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May. 20, 2010
A rescue operation by the Garrett County Humane Society (GCHS) was conducted last Thursday, May 13, on a farm located along King Wildesen Road, in which 50 animals were removed and taken to rescue shelters.
The Garrett County Animal Shelter had received an anonymous call regarding thin horses and cows on the property, and all such calls are referred to the GCHS. The GCHS then dispatched Denise Lohr, animal control officer, and Deb Clatterbuck, investigator for the GCHS, to the site.
As in accordance with Maryland law, the animals were evaluated using a national standard. The examination determined that 26 horses, 18 cows, and six goats were identified as critical. The GCHS Emergency Action Plan was enacted, Clatterbuck said, and the animals were confiscated and relocated to rescue facilities outside of Garrett County.
The GCHS engaged 32 volunteers, 14 trucks and livestock trailers, three rescue facilities, a specially trained “cutting” horse [trained to herd other animals] with a roping rider, and a cattle dog to relocate the suffering animals. Concurrently, GCHS investigators searched for 16 hours, covering 378 miles, looking for additional animals that the owner allegedly purchased at area sales.
During the forensic investigation, it was discovered that these animals had died, Clatterbuck said.
“There were 17 carcass piles on the ground where they fell in the woods on the far side of their pasture,” she said.
Clatterbuck said it is important to note that the rescue was not funded by county government, and that the work was completed by the GCHS.
“Not one red cent of Garrett County or Maryland tax dollars was spent on our rescue,” she said. “With the assistance of Brooke Vrany from Days End Farm Horse Rescue in Woodbine, we were able to get an emergency rescue grant from the ASPCA [American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty Against Animals].”
While the local HART for Animals Inc. is in the process of constructing an adoption facility, it is not ready to receive animals. So Vrany was able to take the livestock to her facility in Woodbine. She placed the 18 cows at an adjacent farm, and one of her organization’s members is fostering the goats.
The story of the rescue became national news last week, and Clatterbuck said it has been frustrating to hear a great deal of misinformation about the case. Many questions have been voiced as to why the situation at the farm was allowed to reach such a critical point.
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