Out of the frying pan...

In the past several days, there have been some HEATED discussions on the message boards that boil down to this: if the horses had been properly cared for in the first place, JCAC would not have stepped in, so I can't blame JCAC for their actions.

This analogy is similar to a young woman wearing a short skirt and getting raped, and the theory that she wouldn't have been raped if she hadn't been wearing the short skirt, so it must be her fault and you can't really blame the rapist, she was "asking for it."

I have shared what I believe to be true as well as what I've witnessed with my own eyes on this blog.

I have spoken to a couple of people who saw the horses shortly after seizure. I know that some of them looked very, very bad. I'm not trying to say that Matt and Jim were doing everything right and JCAC chose to pick on them.

Instead, I am looking at the actions of JCAC from the time they first entered the property and posted a notice for the owner/manager to contact them (3/14) and the time of the ex parte seizure (3/21) and the fact that they are supposed to give a warning and 30 days to fix things, and follow up. I think it was premature to seize the farm and that a "fix-it ticket" would have saved Jackson County taxpayers a lot of money. I believe it violates the Right To Farm Act. I believe that the farm was following GAAMP* for Equines. Although things may have not been handled the way other equine professionals would have handled them, I do not feel, based on the pre-trial testimony I have read, that they were torturing horses.
*GENERALLY ACCEPTED AGRICULTURAL AND MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

Since that time in March, a lot of things have happened that are very suspect. The forfeiture hearing, for one ... you can have your horses back, even though you are accused of torture, if you pay $134,000 in trumped-up fees? (Don't forget the donuts.) That sounds suspicious and highly unusual. The horses were kept on the very same farm that JCAC claimed was dangerous, unsuitable, and according to passersby the farm has not been "improved" much. Allegedly, young horses are being kept in small dirt paddocks, while over 80 acres of grass pasture could be utilized but is untouched.

The final straw that prompted my full scale involvement, was seeing these horses with my own eyes, six months after the seizure, looking the way they did at the auctions. There is no excuse, none at all, for the condition of those weanlings, and for them putting a mare and foal through the trauma of separation at an auction house ... just appalling. Many people have contacted me who would rather not be named, do not trust the defendants, yet are still upset with JCAC's actions.

And that is where my focus will remain ... on the fates of these horses, and the repercussions that should arise from this case. Imagine, for a moment, if you will, if the defendants are found not guilty on the charges. ALL of their horses are already GONE. It has been reported that a kill buyer was bidding at the first auction, the only one I missed. There can be no justice if property and/or livestock can be liquidated BEFORE a trial takes place!