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Post by schwung on Nov 12, 2010 14:20:14 GMT -5
Nadia is a 12 year old gray Arabian mare that was original part of a Pierce County Animal Control seizure in early June of this year, out of a hoarder situation involving 18 ponies and horses and 55 dogs that were living in filthy conditions. This is also the same place where Zanadu and Calamity (RIP) came from. Nadia was one of only two remaining horses in PCAC's contracted foster home that had not found a home, and on Sunday, she and the other horse were taken to the Enumclaw Sales Pavilian and run through the auction. Sadly, Nadia ended up in the kill pen scheduled to be shipped for slaughter. At this point SAFE was contacted, as PCAC was willing to make a donation to a rescue organization to help get Nadia safe, but they would not buy her back from the auction yard. Normally, it is not our policy to buy horses from auctions, especially after they have gone to the kill pen. Our take on this is that it is analygous to buying puppies from a puppy mill to save them...it is contributing to, rather than addressing, a systemic problem. We are inundated on a daily basis from horse owners asking us to take their horses they no longer can or wish to care for, from Animal Control/Humane Society organizations asking us to take horses for them, and from individuals pointing us to various threads or craiglist ads about horses going to slaughter or being offered for free and begging for us to help. There are horses in need everywhere needing rescue, and paying overinflated prices to a kill buyer who laughs as he publicly refers to us as "bleeding heart idiots" is not the answer. That said, we chose to make an exception to our policies (which we have before, Lucky being another case in point), because of the circumstances involved and primarily due to the loss of Nadia's former pasturemate, Calamity, in a tragic accident last week. Nadia is currently at the NWESC facility for assessment and quarantine as she spent nearly a week at the auction facilty. Dr. Hannah has given her a brief evaluation and given her a body condition score of 2.5. Apparantly she has had her vaccinations and a dental float, but Dr. Hannah is doing bloodwork on her and a fecal as well to rule out any physical explanation for her poor body condition. We don't know if she is broke to ride but from what I have been told, she is very sweet and easy to handle, even nervous and in a new environment. Pictures provided by volunteers Lynn and Leona:
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Post by Supaloma on Nov 12, 2010 18:11:54 GMT -5
I just met Nadia at NWESC when I delivered our mare, Scarlett, post ankle surgery in Mount Vernon.
If eyes are are truly the mirror of the soul, Nadia must be a saint. She has the biggest, dark, most beautiful eyes. Very attractive girl, I approached to pet her but refrained when I saw the sign on her stall.
She is going to be completely stunning once you have finished her rehabilitation. Thank you for rescuing her.
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Post by cyann100 on Nov 12, 2010 18:24:35 GMT -5
what a doll, I agree she will be stunning when she becomes the horse she was meant to be. Thanks for stepping in and helping her.
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Post by trillium on Nov 12, 2010 22:03:53 GMT -5
I am glad Nadia is here. I know it is against your thinking and the thinking of some others here to rescue from a KP, but just remember it is not the horses fault it is there. So who cares if you got her from ESP, I do not and I bet Cowgirl Spirit does not and PonyUp Rescue does not. They have all gotten horses from there. It is the horse that matters. As far as contributing to the problem, don't worry about it, like puppymills, nothing will ever change unless we can legislate common decency and compassion and I doubt that will ever happen. Sometimes a certain horse seems to connect to someone, Lucky with Jet and it looks like Nadia with Lynn. I am glad someone stepped up for Nadia, I for one thank you for breaking your rule.
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Post by winterlakesfarm on Nov 12, 2010 22:30:01 GMT -5
Sigh. I too really struggle with this moral dilemma. Ron clearly and openly will tell you he makes far more money off of the "bleeding hearts" after the auction than he ever did from commissions from the sale.
In effect we have created a false market and a safety net for people to dump their horses as it is now becoming known in the public that even if your horse sells to "kill" at ESP they will not actually end up shipping so there is less of a deterrent.
That all being said, I too connected with a horse from this auction and paid for it to go to Cowgirl Spirit.
I am still wrestling with that decision. Certainly not because the horse is safe, but because I filled Ron's pocket.
A horse has not shipped from the sales pavilion for months and while it appears on the surface this is a good thing........it is exactly what Jaime said- purchasing a puppy from a puppy mill to "save it"
That being vented- I am so pleased this mare ended up with SAFE and extremely pleased the mare I paid to go to Cowgirl Spirit is not in danger of something horrible. It smacks of the CBER vein to me except I can say no one is perpetrating fraud or making money except Ron at this point.
I kick myself for not waiting and buying a horse directly and not feeding Ron's racket but I do not regret the end result for the horse.
Thank you to SAFE as always for being there for a horse in need.
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Post by schwung on Nov 12, 2010 23:03:48 GMT -5
Trillium - I think if you were in the shoes that I am and getting flooded with requests to take horses from people who have reached their financial limit, who have been foreclosed on and lost their farms, who owe thousands in back board, horses that are ultimately at risk of ending up in Ron's pen or worse, starved to death in a muddy pasture in the dead of winter, then it becomes a little bit easier to see the bigger picture involved. We still help horses in need - as many as we possibly can - but our preference is to do so proactively, before it reaches crisis state, or if we have to be reactive, at least take the ones where Animal Control has stepped in and taken action.
I did not want to start a heated debate but I did think we needed to state our policy on this, because the next time we are asked to take a horse from there, we may very well say no and these are the reasons why.
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bsnlark
Junior BB Member
SAFE Adopter
SAFE's Larkspur and Ishmeal n Buckwheat, too
Posts: 71
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Post by bsnlark on Nov 13, 2010 0:41:02 GMT -5
pic is old ( i dont have a camera), but I can see similarities. Ish actually has a dished face, and could poss be part arab since no one knew/knows his history. or passed it along. seems he could have been a chestnut paint also, based on skin tone and flea specs. He also has the pink nose snip and dark tail hair And whats the difference from rescuing from the 'feed lot' or kill pen ?? One is just prior to the other, isnt it ?? or was/is rescuing from CBER diff from enumclaw 5-6 yrs ago ?
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cricket
Full BB Member
SAFE Adopter
Dox and Ariel
Posts: 244
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Post by cricket on Nov 13, 2010 1:17:04 GMT -5
Sigh. I too really struggle with this moral dilemma. Ron clearly and openly will tell you he makes far more money off of the "bleeding hearts" after the auction than he ever did from commissions from the sale. In effect we have created a false market and a safety net for people to dump their horses as it is now becoming known in the public that even if your horse sells to "kill" at ESP they will not actually end up shipping so there is less of a deterrent. That all being said, I too connected with a horse from this auction and paid for it to go to Cowgirl Spirit. I am still wrestling with that decision. Certainly not because the horse is safe, but because I filled Ron's pocket. A horse has not shipped from the sales pavilion for months and while it appears on the surface this is a good thing........it is exactly what Jaime said- purchasing a puppy from a puppy mill to "save it" I think a lot of us feel the same way. I used the same puppy mill analogy when discussing the kill pen situation with someone this weekend. In theory, I don't support buying horses out of the kill pen, yet I helped someone buy a horse this month and I've purchased a horse from there, too. I don't regret it; she's healthy and happy living out her final years with the lady that bred her. However, that was the October '09 auction and I think I paid $175, or something like that, for her. The inflated prices that are lining Ron's pockets now are ridiculous. I don't see any easy solution, though. There are always going to be stupid people out there breeding away with no regard for the market (or quality).
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Post by Gingersmom-Tate on Nov 13, 2010 20:09:39 GMT -5
Rules were meant to be broken sometimes, trust me. Great things are in store for Nadia now.
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Post by schwung on Nov 14, 2010 12:40:03 GMT -5
I received an email from the woman who had Nadia and the other seized from her. She provided some information on Nadia, that she had purchased her from Darlene Wilson (same as Calamity) and that she is supposedly cart-trained and has been used in parades. She stated Nadia is purebred Arabian and is 12 years old. Obviously we will take this information with a huge grain of salt but it does help to know her age and Dr. Hannah should be able to confirm that.
Also - Nadia's fecal was negative and her bloodwork normal, her teeth are not bad so she just needs more groceries.
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Post by trillium on Nov 14, 2010 19:49:53 GMT -5
Maybe this is Nadia, BREAK OF DAYA - AHR*573655 Foaled on Aug 6, 1998
Let me know what color her feet are and if you could shave or wet down her face, I can compare the markings to the registry.
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Post by schwung on Nov 14, 2010 23:21:45 GMT -5
Laurie, I was told she was foaled on 4/20/98. Dr. Hannah said the age fit with her teeth so we'll go ahead and call her 12 years old.
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Post by schwung on Nov 14, 2010 23:25:34 GMT -5
And, from the pictures I took it appears that all feet are white except perhaps her left hind.
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Post by coconut on Nov 15, 2010 0:47:20 GMT -5
Sigh. I too really struggle with this moral dilemma. Ron clearly and openly will tell you he makes far more money off of the "bleeding hearts" after the auction than he ever did from commissions from the sale. In effect we have created a false market and a safety net for people to dump their horses as it is now becoming known in the public that even if your horse sells to "kill" at ESP they will not actually end up shipping so there is less of a deterrent. That all being said, I too connected with a horse from this auction and paid for it to go to Cowgirl Spirit. I am still wrestling with that decision. Certainly not because the horse is safe, but because I filled Ron's pocket. A horse has not shipped from the sales pavilion for months and while it appears on the surface this is a good thing........it is exactly what Jaime said- purchasing a puppy from a puppy mill to "save it" That being vented- I am so pleased this mare ended up with SAFE and extremely pleased the mare I paid to go to Cowgirl Spirit is not in danger of something horrible. It smacks of the CBER vein to me except I can say no one is perpetrating fraud or making money except Ron at this point. I kick myself for not waiting and buying a horse directly and not feeding Ron's racket but I do not regret the end result for the horse. Thank you to SAFE as always for being there for a horse in need. resurfacing here... I feel exactly the same. I really HATED paying Ron his *Extortion* money to get Lucky out but I felt compelled to help a particular horse. I got to talk to the reporter who published the story last week and while it didn't make it into the article the word "Extortion" was used to describe what Ron charges to get these horses out. He knows it...and called us (the rescue bleeding hearts) "Idiots" in Lynn Thompson's quote. Nice, huh? I am just catching up with the Nadia case and am certainly agree that this is more than just a horse who got dumped by irresponsible owners. I look forward to meeting her and following her progress. She's adorable and I am extremely hopeful for her future. Thank you to SAFE for stepping up for her.
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Post by trillium on Nov 15, 2010 8:41:36 GMT -5
And, from the pictures I took it appears that all feet are white except perhaps her left hind. I looked through all of her registered horses, the only grey mare born in 1998 is Break of Daya. I can see where, with that name, she might have been called Nadia. If any one is game for it, they can shave her face and take a photo of her markings, but I think they look like they match the datasource sketching. It does say she has four white feet though. You can wet down her legs and see if there is pink skin under her hair. She should have four white socks.
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