We sent out a press release to all of the local major media and News10 was the first to come out to do a story.
The babies were more concerned about eating than what the guy with the big camera was doing.
Tawnee was interviewed about the situation and explained how all the babies were rescued.
The news guy was interviewed and Jason became the camera man.
Today was going to be a very busy day. All of the babies had to have their ID tags put on, wormed, and given medication as some of them have a runny nose, and we want to take all measures possible to keep them healthy. They also had their weight and height taken as well. Since the babies are not used to being handled and none of them are halter trained, a chute was made with a squeeze so they could be treated. It was so cute when they realized that scratching and rubbing felt good. Their little lips started twitching and you could see the delight in their eyes.
This is Hope, she is a very cute little filly who is the friendliest and most curious out of the whole group. She wants to makes friends with people. She has a hernia that needs to be fixed, we received some donations from Facebook fans for her surgery, but still need about $350 for her.
One by one the babies got their own special treatment.
Most of the babies were around 400 pounds, but the weight tape isn’t really accurate when a horse is emaciated.
This little baby has a huge scrape across her spine, which is protruding from her skinny body. No doubt she went under something that was too low.
The baby with the scrape on her back is named Savannah. She is so cute!
This is Forest, a colt.
While the babies were getting worked on one of the volunteers really fell in love with Dundee and placed him into adoption pending. We are so excited for him!
He will have such a wonderful home.
At the vet office the gelding operations were getting under way. When Apache was laid out to be gelded it was found that he was a true cryptorchid, and was unable to be gelded. The emotionally devastating decision was made to have him never wake up from his anaesthesia. We have done a cryptorchid surgery once, and it was extremely expensive and was quite the process for the pony to go through. We wish we could save everyone, but sometimes giving them love and kindness is the only thing we can do. No doubt this is why he was dumped into the slaughter pipeline at the livestock auction.
Tiz Again Roused was successfully gelded. This photo really shows how skinny he really is. Come to find out it was his birthday. He may not know it, but this may be his happiest birthday.
Some people thought that the bay stallion we rescued was not actually Tiz Again Roused. We have his papers and everything matches up. The rescued stallion is indeed Tis Again Roused. You can watch one of his races by clicking here.
Back at the shelter the babies were still being treated. This little guy was happy to get out of the chute. He has very nice movement, his name is Lucky.
Powder, the albino, is doing good. He was given medication to help with his eye, it was very goopy. He is completely blind in his left eye, partially blind in his right eye, and is completely deaf and does not respond to any noises.
He seems to be doing OK and fitting in with the herd. As long as the vet gives the clearance to be adopted he will be available for adoption.
This cute little filly is named Sunny.
The babies who hadn’t been treated yet watched on from their pen with wonder. You could tell that a lot of them were still exhausted from their journey. This girl laying down is named Daisy.
One by one they were all wormed. None of them liked the taste of the wormer and wondered why people were sticking yucky stuff in their mouth.
It was so rewarding seeing the babies relax and enjoy human contact. They have a lot to learn and we feel that it is a privilege to show them that not all humans are cruel.
This little guy’s name is Kodak and he is in adoption pending.
This little filly is named Blossom.
The next baby that was put in the chute literally thought she was dying. She started crying and sounded like a dying rabbit. She laid down in the chute as if giving up her fight for life.
Everyone stroked and rubbed her and soon she realized that they were not going to hurt her.
Her name is Tara.
This girls name is Bridget. She was given a “thumbs down” start to life (you can see it in the middle of the white star, the thumbs down is brown) but we are giving her the thumbs up treatment!
All of the babies are so cute.
This filly is named Ruby.
This is Cody the colt.
This is Pixie, she is one of the older ones in the group.
The sun was beginning to set and they were all thankful that the last baby was in the chute ready to be treated.
This is Peris, a filly. She is the skinniest baby in the group, you can feel every bone in her body under her heavy winter coat. As you can see in this photo she will try to eat dirt, no doubt she had to just to survive. It’s so sad seeing a baby do this.
What a joy it was to finally have all the babies back in their pen: id’ed, wormed, medicated and measured. All of the humans were exhausted.
Channel 10 and reporter George Warren did an amazing job on the baby rescue story. It’s really worth watching, click here.
A huge “thank you!” goes to all of you who helps financially and emotionally. This is such a huge responsibility, helping all these slaughter bound babies, but with your help, and people who are willing to open their hearts and homes to a baby, they will find their forever homes, hopefully very soon!