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Police Horses in New Hampshire Found Ill-Kept
by: The Associated Press
May 28 2007 Article # 9696
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The police in Hampton, N.H., the state's busiest beach town, are investigating whether the four police horses they use for summer patrols were abused, accoring to an AP article on www.concordemonitor.com.
A routine veterinary checkup last week found that the horses, which are boarded off-season on a family farm at the Tide-Water Campground, were severely underweight, police Chief Jamie Sullivan said.
"Actively riding the horses this summer seems unlikely," Sullivan said.
Police are still waiting for an official report from the veterinarian, but a preliminary investigation found the horses had worms and probably were not fed properly, he said.
Sullivan said the horses have been at Wallace Shaw's farm for 26 years, and there was never a problem until this year.
Shaw built a barn specially for the horses, at his own expense, when the mounted police unit was started in 1981. The town pays him $450 per month to feed and care for each horse.
Police believe the weight loss occurred when the horses' main caretaker was in Florida.
"It appears the individual who took over for the primary caretaker misunderstood the feeding schedule of the horses," he said.
Sullivan said it's too early to decide whether criminal charges will be filed.
"Our main concern right now is the health and well-being of the horses," he said. "But we are going to determine how something like this occurred and make sure it doesn't happen again."
The horses--Blaze, Patriot, Buddy and Arrow--are now at a private facility, where an experienced equine caregiver is overseeing a treatment plan outlined by the veterinarian. But it could be weeks, or even months, before they are back to normal, Sullivan said.
Retired deputy chief Dennis Pelletier, who keeps all the retired police horses from the unit at his own farm, is helping out.
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those poor horses
hmy:
