About 11/2 weeks ago NER was contacted by a supporter that there was serious horse abuse happening near Ukiah, CA. The horses are: Ranger, NER # 196 - Sorrel QH gelding, body score of 1-, 24 years old: Dude #197 - Bay gelding, POA, 8 years old (Not pictured) body score of 4:  Sweetie, NER #198, Pinto, mare, 10 years old, body score of 1.
   NER takes seriously allegations of abuse and do our part to ensure the safety of equines in any situation.  We believe in going through the proper channels so we contacted the Animal Control office in that county.  Our phone call was not returned but we left the information and were hopeful that they would investigate and do whatever was necessary to remedy the situation.  We were again contacted by our concerned supporter, and they were extremely concerned due to the severity of the situation.  We were told that Animal control came out on Thursday the 26th and despite one of the horses falling down in front of the officer from weakness they just gave the owner a citation.  These horses were so bad, one had blood coming out of his nostrils, and at that point NER Staff decided further action needed to be taken.  After about 3 hours of trying to track down the owner, calling the Animal Control office, and the Sheriffs department, we decided that the media needed to be notified to put pressure on those who seemed immune and uncaring to the severity of the situation.  We did not name names, or give specifics, just told them who we are and the condition of the horses, and asked them to investigate.  A large number of horses were seized from the Fort Bragg area so they were doing a story on horse abuse so it fit in with their story.  Shari got off the phone with the newspaper reporter and proceeded to track down a family contact of the owner.  Shari was able to track down the mother and step dad of the owner and they were horrified.  The mother actually owned 2 of the horses and had no knowledge of the situation.  Shari explained to her that regardless of the circumstances these animals did not deserve to be treated this way and that she needed to remedy the situation immediately.  She had no idea what to do, no idea that overfeeding could kill them at this point, she was emotionally very upset so after discussing her options, she chose to surrender them to our custody.  We made arrangements to meet at the pasture at 5 pm on Friday and our team of fantastic volunteers pitched together to get a trailer and trauma team together.  At the designated time the team, parent horse owner, property owners met and the "owner" of the horses showed up and started getting very angry and called the sheriff.  The sheriff came and convinced the owner that it was in her best interest to surrender all of them without argument and stated that
criminal charges could be brought against her.  This particular sheriff officer had known the horses before they were starved, and they were all healthy and happy.  He also told us that he knows for a fact they went 8 weeks without food!  These horses were moved to a secure location and given small amounts of hay, clean water, and shelter.  The sorrel, Ranger was so severely depleted he was hanging his head low and his urine was mud color.  The stool of the horses was described as stone like.  They have severe rain scald and their skin/coats are a mass of blood and pus.  The hair is coming out in clumps.  Dr. Brazil DVM was out to give them a full medical examination and he rated their bodies by the index rating system.   He is optimistic that they will pull through with proper nutrition and care. Dr Brazil informed us that Ranger physically could not get any skinnier, he would just die. They are located about 4 hours away from Oroville, and due to their weak strength they need to be left in the Ukiah area at their foster home for at least 3 weeks at which time they may be strong enough to make the trip to Oroville.  We have put together a team of volunteers to help foster and rehab them until they are strong enough to travel.  This rescue would not have happened if it weren’t for our team of volunteers.  A large thanks goes out to Pam and Julie for coordinating our efforts and providing a team to do transport, thanks to Casey B and his family for providing a safe secure foster home for them, to  the farrier (sorry don’t know your name) for donating his time and efforts trimming and giving Casey and Pam his words of wisdom, the Potter Valley Horseman's Association for providing support to Casey, Julie and Pam, and to Mendocino County Feed Supply for offering to help us anyway they can. It feels so good to have given these horses a voice...and we are so proud of the newly formed "Volunteer Team”.  The pictures were taken on location where the horses were rescued.
   We have 4 horses in the custody of 2 different SPCA facilities waiting for room and also a waiting list for donated horses.  The expense of vet and food bills is as you can imagine large and we depend on our supporters to help donate money for us to continue to give voices to these magnificent animals. If you have room in your home for one of our available horses please consider adopting them to make room for another.