Vicki Osborne handles one of the neglected horses in Conquest.
The description nearly stretched beyond belief. The Animal Control Officer told me the horses were discovered standing in manure piled up to their bellies. Some could move only a foot or two front and back in a trench that had forged in the hardening feces that had layered over many months. Diane Mathews is a strong woman who lives in the country and has dealt with animal abuse and neglect for years. She thought she had seen it all until she was called to the rural property on Egypt Road in Conquest.
She responded to a call for help from the Finger Lakes SPCA and the New York State Police. They thought there were two horses, instead they discovered ten. It was immediately apparent one had to be put down. She couldn't walk. She was terribly ill. The first pictures from the case of neglect showed curling hooves and unkempt manes.
Upon closer inspection tonight our reporter discovered that manure is still caked on the bellies of some of the horses the day after the rescue. The story has shocked virtually everyone who has read or heard about the damage done to these animals. Some good people are now stepping up to put the horses back on better footing. The rescuers at Cracker Box Palace in Alton, Vicki Osborne in Conquest and Diane and Dave Mathews have each taken a couple or three horses with hope of rehabilitating them.
We will look into this further tomorrow trying to get a more complete story of what is going on on Egypt Road. That will give everyone another day to let yet another discovery of animal abuse or neglect settle.
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