Two emaciated horses rescued

Kim Mosiman, executive director of Sound Equine Options of Troutdale, said the horses were both older horses, but both were easily gaining weight at their foster homes, “so it seems lack of food was definitely the issue.”

Horse weight is measured on a scale of one to nine, with five being ideal, nine being “obese” one being essentially a skeleton, Mosiman said.

A gelding was the worst off and was at a one, while the mare was about a two or two and a half, Mosiman said.

“When an animal is this thin, they’re hurting,” Mosiman said. “They don’t have enough muscle mass, they are using more calories than they’re getting every day so they’re using up any of their fat and muscle tissue as fuel to stay alive. When they get that thin it is definitely a medical issue at that point.”

The property where they were taken from is in the 6200 block of Highway 30.

The Wasco County Sheriff’s Office submitted a report on the matter to the district attorney’s office Nov. 16, District Attorney Eric Nisley said. He said the office would likely make a decision on whether to file charges by the middle of this week.

The sheriff’s office said in a press release that the two owners of the animals were cooperating with the investigation.

Two other horses on the property were at a healthier weight, but Mosiman said that if horses aren’t fed separately, “the herd ranking determines a lot of that, especially if they’re not getting that much food. The more dominant horse is going to be more protective and will push the other horses off.”

Wasco County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jeff Hall saw pictures of the other livestock taken off the property, and said they were much better off. Of the five cattle, he said two were cows, two were calves and one was a heifer. The cows were pretty thin, the calves appeared to be very healthy, and the heifer was somewhere in between, he said.

He said all the animals were in the same pasture.

He said there was also a concern about chickens, rabbits and cats on the property. There were about 50 chickens, who appeared healthy, with access to a coop, food and water, and the six rabbits looked healthy, and were in raised pens.

The owners said they had only 25 cats, but deputies felt there were more, he said. He said there were some cats they felt were unhealthy, but they were not removed.

He said the owners had a couple of dogs and there was a dog run where they were healthy and sheltered. “I think they’re animal lovers, that’s my own perception, and I think they just got behind.”

A call was placed to a phone number that correlated with the name and address of the property involved, but the call would not go through.

Mosiman said a horse taken from a property in Wasco County earlier this year, and named Miles, is now healthy. A video was created by Sound Equine Options detailing his recovery, and can be found on SEO’s Facebook page.