Falsely Accused?

Who here hasn't seen a picture or video of animal neglect? I'm willing to bet a great number of my readers have seen multiple, and not just ones reposted by someone else. I'm sure many of you have come across a questionable Facebook post, or forum thread, or Craigslist ad. You've seen an animal who looks neglected or abused.

Many of us will do what we can to rectify the situation. Some of us try to educate the owner. Some try calling local law enforcement and animal control. Some even gather personal information about the owner and use it against them.

So what happens when it's *you* being accused of animal neglect or abuse?

For the purpose of this blog, we're going to say that you are innocent of what you are being accused of. Perhaps the animal has a medical condition. Perhaps you just recently procured the animal, which came from a bad situation.

So what do you do when the internet begins calling for blood?

First and foremost: Stay calm!

I simply cannot stress this enough. Your innocence doesn't matter worth a shit if you immedietely jump to the defensive. If you hit your capslock and begin "screaming" at people, you have lost any and all credibility right away. When you begin to insult people, they begin to automatically assume your guilt.

Stay calm. Step away if you must, until you have full control over your mouth/fingers.

Next, believe it or not, you need to *thank* the people who are questioning your animal. Thank them for their concern. After all, they wouldn't bother doing so if they weren't actually worried about the animal. (With a few exceptions, of course)

Tell them your appreciate their feedback. Thank them for caring enough to say something.

Explain yourself, calmly. If you are innocent of what you are being accused of, no doubt you have a damn good reason for having an animal that appears neglected/abused. Outline the situation. There's no need to go into a great deal of detail as long as you lay down the factual foundation.

To those threatening to call the Sheriff or Animal Control, tell them they are welcome to it. Whether or not they actually do so, this shows that you are unconcerned about what these agencies will find. Now, make note, Animal Control has had it's share of epic screw-ups, but for the most part, if you are doing things correctly, they will find no reason to bring charges against you.

You will of course, need to provide some sort of proof to back up your reasons for the animal's condition, but you need only present this to an agency of the law. The people on the internet do not *need* this information. Posting it can help, but take care to remove *any* and *all* personal information posted on said documentation.

Staying safe is paramount. There are people out there who truly only care about the animal(s) and will not bring harm to you or yours.

But there are a great deal of insane lunatics out there who will not think twice about spreading your name, personal information, and even going further and beyond.

 Just remember - we are all in this together. Take a moment to *ask* about a situation you may see online. Not every neglected or abused animal being posted became that way via the person posting it.

Repost - Know Who You Buy From

No matter what you are buying, but especially when it comes to living animals, know who you are buying from!

I won't go into the whole list of "mills" out there, which includes just about any species of animals.

Some months ago, a friend contacted me. She had some goats to sell. At the time, I couldn't take them in, we were in the middle of moving and our pens were not set up yet.


So I directed them to another friend I had made and knew through e-mail contact. That person bought the goats.

When the seller got back, she contacted me and told me that the buyer's goats were in poor shape, needing deworming and health care. We decided it was simply a matter of her needing a bit of help, and I and a group of breeders in the area banded together to give her advice. We thought it was all taken care of.

Fast forward a few months, and disturbing things begin popping up. There are complaints on Craigslist about the breeder, and I uncover some pretty disturbing pictures on the breeder's website and other information. Apparently she's had a lot of goats die and the ones left are in bad shape.

I contact the seller and we work out a plan to buy back the two does, all the while I am trying to get more information and get something done about the poor situation going on.

We are able to negotiate payment for one of the does, Hallie. For nearly twice what she was sold to this breeder for. The other Delanie, is "not for sale." We later find out that Delanie died.

We are told Hallie is "in milk" and kidded in December. When asked for pictures of the kid by two separate people, the breeder sends both of them pictures stolen from other websites, and not even the same pictures.

Of course this was uncovered immediately, its not hard to trace pictures back to their source. We chose not to confront her about this, in the interest of removing Hallie from the situation. We had trouble setting up a date for the pick-up, but eventually we were able to, though Hallie's registration paperwork was not avaliable.

On pickup, Hallie was underweight, coughing, with a snotty nose and hugely overgrown hooves. She's terrible pale and absolutely terrified. She doesn't defecate the entire ride (3+ hours) home, which begs to ask, how long was she without food? She is certainly not "in milk" as claimed, and she did not kid in December. It's probably she kidded between September and October. Which brings the question, why were we lied to and where were the kid(s)?

I immediately quarantine Hallie and bring the vet in. She is started on a dewormer regimen, gets a hoof trim, a copper bolus, and a course of antibiotics. Thankfully, two weeks later, she is doing quite well, gaining weight and has been introduced into the herd without too much fanfare.

I've tried in vain to get the truth about Hallie. The most I could get was that Hallie's kid died. I imagine this is the truth of the matter, though she still claims Hallie kidded in December. The paperwork as well still has not been mailed.

I personally talked to the ASPCA. I filed several reports and gave evidence. In time, they told me a warning had been given. I'm not sure if they told me this to get me off their backs, or if they actually went out there, but I do know that this breeder sold quite a lot of goats very soon afterward.

Since then, there has been evidence that several other of the goats have died. The goats, by the breeder's own admission, do not receive vaccinations, are not health tested, and many other things. Now, I'm not against someone who does research and chooses not to vaccinate, and many do not regularly test for health problems.

The point here is the ignorance, and unwillingness to learn. We tried to help this breeder, and it was cast aside. Her whole point was to have a "goat mill" and to make as much money as she can off of the poor beasts.

She has been caught in many lies. I can only hope that the recent events have opened her eyes, but in my experience, people like this never change.

Always do your research before you buy. Take a close look at websites. If someone has pictures of obviously emaciated animals on there, don't you think it's a better idea to look elsewhere?

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Sorry for the repost guys! Haven't been quite feeling myself here lately. And I thought this was a good post to bring back. It is from 2010 and ended up being one of the biggest busts I participated in. It blew up way larger than this original post. I caught this person scamming multiple people and breeding several species, including goats, horses, and pigs.

I caught her falsifying registrations and had to report her to the agency along with others.

She continues to advertise on Craigslist from time to time, the same animals usually. No reputable breeder or owner in our area will touch her stock with a ten foot pole now, because of what I, with the help of a couple others, revealed.

Hallie lived with us for another year before her condition worsened and I chose to put her out of her suffering.

I'm Sick of the Neglect

I'm sick of it. Flat out sick of it. I was notified of a situation going on right here in my own state and took some time to look at it.

Apparently a young girl has several horses she is starving to death. One is a grade bay stud that she purchased on false pretenses from someone I know fairly well.

She began riding this horse at eighteen months old, and then he began to rapidly drop weight.

There are more images, but I think this will suffice, for now. Some of you may say, Well, I've seen far more emaciated horses.

So have I. Does that make it okay? The time to step in is before the horse is on death's door.

Multiple people were offering to help this girl. To pay for a vet visit. To pay to geld this creature. To buy the horse from her. To take the horse. To transport the horse.

The girl made only excuses. Excuse after ridiculous excuse. I'm flat out tired of it.

I wrote a reply to one of the posts that people were talking on, but when I went to hit "enter" the post had been deleted. So I'll post it here. I'm so far past caring about hurting people's feelings.

I know the sheriff's office out our way won't do jack diddly. Had a severely emaciated stallion living across the street that got out of his wire (smooth wire, NOT hot) several times to harass my mares and beg for food. The owners would leave him in his little pen and be gone for a week at a time. I fed him several times from my own hay. 

However - having worked in rescue with various species for a very long time, I know a bit more than I should... I suggest you post a picture, Miranda, and quickly, because I have little patience. I've seen enough horses starve to death this year and I simply cannot stomach another. I am the head of one of the largest developed networks online and nothing escapes my notice unless I want it to. I am sick to death of allowing people to abuse and neglect their animals with no repercussions. 

I have set into motion a very serious case against someone who is defrauding the United States government AND abusing her horses while breeding them, and I won't hesitate to start something against you. Even if I cannot bring legal charges against you, it is fully in my power to destroy your name on the Internet. And guess what - it's not libel if it's true. I just put my beloved dog down yesterday and I am just not in the mood to sit here and read your excuses. I would like to see a picture of this horse now, please.

Yeah, it's harsh. And it will only get harsher, miss Miranda. It's time to put your big girl panties on and own up to the fact you cannot handle the horses you have and need help. There is NO SHAME in taking help when you need it.

The shame comes when you lie and refuse to do the right thing.

Hermaphrodites in Goats

Now here's an interesting subject for you!

That's a pretty masculine looking goat right there, isn't it? That's certainly what I thought when I walked up to it.But the owners claimed it was a doe, or female.

Baffled, I took a closer look and examined the goat's teats and vulva area.

My suspicions were correct. This was no female goat!

Of course, niether was it a male goat.

It was a hermaphrodite.



Hermaphrodites aren't very uncommon in goats, believe it or not. It occurs when a goat has both male and female reproductive organs. In this case, the goat has a female vulva, but inside was a nodule, which is actually a penis. If we were to examine the internal structure of this goat, we might find testicles in the abdominal cavity.

You can see the visually evident penis within the vulva of this goat above. Fascinating, isn't it? The goat also exhibits immature looking teats much like a buck or wether would and masculine attributes instead of a more feminine look.

There is some debate about the genetic link between the polled (hornless) gene and what causes intersex goats. While it has not been proven, there are many cases of two polled goats being bred together and creating a hermophrodite kid. There are also plenty of cases where it did not.

When breeding polled goats, it would be worth your time to take a closer look at both studies done and anecdotal information to decide for yourself if the risk of breeding a polled goat with a polled goat is worth it to you.

The goat in question here, while very kind and "handsome" in its own way, will likely be butchered this fall along with my own meat goats. I hope to take a closer look at the internal organs at the time and learn more about this fascinating genetic abnormality.

White Swan, WA - You DISGUST Me!

A picture is worth a thousand words, they say.

This is a rodeo event in White Swan, WA called the Treaty Days Rodeo. Apparently this event is one of the highlights for the kiddos. You wrangle a foal, climb aboard, and drag it around three barrels and back to the judges. Looks like a blast, eh?

Yeah, that foal looks like he's just having the time of his life. 

 How about this foal? Does he look like he's having a good time?

What PURPOSE does this event hold? What reason is there for putting your children out there to wrangle a frightened foal.

And here I thought my post about ignorant fools putting their kids on weanlings was bad. While those pictures from that blog just annoyed me, this one sickens me. How can this be described as anything but flat out cruelty to these foals? Sure, you'll get simpletons bleating that a kid riding a foal "probably won't cause damage" or that dragging the foal around by it's head "won't hurt it any once or twice." You know what? Go ahead. Condone it. That makes you no better than the people who organized this disgusting event.

 

You can visit the website of this rodeo here. (Fair warning, the website will make your eyes bleed. Looks like they can't be bothered to get a decent webmaster.) Write them and tell them how much they disgust you.

You can view these images and others from this rodeo here.

Bullshit events like this give true rodeo a bad name. There is absolutely no reason to allow this kind of nonsense to continue. Not only does this event serve no purpose, it's cruel as well. Someone compared it to the "Dinner Bell Race" where mares are led down a track and the foals "race" back to them. There is no comparison. The foals in that race run, unfettered by the weight of someone's brat, back to mama, and are happy.

THESE foals on the other hand . . . well, if you can't see the difference for yourself, you probably shouldn't call yourself a horse person.

Guest Blog - No, Your Baby is Not Starving

Oh, entitled parents, how do I hate thee? Let me count the ways, you self-absorbed time suckers who think that the world revolves around you and your precocious brat who won't shut the hell up even for one second.

Last week, a five top came in; four adults and one diaper-wearing, needy one year old human who required a high chair. I go to greet them at the front door.

"Hello, how are you tonight? Table for five?"

"My baby is starving. I need bread," snapped the mother.

Really? That's how we're going to start our evening together, by you completely ignoring the (fake ass) pleasantries I am offering you? Is it my fault that you, as a mother, failed to bring a goddamn Ziploc baggie of Goldfish to nourish your child during the long trip from you apartment down the street all the way to the restaurant?

What I said: Alright, let me go get some bread for you and then I can pull some tables together for your party to sit down.

What I thought: I'm sorry, but is your baby from some drought stricken country in Africa and he hasn't had clean water in days? Is your child one of the 15 million who will die of hunger this year? Is he part of the 50% of all children under five years of age in South Asia and one third of those in sub-Saharan Africa who are are malnourished? Is he one out of the eight children in the United States under the age of twelve who goes to bed hungry every night? Or is it that he's just a little fussy and now you regret throwing away that banana that he didn't want twenty minutes ago?

I return with the basket of emergency rations and begin to drag two tables together so they can sit down and eat their dinner now that I have practically saved the life of a child who, had it not been for me, would have surely expired. The group sits down and I notice that the child has taken one bite of bread and is now interested in the battery operated candle that is sitting on the table. Starvation averted! Score one for the war against hunger.

"We have a few specials tonight I can tell you about very quickly. Our soup tonight is a chilled corn soup with a cream base. The corn is grilled and it has a red pepper garnish. Our appetizer of the night is-"

"I'm sorry," mother interrupts. "Can I go ahead and place his order for mac and cheese? He's really hungry. But no bacon in it.""

I look down at the "really hungry" baby who is mouthing the plastic candle. Right, we don't want that baby to eat bacon but by all means let him lick that candle that has remnants of Windex, dust and every germ known to mankind.

"I will do it right this second." I stop pouring water for everyone and firmly set the metal pitcher on the table and leave them to again do my part to solve world hunger, one baby at a time.

"Please rush. This baby is starving," I type on the order so that that the cooks knows how utterly important it is to get the food right away. I head to the kitchen deciding to wait there until I can return with the sustenance before doing anything else for the table. Six minutes later, the mac and cheese is ready and I go to the table.

"Sorry I didn't get a chance to finish pouring water but I know how important it is to get food to a starving baby so I stayed in the kitchen until it was ready." I pick up the pitcher and continue pouring. "So anyway, our appetizer of the night is a roasted beet salad with goat cheese and balsamic dressing..."

Five minutes and two bites of mac and cheese later, the kid is wandering around the restaurant with its mother. Turns out he wasn't starving after all. It was just another case of an entitled parent thinking that their child deserved special treatment because no other child in the world can be as important as their own. Snap out of it lady. If you're fortunate enough to be able to afford to eat out at a restaurant, you're child is not starving. He's lucky. Most of us who are reading this are lucky.

I hate entitled parents.

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Today's post is brought to us courtesy of The Bitchy Waiter. Be sure to check out his blog (it's one of my favorites) and tip your waitstaff!

Weariness

I am weary.

Not tired, per say. Not sleepy. (At least at the current moment.)

Just weary.

So much happening around me while I stand still, watching it proceed.

So many people, full of their own ignorance, while I watch them make fools of themselves.

The whole world is there for the taking, and I let it slip through my fingers due to weariness. I stand upon the edge of a knife, looking from one side to the other, wondering which way to step off. Wondering if I even have control of that step.

Yes, I am couching my issues in terms of metaphor. It makes for pretty reading, don't you think?

In all seriousness, I am just weary (a delightful word) of waiting. I feel that's all I can do currently. I am waiting to hear back about this, and that, and everything. Will this plan come together? Will that situation resolve itself? Will this friend have time for me today? Will that friend be able to come through in that regard?

The knife's edge is an unlucky place to be. Soon, soon I will step (or be pushed) off one side or the other.

Either way, I will continue on.

I am weary, but I am not defeated.

Selfishness

Have you ever been called selfish?

I know I have, many times. I think we all have. We would be hard pressed to find someone who hadn't been called selfish in one way or another.

But the crux of the problem comes when we ask, is it wrong to be selfish?

I don't think so.

There are times selfishness is okay.

We as a culture have been conditioned to see selfishness as bad. We are pressured to do "right" by everyone else, even at the expense of ourselves. We are told to help others at all costs.

Ridiculous.

I spend a great deal of my time helping others. I do it because I want to. I do it because it's rewarding.

Many would say they do it for the same reasons, but I wonder how many would sit down and rethink that and realize they are doing it because that is what is expected of them. I wonder how many would uncover deep seated feelings of resentment.

Even I must step back and say, "No more" at times. If you give all of yourself to others, what is there left for yourself? You begin to burn out, turning bitter and frustrated with those around you. They begin to take you for granted and expect you to be available at all times.

Step back. Put up a boundary. Learn to say no.

It's okay to be selfish. In the end, the most important person in your life is you. You can try to claim otherwise, (my family is more important!) but if you do not take care of yourself, then how can you help others?

As with all things, there is a balance, one that is different for all of us. It is your responsibility to find that balance and not only find it, but enact it and stick with it. In the long run, everyone around you will benefit from it.

And most importantly, so will you.

The Risks of Horse Breeding - Twins

I debated on writing this post - not because of the information it will contain, but because it was inspired by a very sad situation. Sad for the horses I mean, not the owner. I don't feel a whit of pity for the owner at all.

I've written several posts before about horse breeding. I'm not against it in the least to be honest - I don't give a damn what you do with your animals as long as you take *responsibility* for the animals and the results of breeding. Since we're talking about horses, that's what I'll focus on.

In my opinion, to successfully breed a live foal, you only need a few things, (remember, I am not talking about QUALITY of the foal, merely health), and if you don't have them, you certainly should not be breeding.

You need a mare and stallion that are healthy with no history of breeding complications. You need the proper facilities to house a pregnant mare (and a stallion if you must) - that includes everything from shelter to fencing that falls within the accepted guidelines as secure and safe for all of the horses, including the coming foal.

You need the proper feed - not just any crap from your feedstore will do. You have to evaluate your horse and take the time to choose the best diet for them.

Most importantly, you have to be willing to provide the PROPER medical care. Not just calling the vet when Poopsie cuts herself or is sick. You *need* to follow the correct protocol for breeding.  Your mare should be checked for uterine infections or bacteria. She needs to be in good health, good weight.

So you breed your horse. A responsible owner has the mare checked for pregnancy *very* early on. We're talking days. A mare can be ultrasounded and checked as early as 17 days. To me, this is one of the most important parts of mare care.

Why, you ask?

Because of the risks of twins. Double ovulation (releasing two eggs at once) is not as uncommon as you may think. Normally only one egg is fertilized and a standard pregnancy follows, resulting in one foal. Because the risk of two fertilized eggs is believed to be fairly minimal, quite a few people see checking as "unnecessary" and don't do it.

9 times out of 10, the person would be fine. The mare would carry one foal.

But that 1 time...that 1 time can cost you your foal(s) and your mare's life.

By not having your mare checked at the proper time, you have *no idea* if you mare is carrying twins. You are unable to "pinch" one egg off and you bypass a safe time to abort the mare and rebreed if need be. You put everything at risk to "save a little money" or because it's "unlikely" or "not important."

If you're not willing to put in 100%, please don't breed your mare. Just don't do it. If you can't afford the routine vet visits to protect your mare and her unborn, just don't do it. If you're unwilling to lose your mare due to a foaling accident, don't do it.

Go buy a weanling instead if you must. Goodness knows there is an overabundance of them, in every color of the horse rainbow, every breed, everywhere. For cheap.

Because if you choose to go forward with breeding and are either incapable or unwilling to do things right, your mare might just end up paying the ultimate price. And it will be *your* fault.

When you breed your mare, *YOU* are responsible for what happens.

Including this.

 

Two little lives wasted and a mare who is lucky to be alive because someone was too stubborn, too selfish, too foolish, to take responsibility for their choice.

Are you willing to be that person?

Discrimination

I'm feeling quite angry today. I've had rather a bad day, to be honest. I'll skip over personal problems because I want to touch on something that makes me absolutely furious!

I have begun working for a small goat dairy. We are in the process of getting the new milking and cheese building up and running. It's been a very exciting time - I've literally been a part of this from almost the ground up. I watched the building being built, the equipment brought in, and have even helped! I was there when the goats were tested for disease. I have held brand new life, still damp from being born. I have vaccinated and chased down many a goat kid! I've rescued a tiny turkey chick and returned it to its mother.

Sure, not too different than what I do at home already, but all of it together - it's amazing. There have been bumps in the road, but we are trucking right along and can hardly wait to be officially up and running.

One stepping stone to this is the licensing to sell cheese. To get this all important certification, your building must be up to code, along with your animals tested for disease, and your equipment and cleanliness up to par. The book outlining these regulations is practically four inches thick! It's pretty crazy, but when you are going to sell a food product to the public, that is how it must be, *especially* for dairy products.

So, no problem, right? We've got the book and our contractor seems to be quite the smart fellow and has been building to code.

Before I go any further, I must explain that I have two employers, a husband/wife pair. The wife, we will call her Fran, works many long hours as an American Sign Language interpreter and is often not home. The husband, Lan, as we will call him, is deaf.

Why is this important? You will see.

The inspector came out on a day that neither I nor Fran were there, which left Lan to oversee the inspection, and the contractor, we'll call him Bill, was there as well, overseeing some of the final touches to the building. It started out well, but soon things took a very disturbing turn.

Lan brought his laptop into the building so that the inspector and him could communicate easier. Sounds like a good plan, right?

The inspector flat out *refused* to use it. She continued to talk out loud the entire time, preventing Lan from communicating with her properly. She was flat out rude. She began to fail the building on multiple counts that should not have been failed. She literally grabbed onto the insulation of the building and *ripped* it off - which took some doing! She refused to listen to Bill as he tried to explain why certain things were done and how it *should* be within code. She also lied about how long she has been an inspector for the state of Texas.

I have never been so furious in my life. There is no doubt in my mind that this was not only disrespectful, but DISCRIMINATION. This woman refused to acknowledge Lan and communicate with him properly. She destroyed *their* property - up to code or NOT, there is absolutely NO reason for her to literally tear insulation off the walls.

I cannot believe how horrid this woman was, and I can only imagine how frustrated Lan must have been. There was no reason to treat him such. Just because someone is deaf does not make them inferior or stupid. Lan is one of the cleverest persons I know, with a great sense of humor and there can never be any doubt that he absolutely loves the goats and cares for them.

Lack of understanding of ASL is no excuse either. I only know a few words in sign language, and even then, I can usually get the gist of what Lan is trying to tell me, and if I cannot, then that is what modern technology is for, at least until I lean more. There is simply *no* excuse for her to use the tools provided.

Discrimination. It lives on in our world and *sickens* me.

You can rest assured that a lawyer has been contacted and we will not allow this to go unpunished. If we do not stand up against the evil in the world, who will?