Jackson County is charging the taxpayers $22,000 a month to care for 68 horses they seized from Turn 3 Ranch in Grass Lake in March. Most were healthy at the time of seizure, according to the prosecution's expert witness testimony.
After reports of horses that Jackson County Animal Control ran through a livestock auction last month that were skinny, parasite infested and lacking basic hoof care, I went to the auction this weekend myself ... and found the reports to be true. While this batch of horses seemed to be fed adequately, their hooves were very overgrown and they had the tell-tale signs of intestinal worms. (These are easily managed with a $3 tube of deworming paste.)
Where is the money going that Jackson County demands for the "care" of these horses, that they are now selling for as little as $100 a head to any buyer with cash? Just read the Jackson Citizen Patriot ... they're replacing their condemned, filthy and disease-ridden Animal Shelter. On the very backs of horses unjustly taken from their rightful owners, who have yet to go to court on the charges made against them (3 of their 69 horses in poor condition) and without due process. No warnings were issued. No attempt was made to investigate the reason for these three horses to be so thin... instead JCAC rolled in and took over the farm, animals, vehicles, personal property, whatever they could get their hands on. They found a horse-ignorant judge, who believes among other ridiculous notions that you must not care about your animals if you buy used tack.
Visit the forums at GLHorseTruth.com yourselves. Every animal owner should be angry. Innocent until proven guilty is not the modus operandi for Jackson County. People who have dared to speak out have been harrassed, surprise inspections have been done on their farms and records. Letters to Jackson County officials have been answered with threats. And the nation is watching the outcome of this case.
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