MISSOURI: RAID RESCUES STARVING HORSES- SUPPORT PROSECUTION!

IT'S ONE OF THE MOST DESPERATE  cases of animal neglect the Humane Society of Missouri says it's ever seen: 35 horses rescued from a property in Andrew County, north of Kansas City.

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Thanks be, to the HUMANE SOCIETY OF MISSOURI.

MALNOURISHED HORSES BROUGHT to Union, MO for rehab Friday, 12 November 2010 Some 30 starving horses rescued in an animal raid in Missouri's rural Andrew County have been brought to an area rehab ranch. The Humane Society of Missouri's Longmeadow Rescue Ranch is where the malnourished horses, donkeys and goats have been taken. It's located on 165-acres near Union and is one of the most comprehensive horse and farm animal care and rehabilitation centers in the country. Last Updated ( Friday, 12 November 2010 )  

Investigators removed between 30 and 40 animals %u2014 mainly horses but also goats and donkeys %u2014 after discovering them to be malnourished and not given adequate shelter at a rural residence in Andrew County.

The Andrew County Sheriff%u2019s Department executed a search warrant on a property at 7:45 a.m. Thursday as the conclusion of an investigation into animal cruelty that lasted about two months.

Officials from the Sheriff%u2019s Department worked in tandem with the Humane Society of Missouri and a Missouri-certified veterinarian to inspect the animals and their living conditions and determined that all animals on the property would be taken into custody for their own well-being.

A small number of horses were in such poor health that they had to be taken immediately to an animal hospital for treatment because investigators feared the trip to Longmeadow Rescue Ranch near St. Louis would be too hard on them.

There were also several dead horses found on the property and one horse that was found in such grave condition that it had to be humanely euthanized by the veterinarian on site.

%u201CIt%u2019s something, that unfortunately, I routinely see. ... The fact that we%u2019re dealing with this is disturbing,%u201D said Brian Williams, the Humane Society of Missouri%u2019s chief investigator statewide. %u201CAll the horses, all the animals on the property, are severely malnourished.%u201D

The Humane Society uses a scale from 1 to 9 to rate the body condition of horses based on a visual inspection and the presence of fat stores. A 1 rating is extremely malnourished, 5 is ideal body condition and 9 is extremely overweight. Mr. Williams said that the majority of the horses on the property were in the 1-to-3 range.

%u201CIf you get down to a body condition of 1 you%u2019re looking at no body fat stores on the animal. You can see the vertebrae, the neckline, you can see the hip bones,%u201D Mr. Williams said.

Andrew County Sheriff Bryan Atkins said after being alerted to the living conditions of the animals, his office made contact with the three owners of the property (all St. Joseph residents) and told them that conditions needed to improve.

%u201CThey would respond up here as if they were going to do better,%u201D Mr. Atkins said. %u201CIt was learned shortly after that (the improvements) were short-lived ... Apparently the contact we did make didn%u2019t really make any difference and hasn%u2019t improved the situation and it has probably degraded since that time.%u201D

Mr. Williams said that, in his opinion, if the animals weren%u2019t seized then the majority of them would have died in the winter.

Mr. Atkins said that while it isn%u2019t abnormal for his office to receive some credible tips on animal cruelty throughout the year, this case was an example of %u201Cthe worst of the worst.%u201D

%u201CNo. 1, it%u2019s the humane thing to do to make sure the animals are taken care of,%u201D Mr. Atkins said. %u201CI wouldn%u2019t be doing my job if I allow these animals to remain on this property knowing the condition they were in. It%u2019s a situation that needs to be dealt with so we%u2019re dealing with it.%u201D

A house lies on the property but isn%u2019t used as a residence and the three owners weren%u2019t present during the execution of the warrant. Mr. Atkins said that a probable cause statement will be forwarded to the Andrew County Prosecutor%u2019s Office as soon as possible and criminal charges could follow that.

The animals will be transported to Longmeadow Rescue Ranch, which is a division of the Humane Society, where they will be rehabilitated for as long as needed. They could be put up for adoption in the future.

Rex Martin can be reached at rex.martin@newspressnow.com.

The Andrew County prosecutor is Steve Stevenson. You can email him and ask for this case to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. prosecutor@andrewcounty.org