8-5-10

Wednesday some tough decisions had to be made about the horses that came into the rescue on the 3rd from the kb. Ginger and Trooper seemed to be doing Ok, Trooper was extremely emaciated but seemed quite comfortable and had a good appetite. Trooper just loved being close to Ginger! Trooper and Ginger were put in stalls right next to each other in the barn where they could stand back and bask in some good food, clean water and just the right amount of human contact.

Mystic, the older bucking horse with the bad leg injury was too scared of people to be able to help him. Humane euthanasia was the kindest gift we could give him. Snowy had projectile diarrhea and her shoulder issues could have a lot of underlying issues our vet told us. Since Mystic and Snowy were best friends, it was decided they would take their last trailer ride to the vet office where "Goodbye's" could be said.

At the vet it was hard to say "Goodbye" to Snowy and Mystic, but we knew it was the right thing to do. Their lives had been spared from the brutality of the slaughter house. After goodbyes were said, everyones hearts were lifted because it was time for Campeon the jack donkey that was recently gelded (thanks to your support) to be loaded up for his trailer ride to his forever home!

Gato had his teeth done and he is ready for his rehab out on pasture. He is looking so much different than the day he first came to us. It's amazing what food can do in such a short time.

This was July 15th when Jason picked him up at the boarding stable. The pictures speak for themselves.

Soon he was back at the rescue waiting for a trailer ride to the 10 acre irrigated pasture in a few days. He will definitely enjoy it out there.

After putting Gato in his pen, Tawnee rushed to Troopers side. She was laying down and they weren't sure what was going on. Tawnee and Jason had only been gone from the rescue at the vets a few hours. After evaluating the situation, they believed that Trooper was at peace and felt safe, so she laid down in the nice soft bedding and simply knew she was safe and that it was time to say goodbye to this world. She had been hanging on just waiting to feel safe, waiting to feel loved. Now she had found all that, and had laid down close to Ginger, where she felt safe.

Tawnee held her close as her life simply slipped away. It was hard, but the peace of knowing that she died next to her friend, died knowing love and compassion, made it better.

Near the end of the day Campeon was delivered to his home. His adoptive family adopted Buckwheat and were wanting a buddy for him. Bucky seemed quite happy to have a new buddy, and Campeon settled in quickly. They looked so happy together, a happy ending to a sad and tough day.

Thursday morning found the NER staff in Animal Fighting training presented by Butte County Public Health and Animal Control along with Humane Society of the United States. Jason and Tawnee are excited as this was great education to go along with their Humane Officer training.

Illegal animal fighting is everywhere, in almost every community. Dogs and Fighting Cocks are the most common, but we believe that Stallions are often baited into fighting as well, but on much more spontaneous and rare occasions.

The cock fighting paraphernalia is really sad to look at, all of it is designed to inflict more damage on the animals.

Gaffs and Slashers are the two most common implements put on roosters legs to make them more deadly to their opponent. They are razer sharp! This one is almost 3 inches long.

If you see any of these laying around in someones back yard, DO NOT touch them, each one is an automatic misdemeanor, just call 911 that you have seen animal fighting paraphernalia.

We have a couple jewelry items (out of many that have been donated) on Ebay for you to bid on. This is a beautiful size 7 (we believe) 18 kt Gold 3 Row Diamond Eternity band. 100% of the sale price goes to help the horses, so please bid on it! It was professionally appraised at $995, and it's only $3.27! Click here.

This is part of a set that has ear rings and a ring. Unfortunately only the pendant is up right now, but hopefully before the weekend the rest is up on Ebay. This is a beautiful 14kt Blue Topaz pendant on a 20" gold chain. It was professionally appraised at $645.00 and it currently only 1 penny. Bid today - click here.

We cannot thank the following donors who stepped up to the plate to help horses in need! Iris L., Carla G., Chris R., Rochelle F., Elizabeth N., Catherine K., Stacey M., Annie W., Marlene B., Donna A., Conny F., Rebecca S., Sea Horse Training, Jennifer L., Todd W., Elena K., Judy C., Teresa L., Colleen S., Suzanne F., Joni M., Molly H. all donated! Thank you so much!