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Caroline man charged after horses found emaciated Date published: 1/25/2008
BY ELLEN BILTZ
Five horses have been seized in Caroline County and their owner has been charged with animal cruelty. Michael Wilkerson of Ruther Glen, will be arraigned next week on five counts of animal cruelty, said Animal Control Officer J.C. Heffler. She said the office investigated after an anonymous tip was received about the animals. The horses were found "in poor body condition" and were emaciated. While lack of food is thought to be a cause of the horses' condition, Heffler said more tests would need to be done by a veterinarian before they could determine the condition of each horse. The United States Equine Rescue League is assisting the animal control office by boarding and caring for the horses, Heffler said. Susan White, an investigator for the league, said in a release that the horses range in age from 1 year to 32 years. She said three of the horses are "severely emaciated" and it is expected to take 6-12 months for all of the horses to regain their health. Heffler said while the horses are currently being cared for by the league. Their eventual home will be decided after Wilkerson's trial. Wilkerson has previous convictions of allowing a horse to run at large and failure to keep livestock fenced, according to court records. A similar incident occurred in Loudoun County this week when four dozen horses were seized, according to The Associated Press. Loudoun County officials said animal cruelty charges may be filed against the owners of the horses seized from a Middleburg farm this week. County officials said Wednesday that many of the horses were emaciated, some were standing in their own waste and drinking water was frozen in their troughs. All 48 horses were taken from the farm Tuesday night. Ellen Biltz: 540/374-5424
I am not condoning what that owner did. But I know for a fact that hay & feed this year is right EXPENSIVE because of the drought. I just bought 3 bales of hay recently and it was $24.
Can't imagine how many bales of hay you need to feed a horse for the winter but I can imagine it is very expensive. My neighbors used to have horses in the pasture but 2 of them sold their horses recently because of the cost of upkeep.
To read stories like this. I don't see how people can continually do things like this. I love animals... Every animal I have ever owned has been extremely healthy. It's not that hard to take care of them and if you don't have the money, give the animal to someone who can take care of them properly. I'd foster some of these horses if I could... However, I don't have the $ for a horse, let alone several horses. But if anyone has horses and needs some help with the maintance, let me know =)
what kind of help are you offering?
there are equine rescues and people in in VA that will help you. Give a shout out.
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