Brown Co. Humane Society nurse two horses back to health

GEORGETOWN, Ohio - It was a startling 911 call that led the Brown County Humane Society to two dehydrated and malnourished horses at a Hamersville home.

“When I first saw the horses, I was shocked,” said Lisa Gray from the Brown County Humane Society. “I’ve never seen a horse that thin before and that malnourished. The bones were poking through their skin. I was worried about them.

The Vice President of the Humane Society, Leslie Zureick, said the owner of the horses didn’t want to comment about the situation. She said the owner had previously rescued the horses, but never owned them before and therefore, didn’t know how to take care of them.

“They were in a dirt pit with a board fence around them and they had tore through the fence with their teeth,” said Gray. “There was also a muddy pit for their water.”

However, criminal charges will not be filed against the horses previous owner.

Currently, The Brown County Humane Society are busy nursing the two horses, Chance and Dipsey Dee, back to health.

Dipsey Dee was the worse out of the two. She’s a Tennessee Walker with arthritis in her joints. It will take several months before she will be adoptable.

“Dipsey Dee has been starved all its life and it’s five years old now,” Gray said. “We had a vet come out and perform an assessment on her and this one would probably never be rideable but needs a good home.”

Chance is recovering very well, but the Arabian horse still has months before she recovers.

“They did not have quality water or quality hay. No pasture to live in,” Zureick said. "Their living environment was very sad and the water they were drinking was full of snails and dirt.”

The Brown County Humane Society continues to work tirelessly to take care of the horses but they could use any help they can get.

Zureick said it’s extremely expensive to take care of the horses, but they have to get them back to normal so they can find the horses a home. They will work with the Southern Ohio Horses Network to screen potential adopters.

In the meantime, they are accepting any type of donations. To learn how you can help please call the Brown County Humane Society at (973)378-2210 or go to their website .