Virginia Equine Welfare Society

On January 25, 2012 The State Corporation Commission of the Commonwealth of Virginia approved incorporation papers for "The Virginia Equine Welfare Society" (VEWS ) and authorized them to do business in the State of Virginia. This Society was organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes, more specifically to rescue abused, neglected and abandoned horses.
 Kathy and I are excited to be among the founders of this dedicated group of equine lovers and professionals and we look forward to getting our first rescue(s). Our leased barn is open, staffed with volunteers and ready for business. Over this weekend it was stocked with grain, tack, accessories and 100 bales of donated hay. Watch our blog for upcoming news about our progress. The new website is under construction and should be ready soon. Lots of fun new things will be happening quickly from this point on.

Happy New Year

Kathy and I hope all of you had a Happy Holiday season and wish you a Happy New Year!! We have been investigating other Horse Rescue Organizations nearby but have not been satisfied in what we found so we and some others (actually 10 others) from our old rescue decided to form a new group. Incorporation papers will be filed this month and we will be able to start operation. We have already secured a rehab and training barn  and are currently signing up volunteers. We will post more details very shortly after the papers have been sucessfully completed.

Preference Farm Pictures

Sarah and KK with JJ

KK on JJ

Freckles

Coco and Panda

Panda

Freckles and Kathy

USERL-VARD in Turmoil

It is with a very sad heart that we have resigned from the USERL!
The Richmond Chapter (VARD)  grew under the leadership of it's former Regional Director, Susan White, to be the biggest and best Region in the entire League. The inception of the training barns was a step forward and towards readying the rehabilitated horses for adoption. It allowed for all the adoptable horses to be seen in one place by potential adopters. The recent increase in adoptions has proved this to be a fact.  Had they been managed correctly they would have generated the much needed income to allow future expansion and help perpetuate the care of other horses in need, which is the main mission of the group. Horses left to languish in Foster care are a drain on the financial resources of the League and in some cases have been returned to the league in worst shape than when they went into the Foster Program. The financial mismanagement of one of these training barns has caused the current upheaval within the group. After an  investigation by the Board Members of USERL it was determined that "no such mismanagement" had occurred??? A determination that cannot or will not be explained or justified to the group siting their "Whistle Blower Policy".  Unfortunately a determination with which not everyone in the Region was in agreement. It has cost VARD the lost of several devoted volunteers including the Regional Director and Board Member, the Assistant Regional Director, Webmaster and Fund Raising Coordinator, a Rehab Barn Manager, an Assistant Rehab Barn Manager, a Training Barn Manager, several Cruelty Investigators and many others, that have given untold hours and monies to the cause of helping horses in need through the USERL-VARD. The Board is in the process of reorganizing VARD and appointing it's new leadership. We wish them well in their future efforts. We, in the meantime, will look for other organizations that need volunteers. There are 39 other Horse Rescue Organizations in the State of Virginia.

Hershey's Kisses Has Arrived

Kisses was born yesterday at  Quarterfield Stables! When Kathy and Karen arrived for barn duty yesterday morning they were surprised to find the new Filly all cleaned up and standing beside her mother in the Exercise Ring where Hershey had been turned out for the night. Hershey did a wonderful job, completely unassisted, during labor and delivery. Mother and Baby are doing well and have caused much excitement for our group of volunteers. The pictures are now pouring in. In the ones below we are moving Hershey and the Filly Kisses from the Exercise Ring, where she was born. to their Stall. Kisses is approximately 6 hours old in these pictures.

Stori's video

In the post below is a video made by one of the volunteers about the plight of Stori and her Mother. There are approximately 32 horses on this property eleven of which were judged to be in immenent danger from neglect and starvation by a licensed Vet., including Stori and her Mother. Stori's Mother had to put down only two days after surrender because she was down and couldn't get back up even with assistance.
Law enforcement officials in this county have done little to nothing to help in our efforts to help these horses. It has been one delay after another... another opinion...another test result...another couple of days. 
A full necropsy was done on Stori's Mother at a College of Veterinary Medicine by a PHD DVM and the results are summarized as: depleted fat stores and serious atrophy of fat that is a result of  long-term inadequate nutrition...the stomach was small and tightly contracted...gastric ulcers...poor dental care and poor hoof care. What will it take for Sheriff Dan to enforce the law...maybe he will be more agreeable after the election??
Neighbors have pictures of buzzards feeding on the carcasses of dead foals in the fields. Therefore, I am calling this county Buzzard County, Virginia.

VOTE AGAINST SHERIFF DAN of BUZZARD COUNTY!!!!!

Stori

Watch Video

Miss Stori

This is Miss Stori, the emaciated foal surrendered just a few days ago with her mother. The foal is now eating a special diet including milk replacement about 6 times a day. While she has a long way to go, the volunteers caring for her are hopeful. You can see in her eyes and ears that she is happier. Everyone please send good thoughts and prayers her way and thanks again to all the volunteers.

Rest in Peace

This is the mare that died only two days after being taken off of a farm in SW Virginia and her two month old foal for whom we are all praying.

This  next photo (was taken on the abusers property) and is of the same mare and foal above with the next pair of possible casualties...a pinto mare and her young foal that we unsuccessfully tried to take.

Conditions look far better than they actually are. These horses are living in horrid conditions.

Prominent SW Virginia Family Foils Rescue Attempt

On July 25th volunteers went to a county in South Western Virginia in an attempt to rescue horses that had been reported to them as starving to death. Confirmation was obtained by a large animal vet that 11 horses on the property should be seized and were in imminent danger. The County Sheriff and Commonwealth Attorney were uncertain as to what to do!!?? Virginia Animal Cruelty Law is pretty clear as to their responsibilities but neither could or wanted to do the duty they took an oath to do.
After waiting at the Sheriff's office for over 6 hours the group of volunteers was taken to the property by a Deputy to seize the horses. Upon arrival the Deputy was advised by the perpetrator that he would shoot anybody that trespassed on his property. Deputy calls the Sheriff... Sheriff comes out to the scene and tells everybody that "he is sorry but the owner has ordered us off his property and that we had to leave". Did I mention that #1 we were on a county road and #2 we asked the County to prepare a search and seizure warrant days before we arrived and #3 both the Sheriff and the Commonwealth Attorney a currently running for re-election??? WOW
The perpetrator did allow that we could take one mare that was in horrendous shape and finally allowed that her 2 month old foal could go too. These two were transported in a rehab barn in N.C. as it was decided that they were too weak to make the 5 hour trip back to the Richmond Region. The Bad news is that yesterday, only two days after being seized, the mare layed down and DIED...damn that family... remember there are now 9 more horses still out there on that property that will suffer the same fate if something is not done.
Eleven volunteers drove an average of 400 miles each, pulling 4 horse trailers, spent nearly $800 in gas total and spent 18 hours each only to have to leave these 9 horses behind to continue their suffering and starvation...What a terrible screwed up mess. I'll post the mare's picture latter

Volunteers in Tidewater rescue Donkeys

Volunteers in the Tidewater area rescued two donkeys after their elderly owner past away. A video from News Channel 3 in Norfolk, Virginia has more details.

http://www.wtkr.com/videobeta/?watchId=5c64a424-981d-496f-ab26-c6bffe74ede4/video=YHI&t=a 

Couple get jail time for animal abuse

King and Queen County, Virginia
Last week Mr. and Mrs. Amos plead quilty after testimony was heard in their case on 10 counts of animal abuse. They were sentenced to 10 years in jail each. All but 6 months were suspended and they will be on probation for 5 years. This case started in 2010 when 33 horses were seized by the county and turned over  for rehabilitation. Our thanks go out to the dedicated volunteers  who were involved in this rescue and rehabilitation and saw this case through to the end.

1st Annual Casino Night Fundraiser

Our 1st Annual Casino Night Fundraiser held last week was a big success! Thanks to all of the volunteers that help organize and set up the event. It was a fun night for all concerned and the food was great. It was held at the Richmond Country Club and attendence was over 100 people. This was by far the largest fund raising event that the league has sponsored and we are very happy with the outcome. Several thousand dollars was raised for the benefit of the horses in our care. Watch for information about next year's event which will be even bigger and better.
One of our  volunteers has posted over 200 pictures of the event on her web site. The pictures may be ordered from the site if you should be interested in doing so.  Click the link to see the pictures.
www.printroom.com/pro/shuttervision

King and Queen County, Virginia Case

On April 13th a Grand Jury indited Robert Amos and Elizabeth Newsome- Amos on 20 counts each involving last summer's seizure of 33 horses by county law enforcement officials and  volunteers.
See the details at the following link   http://www.nbc12.com/story/14443019/animal-cruelty-investigationking-and-queen-county

Preference Farm Video

We are re-posting this video from last year so that it will be on the first page. We will try to do a new video this Spring when time allows.