With the recent and ongoing deluge of rain rain rain rain rain, we get calls from people concerned about horses they see standing outside in water, getting wet. As horse people, we know that most horses, when given a dry shelter to stand in, will choose to stand outside so their owners can see exactly how miserable they are.
BUT this does bring up a topic that could stand being reviewed from time to time: what do you do if there’s a horse in your area that you suspect is not being properly cared for? The answer, unfortunately, is not “call SAFE.” We have no authority to investigate animal cruelty or neglect. You must contact Animal Control in your county and report what you have seen to them. You have to have witnessed the neglect or abuse first-hand, and you need to provide an exact address where it is taking place. It’s your right as a citizen to ask Animal Control to conduct a welfare check. And that does not always mean that AC is going to storm in, take the horses, and throw the owner in jail. A lot of times it means that AC officers will visit the property and talk to the owner about improving their situation. But they can’t help a horse if they don’t know about it!
Right here on the SAFE website, we have detailed information available about contacting Animal Control in our surrounding counties. If you’ve seen something that looks wrong to you, there is information here that may be helpful: https://www.safehorses.org/we-can-help/report-cruelty/
