In the first weeks of 2010, two horses appeared at Arcad Stables in Fairfax. They were abandoned and in rough shape, said Rebecca
Marble, co-owner of the stable.
“They were emaciated,” Marble said. One of the horses soon died, and the other is now cared for by a woman who rehabilitates horses, Marble said.
Marble says she suspects the recession got to whoever owned the horses. They couldn’t afford to take care of them any more, so they dropped them off at the stable, she theorized. Her property is set back from the road, so it’s easy to drop off a horse unnoticed, she said. And horses naturally run to other horses.
Nobody has a clue who left the horses, but whoever did so should have inquired about adoption, said Marble. “The last thing you should do is set your horse free,” Marble said. “There is always someone who will take it.”
The abandoned horses in Fairfax reflect trends that humane societies in Chittenden and Franklin counties are seeing. Neither organization has firm statistics on how many animals are given up for financial reasons, but evidence exists that the recession continues to take a toll.
“We have heard more from folks who say the reason for relinquishing their animals is economic reasons,” said BJ Rogers, the executive director of the Humane Society of Chittenden County.
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