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Abandoned horses- how to help
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Horse and mini-mule once abandoned, now have good homes.
Southeast Michigan is home to thousands of horses but many of them are losing their homes along with their owners. Real estate agents visiting foreclosed properties have found horses left behind that were turned loose to fend for themselves or worse, left in stalls and corrals. People riding on bridle trails in recreation areas report loose horses wandering the area. Horse owners report strange horses appearing at their barns or in their pastures looking for a handout.
Rescue groups that deal with abandoned pets are often unable to cope with larger animals. You might think that there are many people who would be happy to take a free horse. However many of the abandoned horses have problems; health issues, special needs due to age or disability or they are horses that have never been trained properly and are hard to handle or even dangerous. The expenses of dealing with such horses drains the budget of rescue agencies and turns away would be adopters.
While some horses can fend for themselves pretty well, at least in Michigan summers, horses set loose pose other hazards. They can potentially spread disease to other horses, they are a bigger road hazard than deer, they can destroy crops and they join deer in over grazing natural areas.
Other horses struggle with freedom, especially the older or disabled ones. They become emancipated, pathetic creatures looking for a warm stall and some quality senior horse feed. And Michigan winters make survival in the wild hard for all horses. It would have been kinder for their previous owners to have them humanely destroyed. It’s left to the people who find them to end the struggle.
It’s illegal to abandon an animal in Michigan. If you are struggling to feed and care for your horses, or you are facing eviction and have no where to take your horses, seek help as soon as possible. Call your local animal control agency and they can guide you to horse rescue groups. Listed below are some links to horse rescue groups. You could also contact your county 4-H office and ask if any 4-H youth need horses, especially if they are gentle horses that can still be ridden.
Sometimes you may be able to arrange a lease with someone- they will use and care for the horse like it is theirs until you are in a position again to care for it. If your horse is ill or very aged and requires special care it may be kinder to have it put down. If you decide to give your horse away, ask to see the conditions the horse will be kept in. There are unscrupulous people that will take your horse and then keep it in horrible conditions while they wait to sell it for some small profit.
If you notice horses that appear to be abandoned, either loose or left at homes that appear empty, call your local animal control at once or the local police. With budget cuts across the state, it can take days for someone to respond to abandoned animal complaints and the animal may be suffering as it waits. Your delay may be the difference between life and death. Unless you are an experienced horse person, don’t give the horse anything except water and if it appears very hungry, a little clean hay while you wait for help. Horses have sensitive digestive systems, especially if they have been on reduced rations, and the wrong kind of feed or too much feed can cause more harm than good. And be very careful handling strange horse, they could injure or kill you.
If you find a loose horse or a strange horse appears in your pasture, don’t assume it’s abandoned. Horses do get loose and wander and they are sometimes stolen. Notify local police or sheriffs departments and check with local large animal vets. Most law enforcement agencies will allow you to keep the horse if you want to care for it and will return it to a rightful owner should one appear. Unfortunately there is no provision in the law for the horse to become yours legally after any amount of time. If you don’t get paper work signing ownership over to you it may be difficult to sell the horse in the future or prove its ownership should a question arise. However, few truly abandoned horses are ever the subject of ownership battles.
The horse rescue groups listed below are not personally endorsed by the author of this article. Please examine a facility before surrendering your horse to one. All of these facilities are struggling to keep up with the flood of abandoned horses and would greatly appreciate donations from horse lovers.
If you don’t see a rescue group you know of listed here, please feel free to comment on the article with a website address and it will be added to the list.
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