As part of our work to support Animal Control agencies in Washington state, SAFE is often asked to take in horses that are part of active cruelty investigations. Sometimes we can make this information public right away, but in other cases, we are asked to keep these horses confidential until law enforcement gives us the go-ahead.
Cyrus is one such horse. If you’d seen him when he arrived at SAFE, you would not recognize him today because his transformation has been so stunning. He arrived with a BCS score of 1.5 — severely emaciated and badly neglected. Because he was so thin upon arrival, his recovery was a long, slow process. Under direction from our team of veterinarians, Cyrus was fed small meals round the clock until his condition stabilized. This meant that volunteers and staff visited his stall in the wee hours of the night (and all through the day) to give him precisely weighed portions of hay on a strict schedule. These scheduled feedings continued for well over three months, with portions becoming larger and feeding intervals becoming longer as Cyrus put on weight. This careful regime was necessary to prevent him from gastronomical upset as his system adjusted to being fed again. Thanks to a lot of people at SAFE, including Herd Health Manager Melinda Couvillion, Cyrus is back to being the horse he was always meant to be.
