Public outcry strong to Black Forest horse situation
Authorities have decided that the owners of a dozen horses found dead at a barn Friday in Black Forest can keep about eight remaining horses — which generated widespread public criticism Saturday.
In a release issued late Saturday, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, citing an awareness of the outcry, said that its Mounted Unit is in contact with the horse owner, who is cooperating and receptive to working on a plan of continuing care of the animals and improving their living conditions.
The Sheriff’s Office said the horses have been provided with fresh food and water — which they had all along — and the owner is making arrangements to further clean up the barn property.
The condition of the surviving horses appeared worse than it actually was, the Sheriff’s Office said, and none was in immediate danger or needed to be euthanized.
The Sheriff’s Office said it has no legal right to seize the horses but is investigating what happened to the dead horses, and would have removed the surviving horses if they had been in immediate danger, as has happened previously in other cases.
The owner has not commented on the situation, and on Saturday installed a locked gate and warning signs at the entrance to the road leading to the barn in the 5400 block of Burgess Road.
The decision to leave the remaining horses at the barn did not sit well with many people who made their opposition known to KRDO NewsChannel 13 through phone calls, emails and Facebook posts.
Although many people are concerned about the horses’ safety but declined to be interviewed, Susanna Prensner contacted KRDO NewsChannel 13 eager to express her opinion.
“The community needs to be somewhat updated on who’s going to care for them, because (the owners) obviously are not in a place to care for animals,” she said. “The horses are not meant to be locked in a barn. There’s four animals locked in a barn with dead animals around them. It’s beyond unacceptable.”
Prensner said the horses should be taken from the barn and cared for elsewhere until the investigation is finished.
“There are so many people and organizations ready and willing to do it,” she said. “I don’t understand why the horses aren’t taken out of there, now — tonight.”
Chris Ragula, who lives next door to the barn, agrees.
“Who’s to say that it won’t happen again?” he said. “How long has it been going on?”
The situation has motivated Coloradans from as far away as Loveland and Springfield to offer their help either through donations or to temporarily care for the horses.
KRDO NewsChannel 13 contacted the Pikes Peak Humane Society, Dreamcatcher Equine Rescue in Fountain and the Harmony Equine Facility in Franktown. The three organizations said they are ready and willing to help if requested by the Sheriff’s Office.
