1-27-09

Thank you Heather, Heather, Rebbecca and Judy for donating to save lives today. The auction fund is currently at $192 towards the goal of $5,000. Together we can all do this! If you have been thinking about giving towards the auction fund, please take a minute to do it now. Click here.

This morning was a beautiful crisp morning with a lot of blue sky. The horses were all eager to see what the day awaited them. Miss Mariah is certainly a beautiful girl. She was able to be wormed and tagged thanks to our tranquilizers gun. She was given a sedation shot with the gun so we could give her a much needed worming and put her pretty blue tag on.

Jason started the day off pretty routinely: cleaning stalls, feeding horses, just the normal. But, there was a twist coming up to the day...

Ron and Claire have been fostering Suzy and Belina. Ron wanted to spend some more time with them on halter training. They were brought back today and they were led to their pen with no fuss whatsoever. Good job Ron! Thanks for your dedication to our young horses.

Ann came out today. Gypsy and Freya were going home with Ann today. She has been asking around about getting shavings/bedding donated. Thanks to Tractor Supply in Yuba City for their generous donation of 5 bags of shavings. We really appreciate it! Tawnee was overjoyed when Ann said "There's shavings in the trailer for you." We'll certainly put them to good use.

Ann was so happy to be able to take two of her girls home today. Freya jumped right in the trailer, but Gypsy wanted to look and look... She wasn't flying around or freaked out about it, she just didn't want to move. We began to think she might be part mule. We pushed and pulled and tried to get her in. Tawnee remarked that it's like having a baby. Finally, with a lot of encouragement, treats and sweet talking she was in.

Kim came out today to take Adrian home as she will be fostering her. They really seemed to hit it off, and Kim took Adrian for some long walks here at the rescue so they could get to know each other so that Adrian will not be scared with a new place and new people when she gets down to her new home. All the walking paid off, Adrian gained a lot of trust in Kim and hopped right into the trailer when Kim asked her too.

Adrian peered out of the trailer with excitement and a lot of amazement that she is so lucky to go to such a good foster home.

So, now for the strange twist to the day. The rescue borders a large cow pasture, and a short distance from the rescue Ron found this poor cow. She had given birth about 24-36 hours previously, the calf had died and she couldn't get up either. You can see where she had paddled the ground for hours on end, lying there with her dead calf, alone, trying her hardest to get back onto her feet.

Her eyes were rolling in her head, her breathing was heavy and deep.

We called the owner of the cows, who owns and operates a local feed store, figuring he would want to come help his cow. His response shocked and saddened us, we asked him if he wanted us to show him where the cow was he replied: "These things happen, I'm not going to worry about it." That sent us all into a real tizzy. Not worry about a poor cow that is slowly suffering to death? Where at any time a pack of coyotes could come and eat her while she is still alive? How many days would it take for her to die naturally? Tawnee and Jason headed out to see how bad the cows condition was and to see if there was anything they could do for her. They found her laying feet uphill, unable to stand.

They rolled her over, and then pushed and begged, but she was far too weak. No doubt it had been a terrible long, agonizing birth. And then, with her feet uphill, she could only paddle instead of being able to stand. With her life slipping away, each hour of agony brought only more suffering.

Tawnee had hauled a bucket of water out to her, and they gently poured water into her mouth, which she gratefully swallowed. At least she knew that someone cared for her.

Tawnee had an appointment to show horses, so Tawnee and Jason had to head back to the rescue, and they took with them a fresh reminder of why they are vegans. There is just too much cruelty and unconcern for animals welfare in mass produced animal products. At least she wasn't being shoved along with a forklift at a slaughterhouse...

Tawnee showed Midnight Cowgirl to some potential adopters. The potential adopter has had some bad experiences recently with a horse, and has a lot of anxiety towards horses. Tawnee recommended that she take riding lessons with some good old easy going lesson horses, and once her confidence is back up she can adopt a horse. To many times we have seen good horses ruined by people that are too cautious, and allow the horse to bully them around. Midnight Cowgirl is a great horse, and we are sure she will find a wonderful forever home soon!

While Tawnee was showing horses, Jason called Animal Control to see if there was anything that could be done. They assured Jason that leaving an animal to suffer is not OK, even if it is just "livestock." After Tawnee was done showing horses we call a call from one of our friends at Animal Control. It was to see if we could take a horse they had seized recently. Tawnee asked about the cow, which she had not heard about yet, but she got on the case. She agreed to call the owner and tell him to be a responsible animal owner. That's one thing about the Oroville area, there are a lot of people that have that terrible philosophy: "Those things happen, I'm not gon'a worry about it." When it's a living breathing animal, things do happen, but we have to worry about it! It's a good thing we're in this area, hopefully we can educate the community at large.

Jason and Tawnee headed off to town feeling that the cow would be taken care of soon. They had some things that they had to do, one of which was taking a large bucket of coins to the coin counter. The following picture is $100 worth of coins that was dropped into donation cans around. The little girl that raided her house and Tractor Supply donation cans. Thank you all so much! Every penny really adds up! While at the store a lady walked past Tawnee, raised her hand with Thumbs Up and and said "I support the rescue!"

When Jason and Tawnee got back to the rescue long after dark, Jason headed out into the sub-freezing night air to check on the cow. Thankfully, her owner found her and she was no where in sight. We are assuming that she was put out of her misery. We are so glad that she will not be suffering another cold night all alone.