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By JOEL STOTTRUP
Princeton Union-Eagle
The record number of home foreclosures and a worsened economy has put more pressure on an area organization to find shelters for rescued horses.
It is the Minnesota Hooved Animal Rescue Foundation, located in rural Zimmerman.
In all, 75-80 horses are being cared for by the foundation and are in need of homes. That is greater than normal.
Foundation director Drew Fitzpatrick says there is an increased need for foster shelters for rescued horses and for people to adopt the horses in the long term.
Fitzpatrick talked last week about the animal abuse and neglect that has given rise to organizations like the Minnesota Hooved Animal Rescue Foundation in the first place.
But then starting sometime in 2007, the number of horses that needed humane care spiked and has continued at a high rate, Fitzpatrick said.
An increased number of people are leaving their homes because of foreclosure and others are no longer able to afford the feed and upkeep, she said.
Sometimes, it may be a case of a divorce, that leads to the problem of a neglected horse, Fitzpatrick said. The person who knew how to care for the horses properly, leaves, and the person left behind doesn’t know what to do, she explained.
If anyone is interested in learning about the foundation, they can just Google in Minnesota Hooved Animal Rescue Foundation on the Internet and find contact and other information.
Dedicated
Fitzpatrick
Fitzpatrick explained that the foundation has existed as a non-profit for 15 years. She lives at the foundation’s facility, which is made purposely difficult to find unless a person has the contact. The idea is to keep out people who may have been convicted in an animal humane case and are trying to cause problems or forcibly take back an animal.
The main facility nurses hooved animals back to better health. But since there is limited space, the foundation seeks people to provide foster care. If someone has a shelter with a minimum of three sides and can meet the requirements of providing the needs including food and water, they are needed, Fitzpatrick said.
Fitzpatrick also has volunteers and seeks more who help with the foundation’s work.
A tour of the
facility
Fitzpatrick provided a tour of the facility the morning of Dec. 24 that gave a glimpse into the variety of situations leading to the rescue of a hooved animal.
Fitzpatrick shifts hooved animals who are outside in corrals during the day to inside quarters during the night. Generally, the hooved animals who stay inside during the day, take the night shift outside.
Fitzpatrick first introduced an eight-month-old Arabian filly named Bonfire. Bonfire was born at the facility after her mother, pregnant with Bonfire, was brought there on a law enforcement warrant. Sometime after Bonfire was born, the mare kicked Bonfire, fracturing one of Bonfire’s elbows. It cost about $3,500 to repair the elbow, Fitzpatrick said.
The elbow repair looked like a scene from the Last Supper, with all the veterinarians working as a team with a big blanket over the horse, Fitzpatrick remembers. There was only Bonfire’s tail sticking out from under the cover to reveal they were working on a horse, she said.
The strange thing is that after the mare was put in a foster shelter, she disappeared, Fitzpatrick said, theorizing that the ex-owner might have stolen her. The ex-owner is facing felony charges of cruelty to animals, said Fitzpatrick.
Sometimes a person who has a hooved animal will notify the foundation that they can no longer afford to care for their animal. Such was the case with a mule named Nix, who resides at the facility.
Fitzpatrick said she prefers situations where people call for help, over situations where people don’t, and just let the animals suffer.
Nix once had a nasty cut on the back of a hoof and the woman who owned him could no longer afford the veterinary bills to care for him, Fitzpatrick explained.
In another stall at the facility was Tandy’s Ruckus, an appaloosa-thoroughbred cross who had broken a leg while racing at Canterbury Downs at Shakopee.
Fitzpatrick next introduced a colt named Finnegan and a mule named Mulligan who arrived out of humane cases in Pine County.
A horse named Coe, nearby, was from a separate humane case in Pine County. Next, was a mare named Luna, a Mille Lacs County case and two donkeys, Cora and Bubbalou, from another Mille Lacs humane case. Two other donkeys — Thelma and Callie — also came from the same case.
Some longtime residents of the facility are a big brown and white cow named Clover and a sheep with curled horns named Svend.
Svend once had an abscess in a lung.
Fitzpatrick pointed to three horses who had come from humane cases in Todd, Pine and Sherburne Counties.
Not far away was a mare named Good Golly Miss Molly, who had taken championships in country English pleasure and competitive trail contests. The horse was rescued in Chisago County, found standing next to a horse that had died because of inhumane treatment.
Another horse at the facility, Inquitoes, came from Argentina and broke a leg while racing.
Under a heat lamp in one barn were a few fowl including three chickens and one pea fowl. Some older pea fowl were in another stall, while two fantail pigeons sat nearby.
Fitzpatrick likened the squawking of one pea fowl to an oboe with a bad reed.
The sound of a truck could be heard at that point in the tour and a man named Dave showed up with sacks of horse feed he was donating from the Hennepin Co-op feed store in Dayton.
Fitzpatrick said she is very grateful for donations like that.
Dealing with the stress
Fitzpatrick confided that dealing with cases of inhumane treatment to animals is stressful.
But two things keep her committed to animal rescue, she said.
One, she said, is taking the offenders to court.
But not all cases of animal neglect end up there, she said. She explained that sometimes the reason for the neglect is a lack of education.
The foundation offers to educate people on the proper care of hooved animals. If a situation of neglect is found, the owners are first given a chance to give the proper care, Fitzpatrick said. But if that doesn’t get results, then action is taken, she said.
Fitzpatrick had a trailer ambulance custom made for rescuing hooved animals. It is extra wide and tall and is rubber lined. She describes it as a “giant, rolling barn.”
Fitzpatrick’s credentials are humane agent, as well as an investigator who works with law enforcement and an expert witness for animal humane cases.
Bringing people to justice in animal cruelty or inhumane-treatment cases is one way to relieve some of the stress of seeing animals suffering or dead, she said.
The other thing that keeps her going, she said, is the foundation’s volunteers.
Veterinarians in the Princeton-Zimmerman area have been very helpful, she added.
Making headway
“I think we’re making a difference,” she said of the foundation’s work. “We’ve been around long enough. If we weren’t [making a difference] we wouldn’t continue to find new people to adopt [hooved animals]. And people are educating themselves [on proper care].”
Having shelter to deal with winter cold is an issue in the north country, while shade is a requirement in places that are hot, she noted.
“People are beginning to realize why we need a Humane Society...and investigators,” Fitzpatrick added.
“Naturally no one wants to see an animal starve to death.” But a major problem in the past, she explained, has been people not knowing who to call about situations of animal cruelty, neglect or inability to provide proper care, she explained.
Now with access via the Internet and the word getting out about foundations like this one, they do make more calls, she said.
A volunteer speaks
Deb Farm, one of the foundation’s volunteers, says that this time of year is even more critical for horses lacking care or shelter. “It’s winter and they eat more hay,” she said of the horses being cared for through foster care. Also, with the economy, people have fewer resources to help, she added.
Some offer their pasture but that is only good for the warm months, Farm noted.
Also needed are people with time and talent to help train the horses taken in, Farm noted. That can range from getting them to where they can be caught and led to being saddled.
Fitzpatrick and Farm also seek people who would donate time cleaning stalls, doing minor carpentry work or just giving the hooved animals attention.
“They get lonely just like any other pet,” Farm said.
Animal rescue also needs to be taught to the next generation, Farm said, noting that she is doing that with her two daughters, ages 9 and 14. One helped train a pony named Cosmo who had once been adopted, and then taken back because the person could no longer care for it.
“It’s a wonderful way to teach young kids how to do charitable work,” Farm added.
Farm and Fitzpatrick also noted that whenever the Minnesota Hooved Animal Foundation has run a garage sale to raise funds, it donates the unsold items to other charities.
“Animals are at our mercy,” Farm said. “They are dependent on who owns them, and that determines what life will be like for them.”
Editor’s note: To contact the Minnesota Hooved Animal Rescue Foundation, call 1-763-856-3119.
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