16 emaciated horses taken from owner on Kauai

[Quetzal]

16 emaciated horses taken from owner on Kauai

KAPAIA — The Kauai Humane Society seized 16 horses in emaciated and dehydrated condition from a property off Maalo Road on Sunday after investigating calls from people concerned about "skinny" horses, said Dr. Rebecca Rhoades, KHS executive director.

Lara Butler-Brady, owner of Keapana Horsemanship, was issued citations for 16 counts of second-degree cruelty to animals, each count a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of one year in jail and a $2,000 fine.

"This is the largest cruelty case involving this many horses I know of in recent Hawaii," said Rhoades, who is a veterinarian.

She spent most of yesterday personally caring for many of the horses at the KHS Puhi shelter.

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The Honolulu Advertiser

I personally hope that good homes are found for these horses and that they do not go to some faraway land for some kind of delicacy. These horses deserve better lives than the one that they are in.

[LibertyLover]

1. How sad

I hope the horses find good forever homes soon. Sort of off topic - but several years ago my husband and I had 2 greyhounds and 2 whippets (now we have 1 of each sadly). One night Animal Control showed up at the door and asked to see the emaciated dogs alleged to be on premises. My husband invited the Animal Control officer in and he was immediately inundated by happy, friendly, tail-wagging, healthy sight hounds glad to have another hand or two for pets. After the officer extricated himself from the puppies, he apologized profusely to my husband for bothering him. He even said that we could ask for the name of the neighbor who had made the complaint if we wanted to take it further, but that he would be going over to their house to assure them that greyhounds and whippets were intended by nature to be thin and ours were in the best of health.

[Quetzal]

2. I am not sure why one of your neighbors

would ever involve the humane society like that but I would hope it was because he/she thought was just misinformed as to the nature of the dogs natural condition.

Sorry about your loss - you probably had wonderful memories of the dogs that were once a part of your household.

I could only imagine that for there to be this many horses emaciated, it must've been because the owner didn't have the funds to take care of the animals. Horses can get expensive to maintain their upkeep so for the owner to take on this responsibility and not follow through on their health is tragic to me.

[LibertyLover]

3. Most of the people in the neighborhood either had

little yappy poodles, Golden Retrievers or Labs. They had no clue about other types of dogs. I would walk our male greyhound sometimes for exercise (mine, not his since he raced around the backyard chasing squirrels and the 2 whippets) and would get questions about what kind of dog was he and was he supposed to be shaped like that or was he sick. And yes, thanks - we have wonderful memories of Sam the greyhound and Ptah the whippet.

I live in Maryland and sadly we hear about abused horses here too. One of my friends volunteers at a rescue ranch for horses and ponies. I wish I could, but it's an almost 2 hour drive one way from where I live. They do good work.