A while back authorities seized 17 malnourished and neglected horses from the Black River Stable in Cherry Plain, Rensselaer County, in Albany, NY. Although the horses were in terrible condition, they were still in service for the owners to make money on their trail-riding business.

The Animal Control officers had been to this farm multiple times in the previous year trying to get Thelma and Mary Wadsworth (the owners) to care properly for these animals. The horses were standing in an open pasture with no grass left, no hay or grain. They had no shelter and only a filthy tub that collected water, which was all they had to drink.

Finally, they couldn't tolerate it any more. After trying to get them to cooperate the Animal Control Officers went to court and were granted a warrant for seizure. They spent the day calling all local shelters and begging them to take horses if they could. Pets Alive was able to take two, Baxter and Carrie.

Baxter and Carrie were brought to Pets Alive filled with worms. Their bellies were swollen and their ribs were protruding. They were too emaciated to even stand. Carrie's milk had dried up well before her baby Baxter should have stopped nursing, so he was stunted in his development and malnourished. Baxter's fur was coming out in patches and his skin was showing through. And since they had been forced to live in a filthy environment where they stood knee high in feces, one side of his small body was covered in it. What’s even scarier is that Carrie and Baxter were actually better off than some of the other horses.

At Pets Alive they were cared for, and fed properly, with the staff going out five times a day to feed them. Immediately, Kerry, Matt and all the workers at Pets Alive began caring for the sick pair. Special hay and grain were bought for them. The vet came out to give them shots, vaccinations and de-worming. Carrie's teeth were cleaned and her hooves trimmed and both she and Baxter enjoyed baths for the first time. Within three days Baxter went from dragging his head in the dirt to looking around and walking over to be pet and scratched. Mommy and baby were doing wonderfully.

Then, the most shocking and disturbing thing happened. Friday the case went to court and unbelievably the judges (who it should be noted, although well meaning, are not really judges or even lawyers for that matter, but rather elected officials who do whatever the prosecutors tell them to do) has awarded this woman her choice of six horses to take back.

She has chosen to take Baxter and Carrie back. Pets Alive offered her $2000 (that they frankly can't afford), to buy them, and she countered with almost double the amount! Then, when they offered to pay the $4,000, she took the offer off of the table. WE HAVE SINCE OFFERED HER $10,OOO TO LEAVE THE HORSES WITH PETS ALIVE AND SHE HAS TURNED US DOWN REPEATEDLY. Brad Shear, Mohawk & Hudson River Humane Society’s Executive Director, says that he can only suppose that she won’t accept the money because of hurt feelings over this situation and bad things written about her on the Internet.

We can’t imagine what kind of human being would sit by while this happened to another living creature because of a bruised ego and we cannot allow for these horses to be returned to her. We are doing everything we can to ensure the safety of these beautiful creatures, but we need your help.

This kind of abuse must be made known and must be stopped. We must fight to put an end to “judges” who view animals merely as merchandise and property to make a living from, no matter what their treatment. These precious animals cannot speak for themselves and they need our help

Please do what you can to help us in this fight. Carrie and Baxter are now so happy and healthy, looking forward to the possibility of good homes rather than going back to the hellish nightmare that they came from with an inhumane proprietor that would not feel an ounce of remorse from starving her animals to death.

If you are as outraged as we are, please let your voices be heard by:

Writing to: www.blackriverstable.com
Contacting: Judge Rechen of Berlin Town Court

You can also contact Brad Shear, Mohawk & Hudson River Humane Society, Executive Director, 518-434-8128 x203, to find out what, if anything you can do to help.
Thanks for listening,
Marisol Thomas, Founder, President, SIDEWALK ANGELS FOUNDATION
Board member, PETS ALIVE
Rob Thomas, Vice President, SIDEWALK ANGELS FOUNDATION

I'm so glad to see all the postings on Blackriver's website in response to this issue. Now I hope the judge is getting this much feedback because that is where these horses have the best chance of being saved. Anyone who can treat their horses like this, I doubt will have a change of heart and do what is best for the animals. I hope...but I doubt it. I think our best bet is with the judge. So everyone PLEASE reach out to the court as well. Thank you Sidewalk Angels for keeping the pressure on and giving these horses a chance!!!!!

Reading stuff like this always makes me feel sick to the stomach Mari. I don’t know how the judge could have decided to let the Black River Stable have ANY horses back, let alone Carrie and Baxter. I have written a letter to the judge; however I am unsure of the best address to send it to. I checked out the contact information you put on here, however I’m wondering: where is the best possible place to send it? I did a bit more research and, besides the town clerks address, the only other thing I could come up with was traffic court LOL. If you can, would you be able to provide the best address to send a letter or email to? Thanks in advance for your time Mari. I know you must be devastated by this decision. I still cannot believe that this has been allowed to happen. I guess terrible situations like this occur to teach us to fight for what we believe in. It is our opportunity to stand up and help those who have no voice. I do know Mari that something good will come from all of this.

(((Mari)))

Hi,
Thank you Marisol and Rob for being so wonderful. Thank you for being the voice for these poor horses.
I emailed Black River Stable and I will be contacting Judge Rechen. There is now way we can let this happen. How sad it is that there are still people that don't see what animals bring into our lives. They count on us to help them and we have to. I will do what ever I can to help.

Thank you so much for what you are doing and I wish you and your family a very Happy Holiday Season!

Ugh!!! That really *^&%# me off! As someone who LOVES horses (and all other animals) and has wanted one since I was 4 years old but could never afford one, or have room for one... makes me want to scream! It's hard to believe that someone could do something like this. I bet they wanted Carrie and Baxter back just because of Pets Alive making this known. Bruised ego, you bet. That's insane that anyone could be this cruel. Especially to someone or something that can't fight back on their own. It is so hard to believe that they took back their counter-offer and then STILL turned down the other offer. Gee... maybe a jail sentence would be better for these people.

If we don't stand up for the animals, who will?

It's an ugly situation, and I will say a prayer that it ends well for Carrie and Baxter. But it is fantastic to see so many caring people expressing their disgust at the condition of these animals. If this horrible situation really upsets you, I encourage you to also consider writing your congressman/state representative about passing legislation related to the slaughter of horses, which is a brutal and cruel fate for so many of America's horses not commonly known. So many wonderful people are fighting to get horse slaughter, and the transportation of horses for slaughter both in the U.S. and to Canada and Mexico, outlawed at a federal level. This legislation will also protect our wild horses from meeting this same brutal fate because of overpopulation. For more information, please visit the Humane Society website at http://www.hsus.org/legislation_laws/citizen_lobbyist_c...horse_slaughter.html. If that link doesn't work, you can go to www.hsus.org and look under "campaigns and programs".

God Bless all.

Hello,
I am new to this forum and was very moved by Marisol's posts about Baxter and Carrie. I have since sent an email to Black River Stable. I am hoping for the best regarding these beautiful horses and this unfortunate situation.