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Post by pnp4kidz on Apr 29, 2008 14:12:07 GMT -8
Well, I for one will take Fugly's word for the 'god's truth'... NOT... let us let this play out in court ladies... and gentlemen... not on the 11 oclock news, or in a fugly blog or by haters... let us let the judge speak for himself.
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Post by forthem on Apr 29, 2008 15:01:59 GMT -8
Is this how you felt about the woman in Snohomish,? If this was not Dean would you feel the same? take the name out and Ill bet your thoughts are different. IMO
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Post by Get Real on Apr 29, 2008 16:57:19 GMT -8
Oh get real Joan. If the name were different no one would care enough to have built a whole board to discuss it. Besides, with the woman in Snohomish, Animal Control took her horses away. Animal Control has repeatedly deemed Dean as being a fit home for her horses.
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Post by guest on Apr 29, 2008 17:26:24 GMT -8
www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=11734The Horse: Washington Horse Rescue Operator Charged with Cruelty The Horse Washington Horse Rescue Operator Charged with Cruelty by: Pat Raia April 24 2008, Article # 11734 The operator of two Washington State horse rescues will be arraigned in King County, Wash., Superior Court on animal cruelty charges April 29. Dean Solomon, operator of both the former Pacific Equestrian Center and the Washington Thoroughbred Transitional Facility, has been charged with four counts of second degree animal cruelty, said King County Animal Control Officer Sgt. David Morris. Each misdemeanor charge carries penalties of up to 90 days in jail. Authorities allege that Solomon failed to provide the horses with adequate food, water, and sanitation. They say Solomon kept as many as 100 horses in small, muddy pastures. Morris said Solomon was keeping on horses on about 11 acres, and that the smallest herd size he had seen on the property numbered 52 horses. "We've had complaints about Dean for many years," Morris said. The ongoing investigation into Solomon's operations began in February 2008 after authorities in Auburn, Wash., declared her farm non-compliant with zoning regulations. Solomon voluntarily relocated the Pacific Equestrian Center horses to other nearby rescues and individuals, Morris said. But Patricia Clark, founder and director of Serenity Equine Rescue in Maple Valley, Wash., said she began receiving horses from Solomon last May. "I've gotten a total of 22 horses from Solomon," Clark said. "Most were a 2 or 2.5 on the Henneke scale, and all had bad hooves and lice." Clark said the horses are responding to veterinary care and gaining weight. Meanwhile, Solomon's Washington Thoroughbred Transitional Facility continues to operate. Solomon was not available to comment on the case.
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Post by forthem on Apr 29, 2008 18:50:34 GMT -8
The truth needs to come out and tonight it will, so maybe she will not be able to get anymore horses, or anything that needs care. Get some glasses, open your eyes and stop protecting her. She needs a 12 step program not 12 more horses......
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jmpr
New Member
Image of a PEC supporter
Posts: 45
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Post by jmpr on Apr 29, 2008 19:50:45 GMT -8
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Post by forthem on Apr 30, 2008 8:03:17 GMT -8
what and why can't people see....now its everyone else that should be in court because we did'nt give money and go fix fences at PEC....what more do you need to be able to see the truth......
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Post by guest on Apr 30, 2008 9:18:52 GMT -8
Investigators: Auburn horse rescuer charged with animal cruelty
10:47 PM PDT on Tuesday, April 29, 2008
By LINDA BYRON / KING 5 News
Video: Horse rescuer charged with animal cruelty Larger screen E-mail this clip
MAPLE VALLEY, Wash. - A Renton woman who operates a horse rescue went before a judge on charges of animal cruelty Tuesday.
Dean Solomon pleaded not guilty to allegations she starved and neglected four horses at her Auburn rescue, Pacific Equestrian Center.
The KING 5 Investigators have been looking into the growing problem of horse abuse for months and talked to Solomon at length before the charges were filed.
Solomon says she's rescued more than 1,000 horses over the past two decades. Her attorney denies there are any horses at risk.
"Animal Control is welcome to come out, and has frequently," said attorney Mark Prothero. Related Content
Charging documents and statement of probable cause
Serenity Equine Rescue
Blog: Investigating horse abuse
More by the KING 5 Investigators
But the K5 Investigators uncovered disturbing video and photographs taken by concerned volunteers and people who boarded horses at her rescue.
Video taken by a volunteer in 2007 shows horses at her rescue with patchy skin and coats heavily crusted with mud and manure.
Two months ago Solomon was ordered to reduce her herd. She turned horses over to a Maple Valley rescue, and one horse named Ginger - who had been in her care for more than a year - could barely walk.
"She was starving, had lice and rain rot," said Dr. Hannah Evergreen, veterinarian.
Evergreen was called in to evaluate the horses at Pacific Equestrian Center by King County Animal Control. Three had to be put down.
"Multiple horses involved, they all were starved," she said. "They all had hooves that were not cared for, lice dermatitis, so plain and simple neglect, suffering, it's just a sad case."
King County Animal Control
15-year-old Natasha is one of four horses Dean Solomon is accused of abusing.
It's not surprising to find sick and injured horses at a rescue. But they're supposed to get better. And sources say that's not what happened at Pacific Equestrian.
People complained to animal control about as many as 80 horses crowded into pastures and stalls choked with manure.
Patricia Clark of Serenity Equine Rescue, who's now rehabilitating 10 of Pacific Equestrian's horses, says she confronted Solomon last summer.
"I said to her, you've taken these horses from a bad situation and put them in a concentration camp," Clark said.
School teacher Kristi Margeson says she was appalled by what she saw when she volunteered at Pacific Equestrian in late 2006 and early 2007. She described it as "kind of like horse torture."
KING
Dean Solomon pleaded not guilty Tuesday, April 29 to allegations she starved and neglected four horses at her Auburn rescue.
"There was no hay coming in. The horses outside were so hungry they were eating the boards off the fences," she said. "It definitely wasn't a rescue."
For two years King County Animal Control monitored Solomon, warning her to make improvements.
But sources tell KING 5 Solomon often knew when Animal Control officers were going to show up. She made sure she had hay and successfully argued the horses in bad condition weren't her fault.That's the same thing she told KING 5.
"They're horrible when they get here," she said. "We take the worst of the worst cases out there. We don't ever try to take a horse that may have a chance that another rescue - we take horses that other rescues have turned down."
But finally Animal Control had enough and recommended she be prosecuted for cruelty.
Solomon contacted KING 5 last month to complain that Animal Control wasn't being tough enough in a different case.
"Animal Control does need to come in and they do need to take the horses prior to them dying in a field," she said.
King County Animal Control
Ginger had to be euthanized after more than a year in Solomon's care.
KING 5's Linda Byron asked her: "Are they doing that job?" Solomon said no; she believes they're too easy on people.
And Solomon showed no sympathy for people with good intentions who get in over their heads.
Linda Byron asked her: "Would you take horses and being unable to care for them, just let them languish?"
"Absolutely not," Solomon replied. "That's wrong. That's abuse. That's neglect. No."
At her arraignment Tuesday, prosecutors asked that Solomon's remaining horses be seized.
"It's a case similar to child abuse in the sense that you have - it's not just property, they're actually live animals," said Julie Kline, King County Deputy Prosecutor.
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Post by guest on Apr 30, 2008 9:20:38 GMT -8
Investigating horse abuse 4:35 PM Tue, Apr 29, 2008 | Permalink Linda Byron
Reporter
Police and animal control agencies across Western Washington are overwhelmed with reports of abused and neglected horses. But we were skeptical when we heard these allegations leveled at Dean Marie Solomon. Her rescue facility - Pacific Equestrian Center in Kent/Auburn - was promoted as a place where everything from thoroughbred race horses to backyard pets could get a second chance. Yet, as we talked with people who used to volunteer at P.E.C. or board horses there, and the King County Animal Control Officers who repeatedly warned Solomon to improve conditions, the picture emerged of a rescue in deep trouble.
Today Solomon was arraigned on four counts of Animal Cruelty, including two horses that had to be euthanized. Solomon denies the abuse charges, but her case raises a question: Should "rescues" be licensed or regulated? Serenity Equine Rescue & Rehabilitation of Maple Valley has taken in 22 of Solomon's horses over the past year. But as Serenity's owner, Patricia Clark, struggles to pay enormous feed and vet bills, she worries the public will be leery of all rescues and withhold support. That would be a shame because many people who rescue horses do so at considerable personal sacrifice and there are so many horses in need. Full story.
7 Comments Concerned Horseowner said:
Thank you SO MUCH for this investigation! Please keep digging into this and other rescue situtations. The horses and other concerned horse-owners thank you! April 29, 2008 10:24 PM Horsewatcher said:
Thank you for runnung this story Linda! It is long over due! April 29, 2008 10:47 PM blue said:
Stellar job of reporting, Linda! So many people in the equestrian community have been trying to shut Dean down for years. The horses who came to her in somewhat poor condition either became worse off, or died from her lack of care. Most came to her in good condition and ... well, it's just sickening to have witnessed what those defensless, innocent animals went through.
The abuse extends past horses and into other animals too - i'm sure that will be exposed, eventually. April 29, 2008 11:26 PM A fellow horse rescuer said:
Many of us involved in the horse rescue "industry" have been aware of this situation for many years. Sadly, Ms. Solomon always managed to stay just a step ahead of Animal Control, but the mud, manure, rain rot, lack of hay, vet or farrier care, and overcrowded conditions were well-known in the area. Many volunteers passed through PEC over the years, often leaving after they could no longer stand the conditions there. A few people still stand by Dean - blinded by the fact that she has "saved" so many horses, but most people now realize that the number one most important principle in horse rescue is not taking on more than you can handle. If you cannot provide for a rescued horse properly, including providing appropriate rehabilitation, housing, feeding, veterinary care, farrier care, handling, training, and then safely adopt out that horse into an appropriate and approved home, then you are simply prolonging the suffering of a horse that wasn't in a good situation to begin with. It was definitely Quantity over Quality when it came to horse rescue at PEC. Even as Dean failed to pay her vet and farrier bills or buy hay for the horses, she was notorious for continuing to scour Craiglist and other bulletin boards looking for giveaway horses and picking up horses at the local auctions and feedlots. She ran her "Rescues Only" bulletin board and had many adoring fans from all across the country, and she reveled in the attention she received with each new horse she brought home, photographed and proudly posted for all to see. The horse was then promptly warehoused with the rest and rarely spoken of again. It was a cycle she repeated again and again, and reeked of hoarder syndrome. She even went so far as to try and adopt horses from other rescue groups.
Thank you so much for finally bringing this story into the public view! It is sad that a story like this paints rescues in such a bad light, especially during a time when horse neglect cases are on the rise and horse rescues are truly needed. There are good rescues out there! The best way to find out if a rescue is good or not is to go out and see if yourself, ask a lot of questions (which they should be happy to answer), and watch to see that horses that come in to the rescue quickly begin to recover once they receive the proper care. Horses should never be adopted out without being fully rehabilitated, up to date on shots, farrier care, worming, dental floats, and stallions should be gelded. Adoptors should be carefully screened and horses adopted out under an adoption contract. Rescues that do not provide this kind of basic care are nothing better than glorified horse traders, in my opinion, or in Dean's case, animal hoarders. April 29, 2008 11:28 PM Angfreda said:
Many many people who are involved in horse rescue, particularly online, watched as other rescues sent horses after horse after horse to PEC and Dean Solomon, even after serious questions about the care she provided them was raised.
One of those most serious allegations, about a horse named Morrocco that was housed at PEC for several months, proved to be a case of fraud in which Dean presented bills (from the vet and others) for services never supplied this poor animal. He ended up being put down when he finally arrived at his adopters home and was finally examined by a vet and found to be too severely injured/deformed in the leg to be comfortable. That he languished at Dean Solomons/PEC for those months without care and truly suffering is just beyond belief. Who calls that a rescue?
I do not care how many horses she may have helped, or provided good care to... if you hurt or neglect or abuse ONE in the process it's not acceptable. We truly must expect MORE of the rescues than we do of the average horse owner, otherwise what is the example we are setting? In other words, if you talk the talk, but do not walk the walk, what value is it? It ends up giving ALL rescue, and charity a bad name.
Ms. Byron, thank you for seeing this story through and to the volunteer Kristi who stepped forward and told the truth? I commend you. So many saw what you saw and said nothing and even encouraged more horses going into that situation. Thank you for being on the side of the horses, Kristi. April 30, 2008 5:54 AM ledog3 said:
These are sick-in-the-head animal collectors. We've seen it year after year with the dog and cat problem, now the barn yard animals are finally showing up on the media. These are people that need the properties seized and jail time, nothing more. THey collect and "care" for Mr Ed and his 3 dozen friends to do nothing than make up for a void in their own lives: Money. Most of these people are poor, havent had an actual job in recent history and gather up animals that are kept like currency under the mattress for a rainy day thats already come and gone for them. These places are all over Puget Sound. and many are not rescue" organizations. Linda, trust me, you could easily have a full time job at KING doing just THAT kind of investigation. Keep at it.
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