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FEATURED
STORY
MANITUKALA
(Guardian Angel)
Mike and I (Susan) have a business, Hauling for Hay, which is a local
horse transport service where we haul horses in order to try to earn
much needed money to help feed the rescues here currently
numbering over 85 including the sheep and goats, but not the dogs,
cats, and birds....
We hauled to Fallon Feedlot, a 14 hour trip to transport horses
"ransomed" out of the feedlot and into either rescues or adopters.
We do
this for minimal money, usually only making a couple
of hundred dollars for 4 or 5-day
trips - but we do it to save the
lives of these animals awaiting
transport to slaughter.
Wednesday night (07-01-09) we left Arizona at 10 p.m. and drove to
Fallon where we loaded three mares and their three month-old
foals. Yes, foals
are slaughtered, mares are slaughtered, pregnant
mares are slaughtered ---- and unsavory breeders actually breed so
they can SEND horses to slaughter for the almighty dollar.
We loaded the three mares and their
foals, one mare and foal per
compartment, on Thursday late afternoon, and began the return trip
Arizona. We ran into a vicious thunderstorm and had to pull off the
road during the early morning hours.
We continued on when we could
and arrived at Dreamchaser at about 3 in the afternoon on Friday.
It took an hour to get the wild black mare out of the trailer with
her baby, and we truly got a look at her condition in the daylight
hours. She was totally emaciated and obviously had pneumonia. Her
colt was coughing as well. She looked as though she wanted to lie
down and die right then, but three of us got her into a clean,
bedded down end stall in the upper barn.
Mike and I headed to deliver the other two mares and foals, an
additional 6 hour trip (one-way), but we were anxious to get them
off the trailer and at their new, safe, facility. We delivered them
at 10:30 Friday night (07-03-09).
Jamie, my daughter, noted that the black mare (who had no name), was
up and eating when she finished the final feeding at 10:30 p.m. By
7:00 the next morning, the mare was dead, and thus, the baby was an
orphan. The condition of this mare would have broken anyone's
heart. The fact that she was starved before going to the auction
and being 'bought' by the killers is a travesty. It is ALL a
travesty.
We are now pulling out all
the stops to try to save this foal's
life. We
have him on immune boosters and antibiotic shots for the
cold. We met Doctor Tryon at his church this morning so he could
put an IV catheter in the colt for hydration. We stood in the horse
trailer until the fluid was in him, and we will continue to hydrate
him. We
are trying to get him to eat mare and foal pellets and
alfalfa.
The vet bills for this little guy will be huge, as he also has a
hernia with a pretty big hole into his abdomen and will need surgery
and castration as soon as he is healthy enough.
We are hoping that spreading this story will bring in donations to
help save this foal. -Susan
"Manitukala"
and Jamie
UPDATE (As of 8/10/09)
The orphan's
name is Manitukala, meaning "guardian angel." He has had two
emergencies with abscesses, above and below his catheter. He has a
good sized hernia which will require surgery - we hope to be able to
do that surgery and a castration at one time, when he is stronger.
UPDATE (As of 11/20/09)
Manitukala
had his hernia and castration surgery, and made it through the
critical weeks just fine. He is getting taller and spending more
time with Dreamer and Sunday, and we are thrilled, of course. He is
almost 6 months old now, is frisky, happy and doing great!
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