Hey everybody, I know it has been awhile but I thought I would give you an update on a story I told you about a few years ago. Anybody remember the crooked legged colt and the broken leged mare story? Well, here is the follow up to it.

More horses rescued
By KATE BRASER
Courier & Press staff writer 464-7622 or braserk@courierpress.com
Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Efforts continue to rescue more than 100 horses found severely malnourished and dehydrated on a Gibson County, Ind., farm over the holiday weekend.

Richard M. Stallings, 66, of Owensville, was arrested Saturday and charged with animal cruelty
According to investigators, Stallings has 32 charges pending against him in the case, seven of which are felonies. He is free on bond, but investigators anticipate more charges could be filed as a result of Saturday's search of his property.

According to a news release from the Gibson County Sheriff's Department, an investigation began in January 2006. Since then, three search warrants have been served on Stallings' farm, first for improper burial of horses, then two more for animal cruelty and neglect.

Anthony Caldwell, director of Indiana Horse Rescue, said his agency responded to the case Saturday. He said 53 horses were in need of immediate veterinary care because of dehydration, starvation and other medical conditions.

Speaking Monday from his office in Frankfort, Ind., Caldwell said his agency took 15 of the horses.

"When we were at the property, we tagged 53 horses that were in a state of physical distress," Caldwell said. "But we only had the means to impound 15 live horses, so there are still more than 100 horses at the property."

Caldwell said hours after the horses were rescued, one gave birth. The mother and baby are now being cared for at a facility in Palmyra, Ind., near Louisville, Ky.

"The baby is not doing well at all," Caldwell said.

"And they are trying to decide right now whether to euthanize the mother, because she is in such bad shape. She is probably not going to make it."

Caldwell said the baby is getting injections of plasma.

"But if that is not successful, the baby won't make it, either," he said.

Indiana Horse Rescue workers took 36 horses from Stallings' farm last August, Caldwell said.

13 euthanized

Of those horses rescued in the August raid, Caldwell said, 13 had to be euthanized or died on their own. Two are scheduled for surgery this week.

"We probably have 10 from that group that have not been adopted yet, due to extensive medical care that was required," he said.

Caldwell said after the August raid of the property, Stallings was supposed to clean up the horse stalls and build a better shelter for winter, but those objectives allegedly were not met.

"We would have expected any reasonable person that lost 36 horses to police to have made a diligent effort to improve conditions," Caldwell said.

"But when we were there before, the stalls in the barn were three feet thick with dung and urine, and this time 25 percent were still three feet thick."

Caldwell said Stallings had also failed to build a suitable shelter to house the horses in winter.

"What he put up was wholly inappropriate," he said.

The latest batch of horses requiring extensive care has spread Caldwell's agency thin.

"It is causing us distress in the way of resources and space," he said.

Caldwell plans to meet with the prosecutors and a judge Wednesday to determine what to do with the remaining horses.