Reporters sure do stink sometimes

This lady should be ashamed. Diverting blame from the owners to the Ag Dept. Jeez. Doesn't she know there are laws and procedures to be followed? BTW, the animals were confiscated yesterday. This article and a voluteers' outraged email describing the grotesque scene has sparked an attack on the GDA. Emotions run high I guess with animal lovers....but had the GDA taken them then, the owners could've legally got them back and sued the GDA for breaking the law.


By SANDRA ECKSTEIN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitutio n
Published on: 01/31/07

Despite bad weather moving into the area, the nearly 100 horses found near death on a farm in Concord are going to remain outdoors, according to Georgia Department of Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin.

Irvin said if the state impounds the horses, it would have to move them and feed them.
"We don't have the money to care for them or a place to put them," Irvin said.
Instead, Irvin said they are requiring the owners, Roger Prater and his wife, Bobbie Allison, to provide feed, supplements and medical care for the 98 starving horses found last week on their farm. But there isn't any shelter on the 600-plus-acre spread for the animals as rain and sleet are expected to move into the area Thursday. Irvin said more than half the horses, which he described as "skin and bones," were rated less than a two on the equine body scale of one to nine. Horses rated a one are expected to die within a day or so.

"The ideal situation is to have temporary shelter, but we don't have an ideal situation down there," Irving said Wednesday morning. "They've survived this long, I guess they can make it a little longer."

The horses were discovered by Irvin's office last week, along with about 65 starving cows, 65 malnourished goats and 50 to 60 starving dogs. There also were dead animals on the farm and signs of recent animal burials. Investigators from Irvin's office were at the farm by last Thursday, but he said food on the farm was moldy and inedible, and the owner wouldn't agree to provide additional food until Monday, when hay and oats were brought in. Even then, staffers and volunteers there to help feed the animals were kept waiting at the farm gate for hours before being allowed in shortly before dusk.

Capt. David Neal with the Pike County Sheriff's office said they are investigating the case with the help of the Department of Agriculture and the district attorney's office. He said no charges have been filed in the case against the couple that lives in the home on the property and owns the animals.

"When the time comes, if charges need to be brought, if the evidence shows that's what needs to happen, we'll bring forth the proper charges," Neal said.

Both Neal and Irvin said their offices have been slammed with people wanting to help the animals. Irvin said the problem is the state does not have any money to care for abused or neglected animals like these. The Department of Agriculture does have a volunteer rescue program for horses, but because several of the horses have strangles, a contagious disease, the herd must be quarantined and cannot be placed in any other barn that already has animals.

Neal said his office, which is responsible for the goats and cows, has been seeing to their safety. Irvin said it is expected those animals will be sold.

Irvin said he had heard reports that the owners had shot several of the animal last night, but couldn't confirm it. But he said even if he did, it wouldn't be illegal.

"It's legal, but it's not advisable," he said.

*Anyone who would like to donate money to the Department of Agriculture' s horse rescue fund can call 404-656-3671. Irvin said they also will accept high-quality hay and feed at the farm for the animals.



This message was edited Feb 4, 2007 5:17 PM