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Lost one

T

the_jersey_lilly_2000

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Feb 16, 2005
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Location
South East Texas
Never have had this happen before. Went out to put out hay today, and found a baby calf dead in the mud beside the hay ring.
It is extra soupy boggy anywhere ya go....guess the lil fella just got in the way, fell down and then got stepped on.....body was relatively clean but his head was buried in the mud. :cry:
 
Lilly, I know how you feel :( A couple days ago I went out to feed the horses and found my grey colt frozen :( I had put hay out for them at about 12:30 PM and I guess Zippy decided to lay on top of it. He got soaked. I found him alive still (barely) and threw tons of hay down pulled him onto a dry horse sheet and threw radient heat on him. No luck :( So not only did I get to loose my baby but there will be a pending abuse investigation via the SPCA. They are being real jerks and picking at every little thing. I have mud and ice in my paddocks, did you know that is considered abuse! Funny I just thought it was the time of year. In BC they can ban me from owning animals for a period of 2 years. We shall here from the constable tommorow...... Talk about stress :(
 
Well we always feel bad about loosin an animal.

Judith what your goin thru is just insane. I'm all for takin care of an animal to the best of our ability. But sometimes stuff happens that's beyond our control. Especially when it has to do with weather.
 
Sorry for the rotten luck Lilly and Judith. The bad snow storm we got a few years ago in calving time was awful, but even worse when the snow began to recede and the dead calves that got drifted over and suffocated began to show up. There is only so much you can do when the weather is bad.
How old was Zippy?
 
The weather here is not normal. The animals had no time to grow coat or anything. We went from 12 inches of mud from monsoons to 18 inches plus of snow within 4 days. With all the wind and stuff it's been a tough go. He just kept saying, there is no way that he would have laid down in the hay, he must have been ill. Why didnt I have the vet out????? What how the heck would I have known he was going to lay down? Frankly I would have plopped myself in the hay too? Gotta love the SPCA. Go after the guy who has the horse die, but let animals starve to death tied to a tree. Just doesnt make sense at all....
 
Zipster would have been 2 end of March. He was one of those kids who loved to lie on his side all the time and scare the heck out of you when you looked out into the paddocks. That's how I found him stretched out on his side with his head resting comfortable on a flake of hay. His blanket was soaked right thru and weighs a zillion pounds I havent run it threw the wash yet, it's just too heavy :( Anyhow the SPCA is retreiving the body from the hauler for a necropsy. They havent seized the rest of the horses yet? I wonder how long it takes for them to do that?
 
Judith said:
Zipster would have been 2 end of March. He was one of those kids who loved to lie on his side all the time and scare the heck out of you when you looked out into the paddocks. That's how I found him stretched out on his side with his head resting comfortable on a flake of hay. His blanket was soaked right thru and weighs a zillion pounds I havent run it threw the wash yet, it's just too heavy :( Anyhow the SPCA is retreiving the body from the hauler for a necropsy. They havent seized the rest of the horses yet? I wonder how long it takes for them to do that?
Click to expand...
:shock: :evil: My gosh,who hasn't lost an animal....friggin BC....get the heck outta there girl,I'll be up tommorow we're movin you out :!:
 
That is insane to say the least. Horses are born with a death wish anyway it really doesn't take a lot to lose one. Haven't those people gone to school to learn about what the are suppose to be saving?? At any rate just a side note horses have to lay flat on their side to release growth hormones, that is why babies spend so much time flat out snoozing. Maybe you can tell them that to explain why you wouldn't have found it so unusual for him to be lying that way.
 
So sorry Lilly...things like that happen and we always say to ourselves what if???? Hopefully you won't lose anymore. I know you're critters are well taken care of and probably on the line of being "spoiled"..lol

Judith...Dang if that don't beat all! I've never heard of the SPCA..sounds like they probably could really do a heck of a job if they went after the right abusive cases! Sorry to hear about the loss of your colt...it's always sad no matter how it happens...keep us updated on how it goes. Good luck.
 
I hope this guy gets a clue soon Judith. The SPCA has a job to do, but one does have to wonder how they can pick on the people who look after their animals, while ignoring blatant animal abuse cases along the way. We had a lovely storm in the spring one year that brought a lot of rain with a driving north wind. The Montana people on here will remember that one, as they got a ton of snow and lost a lot of animals. At any rate, I had to get my five yearlings into the shed or I think I would have lost them too, simply because they were wet to the hide and had no reprieve from the wind. The older horses all suffered pretty good too, but I moved them to the shelter of the willows in the coulee because I don't have barn space for them all. With the weather you've had out there, it's a wonder anything survives it! Hang in there, and I hope it goes well for you.
 
I get that they have a job to do, I really do. So I tried to be as cordial as I could with tears running down my face. I had just lost a buddy and was basically getting the third degree. Frankly I was beating myself up good enough, i can do a pretty good job without help.

OHHHH and run in sheds are not cover and neither are trees. ( I'm pretty sure he was making up stuff as he went along....) If you saw my cedars you would be stunned at how dry it is under there..

I had no idea that babies lie on there sides to grow :) you learn something new every day.

Anyhow I am more frightened of what could happen at this point. I can face jail, have the horses seized or??? The laws are pretty strict here.
 
I would think this guy would have a tough time saying you didn't provide shelter, etc. I know of one case where the SPCA official was all bent out of shape because cattle on feed had ringworm. That was his whole focus, while the rest of the situation pretty much escaped him. The cattle were well fed, but there were horses there that weren't in near as pretty a shape. You gotta wonder where they find some of these guys!
 
He was pretty concerned about weird little things. Like why my 26 year old mare was hitchy in the back end. Why was'nt I treating that and were was my vet report. I dont know? would the gigantic bottle of bute in her feed bucket have been an indicator that she might be a wee bit sore? Arthritic possibly? Could I prove she was old? well I dont know her teeth are a zillion feet long..... I'm just getting sarcastic because of the horrible humiliation I think. Grrr.... He was supposed to come back today with the report and he hasnt so I hope he is not cooking up a search warrent or something... Yikkes
 
Shortgrass, It's all over the net now :) don't think it's staying in the barn this time. I just have no idea how anyone could have known I hadnt spoken about it to anyone. There simply was just not enough time between his passing and the visit...... You can not tell that I have horses, you would have to have been walking around the buildings.
 
Sorry you are going through this Judith.. You saw my longer rant, decided to delete it... still get way to worked up when I think about what happened here so anything similiar just sets me off.
 
He wouldnt say if it was reported or if it was a drive by. I'm assuming it had to have been reported as I did not tell anyone Zippy had passed on. It was less than 6 hours from him dying to me picking my son up at school to finding the notice dangling on the door. Seems a wee bit coincidental for a drive by visit? No?

Things are done very differently here. You get a written report on the day that report is delivered they will show up with or without the RCMP. If the RCMP arrive you know that they are loading up every animal on the place. Once the animals have been loaded they go to a holding facility where they are gone over with fine tooth combs. They are then held and treated. Once this is done you go to court you can either be charged or they will allow you to purchase your animals back from them. These costs are the vet, impound, legal yada yada fees. Rarely can you afford to bail your animals out.


I was looking up my rights ( I have none, guilty until proven innocent) and that was the info I could find.
 
Here in Arkansas, we can shoot the horse, skin it hanging from a tree and eat it if we so choose; just as long as it isn't the neighbors. :lol: They're beasts and we are human. You provided more than nature would have provided. Don't worry about it.
 
Thanks RR. You always make me laugh :D (not that hanging and skinning is funny, but it was tonight ) just the irony of the situation. My horses are NOT I repeat NOT left in stalls 23 out of 24 hours per day. To me that is darn cruel. But alas it is the standard here. Horses are also not considered livestock. They are classified as pets. Trust me I am doing the best I can not to worry. But I think I'm having a female moment. I loved my horse, so I am sad about his death. I'm beating myself up like crazy about it. You know coulda, woulda, shoulda. And then to have people wandering about spouting threats. I think it is just a huge emotional thing. In the AM, I'm sure I'll be my normal happy go lucky self.
 

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