Horses in Need of Legal Protection
Along Highway 101 by Buellton, Left in the Sun, Rain, and Mud, All Year Long
How could anyone be so cruel? Thousands of people drive by on the 101 freeway by Buellton and see hundreds of horses trapped in a small corral with no shade from the blazing summer sun with temperatures reaching 100 degrees. They’re there in the winter when we get rain and going below freezing. Clearly the owners could afford to install a canopy where the horses have a choice of getting shade and shelter, which in the desert is a matter of life or death. There is a nice stable that they do not utilize for these innocent, sweet horses left out in a corral 24/7 all year long.
This year the horses had to endure an atmospheric river with winds that spook them. They were forced to stand in a mud pond that is bad for their hooves and then had no choice but to lay down in it while freezing cold. To make matters worse, the hay troughs are uncovered and the hay is soaking wet, so they are starving as well. This is illegal!
I was told by a horse rescue that it is illegal to keep horses penned up without shelter. When I called and reported this to Animal Control October 2022, I was told that the officer that went to the ranch said, the claim was unfounded. When I asked Animal Control why and under what circumstances they drew that conclusion, the supervisor never returned my call.
The University of California, Davis Veterinary School of Medicine published a Minimum Standard of Care in 2019 that interpreted that there should be a structure to protect horses from prolonged exposure to high temperatures, regardless of age. They did not define what prolonged exposure was.
Legal Requirement
Horses must be provided with “necessary shelter or protection … from the weather.” CA Penal Code Section 597(b)
After several more calls to Animal Control and climbing up the ladder, I was finally informed of the flimsy laws that only pertain to pets not horses considered livestock.
No horse should have to endure this type of cruelty no matter how the horse is utilized!
Wild mustangs generate body heat when they run, and they can find trees for shelter when they need it. Horses have been an integral part of society for centuries and deserve at least the “minimal standard of care” in all the laws related to animals at the state level.
For instance, Health and Safety Code Section 25988, which is only related to horses for hire:
(g) When not being ridden, a saddled equine shall have available adequate shelter from the elements and have loosened saddle straps and girths
Penal Code Section 597:
(b) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (a) or (c), every person who … fails to provide the animal with proper food, drink, or shelter or protection from the weather … is, for each offense, guilty of a crime punishable pursuant to subdivision (d).
Sadly, because horses are a commodity the current law permits keeping horses for profit penned up in horrible conditions where they are suffering.
I am reaching out to the legal community that specializes in animal rights for assistance revising current laws that can protect all horses from cruelty to animals.
We need laws that can hold the heartless people that only care to profit at the expense of horses accountable.
