Today we’d like to share with you a sad story about Emma. We hope this story can help other animals avoid neglect.
Every year our Humane Officers investigate hundreds of calls for animal cruelty and neglect. Most of the time all it takes is some simple educating of the owners, by the officers, to better the lives of the animals involved. Then there are those that know better and still choose to do the wrong thing. Whether it be out of financial hardship, reluctance to admit the truth to themselves, uncaring neglect, or flat out meanness.
Emma was brought in last December from the Clovis area along with 17 other horses. All were in very poor shape and had a multitude of problems, aside from being underfed, that needed to be addressed. Their feet were bad, several were starved while pregnant, cuts, scrapes, and lameness, amongst other issues. Most of the horses have sprung back from their individual issues and are returning to good health and finding new homes. Emma had not.
As Emma never received the proper care and handling that she should have from her owner, she was one of the more stand-offish and hard to handle horses in our care, which made her treatment sessions that much harder. She was the most picked-on by the other mares, probably because they sensed her un-soundness, and they didn’t allow her to even eat as much as she should have while she was with them. It was decided it would be in her best interest to separate her from the others to ensure she was getting proper nutrition along with treatment and one-on-one handling. Even though she started gaining much needed weight and settled down enough to allow some simple grooming and brushing by staff, she struggled during her much needed treatments. The added stress was not helping her situation.
As her condition worsened and her pain increased a decision had to be made. What is best for Emma? Really….what is best for her? Could she be adopted with this ailment? Could she even stand in a trailer long enough to get to a new home? Would the person that took her home truly understand all that she needs, and be willing to provide it? Would she ever completely recover? Or would she continue to live in pain throughout her life, however long that may be? The decision was heart wrenching and agonizing, but it was determined that it would be in Emma’s best interest to end her suffering.
The simple truth is animals die when they are not cared for properly. Bad situations don’t always end well. Animals don’t always survive, even after they are rescued from their persecutors. And love does not get them through blatant neglect.
If you choose to open your heart and home to a pet, then you also choose to provide for all of their needs. Make sure that you are making the right choice, not only for yourself, but for the pet that has only you to rely on for it’s care. Because, unfortunately, love is just not enough.
