[Peg D]

Originally Posted by Photochick

Has anyone heard the story of these horses located here in Jackson, MI? Here's a link to the local story... MLive.com: Everything Michigan

I went out there yesterday to sign up as a volunteer and it's horrible. These animals have been left without food and fresh water for over six months. Plus, the stallion had access to all the mares and of the 69 horses, 30 are pregnant. Two of the pregnant mares are only yearlings. Dead horses litter the place, including foals that were born during the winter. Several horses were in a small paddock with attached barn. They are using small front loaders to remove the manure out of the barn, creating huge piles of manure that are 6 feet tall. The smell of the place will knock you off your feet.

There are old injuries that were never treated and have crippled some of the horses. It's heartbreaking. They are looking for the two men who own the place. They think one is out of the country and the other is hiding. The one is hiding is a probation officer for a nearby county.

According to the animal control officer, there are anticipated criminal charges coming from the city, county, state and even federal. Hopefully there will be some real teeth in the prosecution of these two men.

There is a web site for the ranch where these horses are located. They claim only the highest quality barrel racing horses with only the best bloodlines. Check it out at: Turn3Burn Ranch

It's a very poor website and doesn't look like it has been updated since 2002.

The county animal shelter is very overwhelmed by this sudden influx of sick horses. They are asking for everything, volunteers, food, medical supplies, and cash.

A few of my friends and I are going to organize some fund raising in the local tack and feed stores.

Disgusting.

Originally Posted by Photochick

I posted this under Horse Chat - I guess that was the wrong place. So I am repeating it here.

Has anyone heard the story of these horses located here in Jackson, MI? Here's a link to the local story... MLive.com: Everything Michigan

I went out there yesterday to sign up as a volunteer and it's horrible. These animals have been left without food and fresh water for over six months. Plus, the stallion had access to all the mares and of the 69 horses, 30 are pregnant. Two of the pregnant mares are only yearlings. Dead horses litter the place, including foals that were born during the winter. Several horses were in a small paddock with attached barn. They are using small front loaders to remove the manure out of the barn, creating huge piles of manure that are 6 feet tall. The smell of the place will knock you off your feet.

There are old injuries that were never treated and have crippled some of the horses. It's heartbreaking. They are looking for the two men who own the place. They think one is out of the country and the other is hiding. The one is hiding is a probation officer for a nearby county.

According to the animal control officer, there are anticipated criminal charges coming from the city, county, state and even federal. Hopefully there will be some real teeth in the prosecution of these two men.

There is a web site for the ranch where these horses are located. They claim only the highest quality barrel racing horses with only the best bloodlines. Check it out at: Turn3Burn Ranch

It's a very poor website and doesn't look like it has been updated since 2002.

The county animal shelter is very overwhelmed by this sudden influx of sick horses. They are asking for everything, volunteers, food, medical supplies, and cash.

A few of my friends and I are going to organize some fund raising in the local tack and feed stores.

Originally Posted by Photochick

I'm not sure what to do about the link. I click on it and it works for me. Let me see if I can find the story somewhere else. I tried going to the online paper directly, but it's not listing the story on the front page. However, Monday I will be there working. Since I'm a photographer, I'm taking my camera and offering to put a page up on my web site so people can check it out, and make donations if they wish. Michigan is so strapped for money that we're afraid of what may happen if we don't gather donations. The horse rescue association that is kind of overseeing the volunteers and donations doesn't have a web site or that ability to collect donations by credit card or paypal. My website is already set up for it, so it will be easy for me to get it up and running. I only hope it helps. As soon as I have it up I will post a link that will hopefully work for everyone to see.

Just thought I would bring this here. Photochik, any updates you can provide for us? You say you went out there. What did you see and photograph?