Breeder rides to herd's rescue
Two men charged in deaths of horses
Elise Stolte and Duncan Thorne, The Edmonton Journal
Published: 2:33 am
Two men were charged Wednesday in connection with the deaths and starvation of horses at a ranch northeast of Edmonton, as volunteers worked to return the surviving animals to health.
Axel Hinz-Schleuter, 45, and Dale Huber, 55, were both charged with 12 counts of allowing animals to be in distress and failing to provide duty of care at a ranch 65 kilometres northeast of Edmonton at Andrew.
They are to appear April 21 in Vegreville provincial court.
Keno Hills Stable breeder Susan Fyfe is one of the founders of the Rescue 100 Foundation, which is taking care of mistreated horses from a ranch in Andrew.
Ed Kaiser, the Journal
The Alberta SPCA seized 100 horses among other animals on Feb. 26 from the ranch. Twenty-seven horses had died. Two more horses have died and one has had to be put down.
The survivors were to be auctioned today. But Tuesday an Ardrossan-area horse breeder asked the SPCA to let her and volunteers nurse the animals back to health.
Susan Fyfe, one of the world's top breeders of Arabian horses -- the same breed as the distressed animals -- feared that not all buyers at auction would know how to look after them properly.
Fyfe decided to act after thinking about the problem overnight. "I phoned the SPCA and started the process."
Wednesday, she and friends, with legal help, established the Rescue 100 Foundation. "I've had lots of people saying, 'How can we help?' "
The horses are now at her breeding operation, Keno Hills Stable.
"The older ones will be fine," she said. "In our younger herd, there are two weak ones, and among the young, young ones, there are some real weak ones."
She and other volunteers found some horses with hooves so overgrown that they have curled, making it hard for them to walk. Some have lice and worms.
On Wednesday night, Rescue 100 volunteers met at a local arena to start putting together committees for fundraising, medical care, supplies and other needs.
Fyfe said the foundation has become the legal owner of the herd, so the eventual sales of the horses will help offset costs.
She doubts there will be any cash left over. "People have no idea of the cost of getting horses back to health. But if there happens to be some money at the end, it will end up going to the SPCA."
Jim Toews, from Waskatenau, was among 25 to 30 volunteers at Fyfe's property on Wednesday. He delivered 12 tonnes of hay. Rick Maitland, a Sherwood Park resident who owns horses, said it was natural to pitch in. "It brings out the best in people."
There have been questions about why the SPCA did not act earlier. Hinz-Schleuter has a previous conviction from 2005 under the Animal Protection Act, when he was fined $1,000.
It was a first offence and he was not banned from owning animals nor was an order included for peace officers to inspect the property in the future.
Fyfe said the SPCA could not take further action until it got another complaint last month. Officers investigated, then seized the animals on Feb. 26.
"We have to have reasonable, probable grounds that there are animals in distress before we're allowed to go on to private property," said Morris Airey, director of animal protection services for the SPCA.
The SPCA is allowed to give away or sell the animals they seize. Keno Hills Stable has agreed to repay all costs the SPCA incurred seizing the animals.