NEWS & VIEWS continued
thanized on April 15, a total of 146 horses were removed. Organizers and volunteers spent the fi rst two
weeks of May sorting and vetting the horses and seeing what they had on their hands. As of press time, there are 52 horses at Days End’s various satellite facilities, 56 at Paradise, 10 at Gentle Giants (Mt. Airy), 11 at Summerwinds Rescue (Warwick & Hartly, DE) and nine at Lost & Found Horse Rescue (Germantown), with two horses at a foster home. As of press time, 15 are in intensive care, and all the rest, until given a clean bill of health, are considered in critical care. As of this report, organizers are still vetting and awaiting preg- nancy results on several mares. So far, there is one confi rmed pregnancy. At least 40 are considered emaciated. Most of the others are infected with parasites and lice. Lack of hoof care has critically compromised the joints and conformation of the developing horses. Several never had their weanling halters removed, and the faces grew around the halters. Overall, ac- cording to Days End assistant director Brooke Vrany, all horses are stable.
Rare Bloodlines? Valuable Breeding Stock?
Canterbury advertises itself as the largest
breeder of Polish Arabians in America, with some of the most exclusive bloodlines. T e owner of Canterbury, Marsha Parkinson, is list- ed as the current vice president of Korona, the Polish Arabian Breeders Society. She has not yet provided her perspective for T e Equiery. T e Equiery has been receiving emails and
phone calls regarding rumors that Days End was planning mass geldings; the rumors were sending fans of the bloodlines into apoplexy and social media sites have become engulfed in
fl ames of righteous indignation. Brooke Vrany has denied that Days End is planning to geld any breeding stock, and has expressed an interest in ensuring help to the Polish Arabian community to preserve some of the blood- lines.
Accord-
ing to Brooke, “I’ve reached out to the Arabian Horse Associa- tion and Korona [the Polish Ara- bian Breeders So- ciety]. We would like to keep these horses registered and [once legally allowed to do so]
original ailments, but for also a mild strain of equine strep throat… Anyone wishing to help fi nancially to the care of these animals can do so by sending their tax deductible contribution to …”
Urgent corrective farrier care for 140 horses is one of many expenses
place them in homes that will highlight their skills, if that opportunity arises. We’d like for the AHA [Arabian Horse Association] to own responsibility and better safeguard their stock.”
Follow the Money On April 29, 2011, Days End issued a press
release that caused a bit of a contretemps in the equestrian community. T e purpose of the press release seemed to be to solicit up to $1 million dollars in donations. T e press release stated: “An individual horse in this condition will cost close to $5,000 for the initial six months…with 150 animals and unknown health and care is- sues that add to the cost, Days End Farm Horse Rescue is looking at bills easily surpassing $1 million over the next six months just for these animals. T ese monies are in addition to the operational costs already attached to our main facility where we currently have over 70 horses being treated and watched for not only their
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Knowledgeable pro- fessionals in the fi eld of equine veterinary medicine scoff ed at these fi gures. Lifelong horsemen ques- tioned how humane it is to keep alive certain criti- cal care horses, particularly when there are so many for which to care. Equestrians across the spectrum were off ended by what they be- lieved was a press release that was crass and oppor-
tunistic. T e Equiery pressed Brooke for a clarifi cation, noting that the estimate in the press release of $1 million dollars was based on an average of $5,000 for a horse “in this condition.” T e Equi- ery asked for a defi nition of “in this condition” and Brooke replied that the $5,000 cost over six months was based on the average cost of a wide variety of “worst case” scenarios, and that this fi gure includes all overhead, including (but not limited to) rent/mortgage, staffi ng, hay, gas, transportation and tolls, utilities, worm- ing, bedding, equine supplies, farrier care, fecal tests, vetting, blood work, training, volunteer time (which is assigned a monetary value), feed, national rehoming, therapeutic care, training, prescription medicine” and more. According to Brooke, Days End bases its estimates on the “full retail” value of goods and services, before services are donated or discounted.
continued...
Tracy McKenna
834917-110611
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