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Largo Horses' Health Has Improved Since SPCA Rescue

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By Carlos Moncada, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 7, 2007

Previous Coverage: 8/10/07: Horses, Donkey Removed From Largo Property

8/11/07: Abused Animals Rescued; Most Recovering

LARGO - Five severely malnourished mustangs, including one so weak it was not expected to survive, have shown a marked improvement since being seized from a boarding facility last month as part of an animal mistreatment case.

Three of the horses have recovered enough to be turned over to the federal Bureau of Land Management this weekend. The federal agency owns the horses and was fostering them out to George Hale of 1799 Seminole Blvd. for a year before allowing the animals to be adopted, according to the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Tampa Bay.

The bureau plans to relocate the three horses to a foster home in West Central Florida, said Connie Brooks, director of operations for the SPCA.

"They need to be with the Bureau of Land Management since they own them anyway,'' Brooks said. "The only reason they weren't there sooner is because their condition was so bad they couldn't travel.''

The SPCA has filed a motion in Pinellas County court seeking custody of a horse Hale has refused to sign over to the agency. The fifth horse and a donkey, seized Aug. 9 and 10 from the Rosebud Ranch at 1200 Donegan Road, are under SPCA ownership, Brooks said. Hale did not own the property where the horses were being boarded.

Brooks said the SPCA case against Hale has been turned over to the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office, which will determine whether to file third-degree felony animal cruelty charges. She said the Bureau of Land Management and the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office also are handling the case.

An anonymous tip led SPCA humane officers to the horses. The animals have been receiving food and veterinary medical care at a remote Pinellas County pasture owned by an SPCA volunteer and also at the SPCA shelter.

"They're eating like crazy,'' said Marissa Weeks, public relations manager for the SPCA. "They seem to be in so much better condition.''

The mustangs were so emaciated their ribs showed through their skin, the SPCA said. SPCA investigators found the horses had no food or water and little shade. The donkey was found in a pen with more than a foot of fecal matter.

The horse that wasn't expected to live was so weak it could not stand. Nicknamed "No Socks" by rescuers, the horse has since gained about 27 pounds and can trot, Weeks said.

The donkey was in much better shape than the horses, and SPCA officials suspect the animal was being hired out.

"We have had an incredible outpouring of sympathy and support, both financially and people just really showing support for these horses,'' Weeks said. "They were appalled at the conditions they were in.''

Reporter Carlos Moncada can be reached at (727) 451-2333 or cmoncada@tampatrib.com.

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