Helping each other and the horses who need us

Times are tough and animals are suffering the consequences.  August proved to be a month that saw our local SPCA addressing many issues and one of those was a report from a Redwings volunteer of abandoned horses in the southern reaches of the county - near Redwings.  The SPCA took immediate legal action and Redwings, knowing of the situation, and being aware of the many issues the SPCA happened to be dealing with simultaneously - offered to help.

For most of the month of August, we provided hay to four abandoned horses, saw that they had water, and reported regularly to the SPCA humane officers.  Our volunteer who first discovered and reported them, tended to them daily. These horses - would most certainly have died of starvation or even more likely - lack of water.  Days during August were consistently over 100 degrees.

Fortunately the horses were stabilized and the SPCA was able to come for them and to tend to them humanely - something their owners chose not to do.  As we worked with these horses, we recommitted ourselves once again to educating aspiring horse owners to the responsibility and commitment they are making when they become horse owners.

In the words of Dr. Albert Schweitzer, "Whenever an animal is forced into service of men, every one of us must be concerned for any suffering it bears on that account.  No one of us may permit any preventable pain to be inflicted, even though the responsibility for the pain is not ours.  No one may appease his conscience by thinking that he would be interfering in something that does not concern him.  No one may shut his eyes and think the pain which is therefore not visible to him, is non-existent."