Starved Fresno County horses recovering

MARK CROSSE / THE FRESNO BEE - Don Motley, rural animal control officer with the Central California SPCA, feeds three horses that were among a group seized from a Clovis ranch on Shepherd Avenue between Fowler and Temperance avenues. The community has donated more than $10,000 toward the care and feeding of the horses.

Cases against owners going through courts.

By Robert Rodriguez – The Fresno Bee

The neglected and malnourished horses recently found at two farms in Fresno County are recovering and doing well, an animal control official said Thursday.

The 30 horses that were found last week on farms in Clovis and near Riverdale are being cared for by the Central California Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
The neglected horses are being fed and given veterinary attention.

“They are finally putting some meat back on their bones,” said Beth Caffrey, the SPCA’s humane education administrator. “And they are really starting to settle down.”

The horses were seized after authorities discovered they were being neglected and in poor health. Eighteen of the horses found on a ranch on East Shepherd Avenue in Clovis have been relocated — 13 are at a private stable and five are at the SPCA’s corral on South Hughes Avenue in Fresno.

Of the 14 horses found at a ranch on South Garfield Avenue near Riverdale, one was taken to the SPCA’s center and the other 13 are being fed and cared for at the ranch.

The owner of the horses on Garfield Avenue has not been located and could face charges of animal cruelty, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said. Two of the horses at that ranch were in such poor condition that they had to be euthanized.

The owner of the Clovis horses was arrested on Dec. 21 on suspicion of felony animal abuse and released on bond. One of those horses was also euthanized.

As the criminal cases against the suspects make their way through the legal process, Caffrey said she has been pleased with community’s willingness to help with the horses’ care.

So far, people have donated about $10,000 for the horses. The donations have helped the SPCA begin construction of an 80-foot-by-175-foot corral at its Hughes Avenue location.

“The community has been extremely generous,” Caffrey said.

Among those who have offered to help is Kris Marschall of Fresno.

“It was awful to see how those horses were treated,” Marschall said. “I can’t believe that they were being totally neglected.”

Marschall is hoping to enlist the help of a Girl Scout group she is involved with.

“They would love to help feed them or even hold a car wash to raise money,” Marschall said.