used to treat other injured horses.