News Stories

Rescued horses regain weight
Story Discussion By AnneMarie Knepper, Albany Democrat-Herald | Posted: Saturday, December 12, 2009 1:00 pm

Susan Kesti, left, of Lebanon leads Scarlett and Samantha Jager of Sweet Home holds Rhett. Both recently rescued
thoroughbreds are being kept at the Linn County Animal Rescue facility in Waterloo. The animals are now walking with
their heads up, a sign of improving health. The photos below show Scarlett, top, and Rhett as they looked at the time
they were seized a month ago. (David Patton/Democrat-Herald)

Linn County Animal Rescue
Linn County Animal Rescue works closely with law enforcement to provide services to abused, abandoned, neglected
and elderly horses.

The nonprofit organization rehabilitates horses for adoption and provides a place for older or non-adoptable horses to
“permanently retire.”

The rescue relies on sponsors, donations and volunteers to help the organization operate.

It receives no funding from the sheriff’s office.

Volunteers are always needed, said founder Cindy Kingsberry. The group could use both horse people and those more
inclined to fundraising. The rescue also needs horse blankets.

About 20 horses call the rescue home. It is seeking both foster and permanent homes for the horses.

For more information, call (541) 258-3422 or visit www.lcarhorse.com

The group provides services to horses only.

Putting on weight is actually the goal for horses Scarlett and Rhett, who, like so many of us, are spending this holiday
season eating up.

The two thoroughbreds were skin and bones just a month ago when the Linn County Sheriff’s Office investigated their
owners and determined they were malnourished.

The recently rescued horses are putting on weight thanks to the nonprofit Linn County Animal Rescue.

Scarlett had been wasting away at her then-owner’s Old Holley Road property in Sweet Home. Betty and David Keutzer
had been trying to get rid of her. When possible takers saw photos of the 30-something mare, they called the sheriff’s
office, saying the horse looked extremely underfed.

Sgt. James Welch of the LCSO said he visited the Keutzer property on Oct. 30, and asked them to have their vet come
out and evaluate the animal.

The veterinarian did the next day, and “in his professional opinion, the horse was emaciated due to lack of food,” Welch
said. The horse had no visible health condition that would have prevented it from eating or putting on weight, Welch
added.

The sergeant told the couple they could relinquish the horse or he would get a court order for an animal seizure. They
chose to relinquish it.

The Keutzers were charged with second-degree animal neglect. If convicted, they face a prohibition of five years on all
animal ownership, as well as a fine.

Welch said there were cats, dogs, birds and seven other horses on the property. The condition of those animals, “didn’t
rise to the level of criminal neglect,” he said.

“Out of my three years of evaluating 1,000 horses, this is one of the worst horses I have ever seen alive,” he said of
Scarlett.

A scale of 1 to 9 is used to evaluate horses, with 1 being starving and 9 being obese, Welch said. “I’d put this horse at a
point-5,” he said.

Rhett’s case was not quite as severe.

Passersby had noticed the 19-year-old gelding, whose name at that time was Norton, looking gaunt in a field near the
32600 block of Hayden Road in Lebanon.

Welch said the owner, Michelle Trask, was “reluctant to fully cooperate” and a search warrant was sought, granted and
served on the property Nov. 6.

He said the property had been reported previously for animal neglect, “but never this bad.”

According to Welch, Trask said her boyfriend was in jail and she was “too weak” to care for the horse. She then went on
to blame the sheriff’s office for the situation, since it had a hand in putting the man in jail.

A vet was called and determined the horse was malnourished, and Trask relinquished it.

Welch rated Rhett’s condition a 1.5.

He said Trask had several other horses, goats, dogs and cats — none of concern on that day.

Trask also faces a charge of second-degree animal neglect.

“It’s early in the year,” Welch said. “This is the time of year most animals are strongest and biggest, going into winter.
There is really no excuse — it’s a medical condition or they are not being cared for properly.”

Posted in Local on Saturday, December 12, 2009 1:00 pm | Tags: Malnourished, Linn County Animal Rescue, Betty And
David Keutzer