Three horses, taken as part of a settlement for a neglect investigation, are enjoying their temporary new home, thanks to the Danville Area Humane Society.
The Humane Society says investigators went to a home in the Mountain-Hill community of Pittsylvania County where they had received reports of neglect.
A veterinarian determined that several horses needed help.
The owners said they couldn't afford to care for them and had tried selling them on craigslist.com.
Since the horses were dropped off at the Humane Society they haven't stopped eating.
For hours they just couldn’t get enough hay, grass and veggies.
"That’s a good indication that they just had not been fed enough,” Paulette Dean said, Director of the Danville Area Humane Society
Visibly thin and not groomed, the horses have a long way back to a healthy life.
Doctor Smith from the Chatham Animal Clinic arrives to start veterinary care.
The horse Leslie Kendrick is hoping to adopt, Dr. Smith estimates is 300 pounds under weight.
“I've been looking for a horse for a few months now and I know that if I got one from here it would be a good cause really helping an animal in need,” said Kendrick.
The Humane Society says they're saving the horses from a foreign slaughter house, because more and more neglected horses are being auctioned and shipped to Mexico, only to be killed and sold as food.
“The state veterinarian says it’s reaching epidemic proportions now. In this week alone we've had three other calls about horses that are looking bad,” Dean explained.
Dean adds the root of the problem stems from high hay prices and because regulated slaughter houses in the U.S. have been shut down, many American horses are being sold and taken across the border to be killed.
Kendrick is aware of the fate of so many of these neglected horses and just wants to do her part.
“I really want to help these horses,” she said.
There is no federal law prohibiting horse slaughter.
However, there is legislation before congress right now that would make the transport of horses for kill illegal.
The owners of the three horses in Danville will not face any neglect charges.
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