Starving horses find a new home

By Karen Middleton
karen@athensnews-courier.com

Tue, May 13 2008

— Four horses found malnourished in a barren Limestone County pasture have a new home, according to Sheriff Mike Blakely.
“I must have had 50 e-mails from folks about those horses,” Blakely said Wednesday.
The Sheriff’s Department was called Nov. 26 to Old Elkmont Road by neighbors who said they feared for the horses and saw that one horse was down.
Authorities charged Jeffery Kirby, 40, of 19048 Heron Drive, Athens, with cruelty to animals.
Blakely said many of those who contacted him offered assistance or feed for the horses, but the majority of them wanted to know why Kirby was allowed to keep the horses.
However, Blakely said local resident Gene McCubbins offered to take the horses in and Kirby agreed.
“They are being well-fed and well cared for,” said the sheriff.
A spokeswoman in the office of local veterinarian Dr. Jack Goodman, who had treated the horses at the scene, said all four horses survived and the colt that was down that day has been named “Miracle” because it is apparently recovering.
The sheriff said his office is “inundated” with reports of starving horses. He said legislation passed by Congress in recent years outlawing the sale of horses to dog food factories exacerbates the situation.
“People get tired of their horses and rather than sell them they just let them starve,” he said.

– Karen Middleton