Heart Wrenching Horse Rescue Will Restore Your Trust in Humanity

In the summer of 2022, Animal Control Officers with Yakima County were called out to a home near Zillah on a report of a very skinny horse.

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When they arrived, they found the horse with his ribs and hips showing.

The owner reported that he was having a difficult time financially to care for the horse. The Officers gave the man some tips on how to care for the underweight horse on his limited budget.

About a month later, the Officers followed up, and the horse, who they named, "Andre", hadn't improved. So, the animal control officers told the man to contact a vet for an evaluation.

According to the Yakima County Sheriff's Office Facebook post:

A couple of weeks later, our ACOs arrived to meet the vet for the horse evaluation. We found Andre had no access to water. Water was offered to Andre and he drank for several minutes. The vet found that, although Andre was extremely underweight, there was nothing medically found to prevent him from becoming healthy with proper, adequate nutrition. The owner had continued to feed poor-quality hay and we learned he wasn’t feeding Andre daily. It was clear the owner wasn’t able to properly care for Andre. We suggested he surrender Andre to a person who can properly take care of him. The owner was warned that his treatment of Andre was bordering on animal abuse, neglect, and cruelty.

Following several visits, Andre was taken into custody for needed care.

Andre is now spending time in foster care receiving proper care and nutrition to restore him to proper weight and health. The Yakima County Sheriff's Office will continue to provide updates on Andre's recovery.