We call him Pops in honor of "Pop's Bill", a school project by 4 inspirational young women advocating for cruelty to horses to be a felony. Visit our VIDEO page to watch their incredible 5 minute video. We provided many of the photos from years of rescue work. WARNING: have tissues handy.
"Pops" is here with us at Crane Mountain Valley Horse
Rescue, Inc. He is Belgian draft horse who was starved to about 60% of his body weight and shot at close range with a high powered rifle.
Pops was found May 21 with an untreated gunshot wound to
the withers, and suffering from severe neglect. The police and local
animal cruelty investigators contacted us for assistance.
Pops
has the biggest heart, strongest will and is so, unbelievably brave. This is an open animal cruelty
investigation.
Below is the text
version of the segment that appeared on YNN News out of Albany on May
24.
Here is the web address to see the video featured as a Top Story on
May 24.
Or, type ynn.com and search on Crane Mountain Valley Horse Rescue. You may also see a video from 2003 in the YNN archives, when we first opened our doors.
We are currently accepting donations for Pops' recovery. Checks may be made payable to Crane Mountain Valley Horse Rescue and mailed to 7556 NYS Route 9N, Westport, NY 12993.
Entrance wound from gunshot
Pops scored a 2 on the Henneke Scale
Note head size to body size
TICONDEROGA,
N.Y. -- "If it were a little bit lower, maybe an inch to
two inches lower, he would have died, certainly," said Nancy Van Wie,
co-founder of the Crane Mountain Valley Horse Rescue in Westport.
It's
almost impossible to believe, but shockingly true. A defenseless horse
shot at close range, with what police believe to be a high powered rifle
and he manages to survive.
"The horse was very
lucky,"
Ticonderoga Police Sergeant Michael LaVallie said.
"You never
understand how people can do that to another living being," Van Wie
said. "It just doesn't make any sense to us."
Ticonderoga Police
first found the horse on Friday night, after being called to a
landowner's property where the animal had wandered off to.
In
addition to suffering from the gunshot wound, he was roughly 600 pounds
underweight, scoring devastatingly low on the Henneke Body Scoring
System, a scale used to measure the animal's nourishment.
"A one
being a horse that is basically, walking bones dead. A nine would be a
very healthy horse," LaVallie said. "This is a two."
"I'm pretty
convinced by his condition he wasn't getting any grain," Van Wie said.
"Maybe grass."
Police then arrested
the owner, Bruce Crammond, 62,
of Ticonderoga, and charged him with neglecting to provide the animal
food and water, a Class A misdemeanor. Crammond, who owns roughly 50
other horses, was released but has not been charged with shooting the
horse.
"Nobody is every
ruled out as a suspect," Lavallie said.
"But we're not leaning toward him at this point."
After a vet's
evaluation, the horse, now known as Pops, was brought to the Crane
Mountain Valley Horse Rescue, where he faces a long road ahead.
"We
have rehabilitated a lot of horses and not any in this dire condition,
with that kind of wound," said Van Wie, who added surgery for the animal
could cost thousands of dollars.
On Tuesday, a vet
will take X-rays to
determine if any bone or bullet fragments are trapped in the wound,
which would require surgery to remove. Doctors say Pops' long term
prognosis won't be known until then.
Meanwhile, police
are asking
for help to find whoever did this to him.
Update - May 26
After a bath
Day 5 - Pops has already gained about 20 pounds. On Tuesday, May 25, he had a full veterinary workup, including x-rays of his spine and withers to check for bone or bullet fragments. Miraculously, the bullet went straight through one vertebrae, without fracturing, splintering or cracking it, and it missed the spinal cord. That means surgery is not required at this time. That's very good news given his already compromised condition. It's hard enough for a healthy horse to recover from something like this.
Wound care requires flushing the holes in his back (bullet entrance and exit) twice daily with a sterile solution with betadine and peroxide, then washing the wound area and washing the puss off of Pops. The wounds drain constantly. Antiseptic is then applied to the wound, along with creams and sprays to prevent maggots. We also rigged a fly net to cover the wounds without blocking the drainage (see photos).
When Pops first
arrived, we had to flush maggots out of the wound and administer intramuscular antibiotics to clear up the
infection because it had gone untreated for so long. The smell was awful. Quite frankly,
it's a miracle he survived. He's now on oral antibiotics. Last, but not least for wound care, Furazone is applied under the wounds all the way to his belly to prevent irritation from the draining puss.
The vet also drew blood for a full workup and Coggins test, gave him a 4-way (Eastern, Western, Tetanus, Rhino) to get him started on his vaccinations. Additional
vaccinations will be done at a later date. We didn't want to inundate
him with everything all at once. His teeth, which were in horrible condition, were floated (filed). Pops has been dewormed, ticks were removed from his neck, and the burs removed from his mane, tail and fetlocks. And, he had his first bath. He LOVED it!
More updates to come.....
Rigged fly net to cover the wounds
Update - June 19
1 month into his recovery - Pops' story made the news two more times: WCAX TV and WPTZ TV. In addition, 101.3 Saratoga County radio and WPTZ TV featured stories about the rescue. The TV stories are up on line at www.wcax.com and www.wptz.com. Once on their sites, search on Crane Mountain Valley Horse Rescue.
These photos are of Pops one month into his recovery. He's chunking up and looking good. The gunshot wounds are healing nicely and we have the infection under control so he is no longer draining constantly.
In one of the photos, you will see that Pops participated in his first education and outreach program. Westport School Kindergarten class held a character development program and their graduation ceremony at the farm. This is the 5th year in a row we've welcomed them to the farm. With Pops' help, the children learned about responsibility, respect, and kindness.
A not-for-profit organization for equine rescue and rehabilitation.
