Neglected Mother Horse & Daughter Need Your Help

Caring for horses is costly and sometimes people just get overwhelmed…

Strawberry and her filly, Shortcake, were brought to our Dedham barn late last month to start a new life and receive proper care after being rescued from an owner in Southeastern MA who was just too overwhelmed to care for them properly.

We are asking for your help to raise the $3,650 to pay for Strawberry’s surgery and the two horses’ care. Please donate today. We need your financial support to continue caring for these horses.

The Story of Strawberry & Shortcake

Last month, the League received a call from an Animal Control Officer in Southeastern, MA about an injured mare and her two-year-old baby horse (known as a filly) that were being kept on a small tenant farm. The severely neglected mare, now lovingly named Strawberry, had overgrown hooves and had stepped on a nail that caused her left leg to become infected and swollen. The two-year-old filly, Shortcake, had never been weaned or trained to interact with humans and as a result, she is so attached to her mare that she still suckles on her.

The League immediately investigated the farm after receiving the call. The farm had extremely muddy paddocks and it lacked  any shelter for the horses, forcing them to be exposed to the elements and to stand in manure-soaked mud.Additionally, they were only receiving moldy bread and poor-quality hay to eat. Lieutenant Alan Borgal, Director of the League’s Center for Animal Protection, observed that, “the mare was in extreme pain and both horses had difficulty even getting to their water trough because of the mud.”

The owner could not afford veterinary care for the horses and had no safe place that he could keep them, so he voluntarily surrendered the horses to the League.  We knew we had to act fast to get the horses out of the farm so that Strawberry could receive the medical attention she so desperately needed.

The clock was ticking for Strawberry, so we immediately sent her to get surgery for her leg. The surgery went smoothly, but the road to recovery for both horses will be long. While under our care, she receives daily medical attention, including hoof soaking, bandage re-wrapping,  and daily hand walks while she is on stall rest.  In conjunction with this, she is on daily antibiotics and pain medications. Shortcake is so attached to her mom that while Strawberry was recovering from her surgery we had to bring in a babysitter horse from MSPCA Methuen to keep Shortcake company. Shortcake is already learning to be independent from her babysitter horse and with training and socialization should grow into a fine mare.

The owner of the farm and the owner of the horses were both issued “Notices of Violations” for their neglect of the horses and the owner of the farm is already making improvements to the farm.

Special thank you to Equine Veterinarian Dr. Pantano, the Myhre Equine Clinic and the MSPCA for their assistance.

Please help by making a gift today! Your support makes it possible for us to rescue and care for Strawberry and Shortcake and animals like them.  Thank you.