State agricultural officials in Kentucky have established a Stray or Abandoned Equine database, to help keep track of stray and abandoned equines while giving owners a chance to claim them or allowing rescuers a shorter legal time frame before horses can be sold or rehomed.
Keeping track of stray or abandoned horses
State agricultural officials in Kentucky have established a Stray or Abandoned Equine database, to help keep track of stray and abandoned equines while giving owners a chance to claim them or allowing rescuers a shorter legal time frame before horses can be sold or rehomed.
State agriculture officials are hopeful the new Stray or Abandoned Equine Database will help with the proper care and upkeep of wandering horses. The online database is one piece of a law approved earlier this year.
State Veterinarian Bob Stout says information about the horses is collected at county judges' offices. "It certainly gives opportunities for people to legitimately claim their horse and we would hope then, when they recognize ownership of it, that they maintain responsibility that goes with owning a horse," said Stout.
The new law requires counties to contract with veterinarians to document a lost or abandoned horse's features and identifying characteristics and then enter the info into the database.
Stout says several years ago, a team documented lost or abandoned horses in Breathitt County. He says undergoing a similar exercise today would be quite challenging. "The issue is probably much more pervasive than that and over many more counties than they were able to look at," Stout said. "It would be an awesome task to try to fully examine the problem."
Earlier this year, legislation was approved reducing the waiting period from 90 to 15 days for an owner to claim a horse before a rescuer can claim or sell the equine.