Back from the Brink: Humane Society/SPCA of Sumter County to the Rescue.
By Terry Temple |
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| If you’ve ever seen a starving or abused horse, you know the sickening feeling. Rage and even wonder: How could anyone be so cruel? What kind of situation in the owner’s life could possibly justify the long, slow death sentence of neglect? Chairperson Claudia Labbe’ states, “Our Cruelty Investigations for horses have been rising dramatically over the past few years. As the equine industry has increased, unfortunately many people who begin a horse breeding/training program can overextend themselves financially and have |
 Mr. B pictured at the Detention Center Impound shortly after he was rescued from neglect. |
| not planned for such things as an economic recession, increases in the costs of feed/hay or conditions such as a drought, so their animals are left to pay the consequences. We ask people to have a plan to place or sell animals before it gets to this point, so that no animal has to suffer.” | |
| Trish Cheston of the Humane Society/SPCA of Sumter County, Florida, knows it all too well. “There are lots of terrible reasons horses find themselves in these situations,” she says. “The owners get incarcerated, or lose their jobs, or fall on hard times.” As the chairman of the Equine Adoptions and Foster Care program, she sees every bad case reported in that county, and unfortunately, they are on the rise. “The drought and hay shortage sure hasn’t helped. Horses that once thrived on pasture alone are wasting away,” Trish continues. |
 Today, Mr. B is thriving after the care he received from the Humane Society/SPCA of Sumter County, the trustees and his “Foster Dad” Rick. |
| The HS/SPCA of Sumter is one of the few HS/SPCA’s in Florida equipped to provide abused horses with temporary care, recovery and rehabilitation. Until recently, the agency had help from an unexpected source -- the inmates of the Sumter Detention Center. For the past seven years, inmates (called trustees) could volunteer to take care of the rescued horses in a barn on the Detention Property until they could be processed into foster homes and eventually adopted. |
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| Unfortunately, the program recently ended because the Detention Center needed the land, so the HS/SPCA of Sumter is now challenged to find safe haven for rescues while they are stabilized and vet-checked. At a recent dedication, the Detention Staff and Trustees were recognized for their assistance. The program was a true win-win situation. “The trustees learned compassion and the value of life when they saw an innocent animal struggling to hang on,” says Trish. “They cared for these horses when they were at their very worst and willingly helped critical horses while medical care was applied. After a few months, we would give them photos of the horses they helped recover, showing them the difference their efforts of kindness could make in a life.” |
 Inmates at the Sumter Detention Center assisted with recovery of rescued horses. |
| Mr. B and Apple are two of the last rescues that went through the Detention Center. Both were discovered by tips to the SPCA and brought to the Center for vet care and a Coggins test. There they began a long, slow process of recovery, and sent into foster care when they were sufficiently stable. | |
| “As far as feeding a rescue goes, there is not a hard and fast rule,” says Trish. “Depending on condition, the horse is started on one cup of steamed crimped oats and a mixture of half alfalfa and half coastal, three or four times a day. As time goes on, the oats are increased and we begin to introduce Seminole Senior. Each horse is different but the bottom line is that when the horse is able to tolerate feed back into its system, it’s Seminole Senior all the way. ”Apple got her name the obvious way. “She went from 600 to over a thousand pounds in a few months, thanks to Seminole Senior and bushels of apples.She has found a |
 The barn on the Detention Center’s property served as a temporary shelter for abused horses. |
| good permanent home, although Mr. B is still up for adoption.” says Trish. “But he is doing great. I spoke to Rick, his foster dad today -- Mr. B had just had a bath when he promptly rolled in the mud. Some things never change.” |
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| You can see how dedicated the staff, volunteers and foster parents must be to affect these rescues, and how much help they need to secure a permanent rescue center. That, along with the goal to construct Florida’s 1st “Green” Animal Shelter (mainly for dogs & cats), the equine/livestock shelter will need support by donors & volunteers so that it can come to fruition. The Society recently purchased a five-acre tract in Sumter County, volunteers have fenced the perimeter and now they need a builder to help organize a barn raising. Additionally, donations are needed for the Equine Emergency Fund to offset the costs of tests, treatment and farrier services. At this writing, the Humane Society/SPCA is still in need of foster |  Sumter County Equines in Need receive support from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Dept. (Detective Michael Calloway), Humane Society/SPCA Cruelty Specialists (Sheri Evans & Trish Cheston) and Seminole Feed (Jill Haight). |
| homes and the best gift people can give is to give of themselves. For more information about how you can help, please contact the, Inc., 352-793-9117, humane@sum.net or visit them online at www.hsspca.org. |
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