Rescue Stories
In Memory
A place to remember those who we have lost.
Calamity
Calamity came to us after being surrendered by her owner — a surrender that came just days before animal control seized the rest of the horses and dogs living on the property. Calamity suffered several years of poor care before coming to SAFE, but she blossomed into a lovely mare after a few months. Calamity was supposedly green-broke, but to be safe, we sent her into training for a refresher. She seemed to be doing well with her undersaddle work, and we had high hopes for her future. But tragedy struck when Calamity reared while being lunged, fell over backwards and died instantly after striking her head. We are shocked and saddened by this loss, and this poor mare will be greatly missed by all of us at SAFE.
Jasmine
Jasmine was one of 17 horses that were seized from their breeder as part of a high profile abuse case in February 2008. Jasmine came to us with her 6 month old filly at her side — a filly that eventually succumbed to the abuse her body has been subjected to. Jasmine, at 17 years old, was the second oldest mare involved in the abuse case, and her survival was nothing short of extraordinary. In July 2010, Jasmine passed away as the reult of colic — no doubt the long term result of the abuse she suffered. Losing this horse after everything she went through was very hard to deal with for the many people who had come to love her. She will always be remembered for her gentle beauty and will to survive.
Little Miss
Little Miss was one of three mares that were surrendered to SAFE by their owner in January 2008. In the two and a half years that Little Miss was cared for by SAFE, she was found to have many physical issues that caused her discomfort, and made her increasingly difficult to deal with. We tried literally everything to improve her quality of life, but nothing seemed to change. It was after Little Miss attacked and injured a SAFE volunteer that we made the very difficult decision to humanely euthanize this troubled mare. Little Miss left this world on a beautiful summer day after plenty of treats and pats and love.
Wishes
Wishes was a 15 year old Thoroughbred mare who was surrendered to SAFE in late December 2008 by her owners, in conjunction with an Animal Control neglect case in Snohomish County. She arrived in extremely poor condition, with a BCS of about a 1.5, is covered with rain rot, and has a severe case of scratches/cellulitis. Wishes was rehabiliated and blossomed into a lovely warm bay mare who enjoyed hanging out with her friends in the field over the summer. Wishes was sent into training and while she initially made very good progress, she revealed a tendency to rear and flip with no sense of self-preservation. Sadly, on November 14, 2009, Wishes was humanely euthanized due to acute DSLD.
Sunny
Sunny was a 28 year old Arab gelding who was donated to SAFE in the spring of 2008 in pretty sad shape — skinny, dirty and covered in rain rot. He made a good recovery, and enjoyed a lovely summer. But as the weather grew colder, Sunny’s enlarged and arthritic knee was causing him a great deal of discomfort, and he started limping pretty badly on it. His “good” knee was starting to undergo arthritic changes as well, making it even harder for him to get around. He began to seem distant, and was not the interactive, vocal horse that I knew. So the decision was made to let Sunny go. He was humanely euthanized on November 7, 2008. He went peacefully and quietly. And amazingly, when it came time for the vet to arrive, the rains stopped, the clouds parted and the sun came out. So at the moment that Sunny passed, the world around him was beautiful, quiet, and warm. It seemed like a sign from above that the time was right to let this dear old man move on.
Lily
Lily, one of the foals from the Carnation seizure, was rescued along with her dam, Willow in late February 2008, and seemed to be thriving. But in mid May 2008, we noticed that Lily wasn’t acting her normal fiesty self, and discovered she was running a temperature of 104.5 degrees. Attempts to lower her temperature were unsuccessful and so Lily was admitted to Pilchuck Veterinary Hospital in Snohomish WA. There it was discovered that not only did she have an infection, she also had an alarmingly low platelet count. Lily was suffering from an auto-immune disorder that was preventing her bone marrow from producing blood cells. She was placed in isolation and treated with steroids in an attempt to kickstart her immune system, but her body was just too ravaged from the effects of starvation and parasite infestation. After 8 days with no improvement, it was decided to let Lily go. On May 24, 2008, she enjoyed a walk in the sunshine and a belly full of grass and clover before she was put to sleep. Lily was loved deeply by many people and she will be badly missed. It is heartbreaking to lose a horse this young with so much promise. Our only consolation is the fact that her abuser was sentenced to nine months in prison, and for that we thank King County Animal Control for their hard work on this horrible case.
Pie
Pie and Isabella were surrendered to SAFE by their owner, terribly thin and neglected. Pie was approximately 30 years old, a sweet and friendly gentleman who thrived with good care and good food. He was much loved by his foster caretakers for his outgoing personality and his remarkable joy for life. Pie received a great deal of veterinary care during his time at SAFE, and blood testing revealed that he was suffering from an aggressive form of lymphona. On May 10, 2008, Pie awoke and ate his breakfast with his usual gusto, and then laid down in the grass for his afternoon nap. When his foster mom checked on him a while later, he was gone. He simply went to sleep and didn’t wake up, there was no sign of any struggle at all. We were deeply saddened by his passing, but also relieved that he never suffered, that he felt great right up until the end, and he went so peacefully. We never had to go through watching him decline and every day judging his quality of life and trying to determine when the right time was. In a way, we felt that Pie saved us from having to make a hard decision, which seemed like something that he would have been kind enough to do. We are so lucky to have known him.
Ella
Ella was one of 10 horses seized by Snohomish County Animal Control in late Feb 2008. She was about 6 months old when she and her dam were rescued. Ella nearly died due to the severe emaciation she suffered at the hands of her owner and breeder. But with time, she became stronger. By the end of April she was acting like a normal foal, running circles around her dam, bucking, playing. So it was a terrible shock to find her down in her stall one morning. Over the next few days, she would eat, and drink, but she would not even try to get up, and if you helped her to her feet, she would just hang limply and refuse to stand. It was as if she had just given up, and decided she was going to die. Three days later, on May 8, 2008, at a vet’s clinic, she passed away…with no struggle, no sign of pain. A necropsy revealed that she had massive parasite damage to all her internal organs, especially her heart. Ella’s death was a tremedous blow to all of us at SAFE. While Ella could not be saved, justice was eventually served in her case, as her abuser was sentenced to a year in prison after pleading guilty to multiple counts of felony animal cruelty.
Bon Chance (Bo)
Bo was a thin bay gelding with a sweet but sad face, bought by SAFE at the Enumclaw Auction in April 2007. SAFE paid $150 for Bo, bidding only against the kill buyer to win his bid. Bo was in his mid-twenties, underweight, with a poor coat and overgrown, cracked hooves, one with a shoe still hanging on by a single nail.
Within days of bringing Bo home, it became obvious that Bo was not right in his hind end. He often held his right hind way off to the side, and when he wanted to change direction, he would simply pivot around the leg leaving a drag mark in the dirt. When he was evaluated by our vet, Dr. Hannah Evergreen, it was obvious that Bo had a severe and old stifle injury. More telling than his odd stance was his elevated heart rate despite the appearance of being calm, even depressed. This told Dr. Hannah that Bo was in a significant amount of pain. Therefore, the decision was made to release Bo from his pain and let him go.
While not a horse we can smile about when we look at the pictures of other rescues we have placed in their new adopted homes, we certainly take comfort in the fact that Bo never had to face the horror and cruelty of the transport and slaughter process. To read more about Bo and our April trip to the Enumclaw Auction, click here.
Fala
Fala (Dronefal) was a beautiful gray Thoroughbred mare with a severe right hind injury and wracked body. Nonetheless, she was mostly bright and curious, in that Thoroughbred way. She arrived in SAFE’s hands through a series of mishaps. A friend of SAFE’s with track connections had heard about a supposedly “perfectly good mare” who was in imminent danger of being put down the next day.
There was much wringing of hands, and rapid phone calls between maybe a dozen people, which yielded a place for her to stay while arrangements were made. A kind horsewoman sacrificed her time to haul Fala to her foster home.
When Fala walked off the trailer, her foster was surprised and appalled—her right hind hoof was virtually gone and there was almost nothing left but curled horn. She was essentially walking on her joint, and the horn of her hoof acted like a big callous. She did not bear weight on it when standing, and used it like a pitiful cane when she walked or trotted.
Her compensating hind leg had a sunken pastern, sometimes only inches from the ground, and she stood with her right hip twisted so that the gaskin pointed almost at her tail. Her whole musculature was misformed, and she moved laboriously at times. Mechanical founder was a certainty. Both vets involved felt strongly that it would be the humane thing to do to end her pain — and all parties involved agreed to let her go.
We later learned that she’d been injured in a pasture; she was found 3‑legged lame, but literally missing her hoof, which was found embedded in the fence. Her owner loved her and, as the story goes, did not want to hear a vet tell her to put her horse down. So she doctored Fala herself, and brought her to the point that Fala could bear weight on it enough to get around in a fashion.
When her owner passed away, her kids didn’t know what to do with this sad girl, and were going to put her down. We suspect whoever first went to bat for Fala had not seen her in person, and didn’t know how badly she was injured.
Fala was very sweet and “in your pocket”; obviously she had been a pet. In the week she was with her, her foster “mom” treated her royalty, as she deserved. Godspeed, Fala! May you run pain-free and fast.
Mary’s Serenity
written by Jaime Taft
In June 2005, I made my second trip to the feedlot, to pick up 6 horses sponsored by our COTH group. At that time, there were probably 30 or more horses on the lot. We spent some time looking at all the horses and taking pictures.
One mare caught my eye. She was way in the back in a corner. She kept her head hung low. As I approached, her dull eyes didn’t acknowledge my presence but her ears went back to let me know she wanted to be left alone. I came up to her and then realized why she wasn’t moving. Her left hind leg was cocked at a horrible unnatural angle. Broken at the fetlock. Due to the way that her hoof had grown, she had obviously been like this for a long time, maybe years. As the horror of it sunk in, I just remember saying “Oh my God, Oh my God” over and over again. I looked closer, she was dripping milk. She had been used as a broodmare, had just had a foal weaned from her.
She became my mission that day. I returned home to tell our group of the plight of this mare, and to beg that we purchase her only to put her down. We agreed as a group to do so, but first, this pretty bay TB mare needed a name. “Serenity” was suggested, and I do hope that by putting her to rest that serenity could be her gift from us. The day she was laid to rest, one of our country’s leading activist’s against horse slaughter, Mary Nash, passed away. Serenity’s name was changed to Mary’s Serenity, as a tribute to this amazing woman.
Rest in Peace, Mary’s Serenity. You touched us all and will never be forgotten.
Ernie
Ernie was humanely euthanized in August 2005 due to an advanced case of HERDA. He was a 13–15 year old black stud pony that was rescued from a feedlot in Eastern WA. HERDA is a genetic skin disorder, most common in certain QH bloodlines, that causes the skin to literally detach from the body. Ernie was covered in old scars and recent open, infected wounds. Most HERDA horses are put down upon diagnosis at around 2 years of age, as there is no cure. That Ernie was allowed to suffer as long as 15 years, and the fact that he was possibly used as a breeding animal, is truly unthinkable. He also appeared to have never had his teeth or his feet taken care of. A skin biopsy was taken and sent to Cornell University after he was put down in hopes that it will lead to better testing methods to identify HERDA horses and help put a stop to its continued spread. Sadly, the AQHA refuses to acknowledge the disease as a genetic QH problem (even though it almost exclusively seen in certain Poco Beuno lines), and thus these animals continued to be bred, and in Ernie’s case, later discarded.
UPDATE! Dr. Nena Winand, a veterinarian at Cornell University, has identified the genetic defect that causes HERDA and has developed a test for it that is 100% accurate!! This is a HUGE breakthrough and very exciting news. Dr. Winand was a huge help to SAFE with diagnosing Ernie, which was difficult due its rarity and lack of genetic history on Ernie. The samples from Ernie and others like him played an instrumental role in helping her with her research.
Click here for more information on HERDA.
Mariah
Mariah was 15 year old QH broodmare that was rescued from a feedlot in eastern WA. Upon her arrival at her foster home, it was discovered that Mariah had a severely injured and septic stifle, most likely due to an injury sustained long ago. She was in considerable pain, and the difficult decision was made to end her suffering by humane euthanization. Mariah was a very brave and sweet mare that never should have been made to suffer like she did. She now runs free in the green pastures on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge.
Rest in Peace, sweet girl.
