Equine Rescue

Authorities Would Consider Proposals in ISPMB Wild Horses Case

Source: TheEagle.com

Courtesy Photo of emaciated horse in a pen at the International Society for the Protection of Wild Horses & Burros near Lantry, S.D.

Courtesy Photo of emaciated horse in a pen at the International Society for the Protection of Wild Horses & Burros near Lantry, S.D.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D.  — The prosecutor handling the case of a troubled wild-horse sanctuary in north-central South Dakota whose impounded animals are headed for auction says authorities would consider proposals from other organizations before selling the horses.

The remarks from Dewey County state’s attorney Steven Aberle came Thursday, also the deadline given to the embattled sanctuary’s president to repay the public funds that have been used to care for the 810 horses.

The animals were impounded in October after a state veterinarian found the horses were being neglected and a former ranch employee said the horses were being starved to death.

Karen Sussman is the president of the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros’ ranch in Lantry. She denies all wrongdoing allegations, which she says were fabricated by a “disgruntled employee.”

19 replies »

  1. Why would the horse be starving to death if not being taken care of the right way?
    We who have horses know that if fed and cared for a horse will stay up unless they are sick. nI hope they get to the bottom of it and some onne pays for the pain and suffering of the animals.

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  2. From the article, here are the stark numbers that show the majority of these horses are still in grave peril:

    “At least 150 horses have been adopted.

    The 810 animals of the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros ranch in Lantry were impounded through a judge’s order in October after a state veterinarian found the horses were being neglected and a former ranch employee said the horses were being starved to death.

    Authorities put at roughly $100,000 the cost of caring for the 810 horses since they were impounded. Aberle said a grant and donations have brought down the amount to $76,000.

    The sanctuary’s president, Karen Sussman, was given a Thursday deadline to repay local authorities the $46,000 still owed after paying $30,000.

    Thursday was also the last day Sussman had to come up with 18 months’ worth of funding to feed and care for each horse she would like to keep. Authorities estimated Sussman would need $1,100 for each. In addition, authorities also required her to have on hand a little over $100,000 for fixed costs.

    ‘Before they can keep a horse, it’s a pile of money,’ Aberle said.”

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  3. Are they going to inflict more torture on these poor horses before this is over? Last I heard there were more applications than horses. Sounds like a good deal to me. They should contact the national humane societies for help. If there is no hay or grain and they are not fed. They are starved. This woman needs to accept responsibility and fund homes. I hope they all get homes. What’s with the prosecutor pushing the auction scenario?

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  4. Dewey County Sheriff’s Office37 mins · As of 530 PM 12-01-16 the Counties have not been repaid and no monies have been shown for the ISPMB 18 month plan. Therefore an auction for the horses is being setup. The States Attorney has approved for the adoption applications that have been approved by ISPMB to continue to be loaded out for the next week or so. The end date has not been set for this at this time due to weather, etc. However there is a limit for the number of horses that can be adopted out from the ISPMB. The stipulation states that no more than 1/3 of the horses could be adopted out or (based on 810 horses) 270 horses. Also no more than 20 per person without prior consent of the counties. If you have been approved and get the horses loaded out in the next week, now would be the time to get it done. Weather is suppose to improve through the weekend, and then turn colder again next week. There are some other options still being looked at, but there is little time and hope left at this point. Our best guess for the date on the sale will be around the 19th of Dec at Phillip Livestock in Phillip SD. However this has not been set yet and when it does become available I will post it here. If you do not get your horses from the ISPMB then the next best option would be to buy them at the sale and save them there.

    From: Straight from the Horse’s Heart To: susanhumphrey_62@yahoo.com Sent: Thursday, December 1, 2016 4:34 PM Subject: [New post] Authorities Would Consider Proposals in ISPMB Wild Horses Case #yiv2160006517 a:hover {color:red;}#yiv2160006517 a {text-decoration:none;color:#0088cc;}#yiv2160006517 a.yiv2160006517primaryactionlink:link, #yiv2160006517 a.yiv2160006517primaryactionlink:visited {background-color:#2585B2;color:#fff;}#yiv2160006517 a.yiv2160006517primaryactionlink:hover, #yiv2160006517 a.yiv2160006517primaryactionlink:active {background-color:#11729E;color:#fff;}#yiv2160006517 WordPress.com | R.T. Fitch posted: “Source: TheEagle.comSIOUX FALLS, S.D.  — The prosecutor handling the case of a troubled wild-horse sanctuary in north-central South Dakota whose impounded animals are headed for auction says authorities would consider proposals from other organi” | |

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    • Susan, do you have any current figures on what is owed to the sheriff’s department? A post before yours shows some funds have been paid and only $46,000 remains owed to them at this time. If they were repaid and a non-ISPMB owner could be found for the remaining 540 horses there would be no need to auction them, correct?

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      • I’m the person who got the documentation written by Colleen Burns out to social media and have been in contact with the the Dewey County Sheriff, and have written letters to the SD State Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, the SD Governor, and SD Animal Industry Board.
        Many more horses would have died if it wasn’t for me. I’m the one who got Seth Tupper of the Rapid City Journal involved to write his articles. I’ve always been Anti-Neglect and Anti-Abuse of any animal. I’ve seen a lot of abuse and neglect from people like Karen Sussman and Jason Meduna who supposedly are “saving” them. Saving them for what? To starve them to death? So they could freeze to death? Wow! People like that really do a great favor to horses, don’t they?

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    • Why would there be a limit on the number of adoptions? Susan sounds like prohorse slaughter welfare program is attempting to block adoptions. No limit has been set in any rescue on stating the entire number cannot be adopted. Caps on individual adoptions per adopters qualifications finacially and otherwise yes. Ordinance and legal care issues can limit individuals but not actually legaaly stop all 810 from being Adopted. I think Laren needs to fill out an application and be denied personally. I think Susan your a little too involved in live horses when your speciality is slaughtered horses. Shouldnt you be punching reporters somewhere like ol Dave did the other day? Oh thats right youve smelled blood in the water at the Sanctuary and are waiting to divide up the pieces pretendong its all in the name of honest welfare. I cant imagine why your trying to influence the authorities.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Colts Western Shop ~ I do understand your feelings….
        and I also think that this, stated by the Sheriff Dept, is true:
        “The stipulation states that no more than 1/3 of the horses could be adopted out or (based on 810 horses) 270 horses.”
        That was determined I believe by the South Dakota State Attorney several months ago.
        And also, Elaine Nash has stated that there have been more applications from individuals and rescues to adopt horses, and more which could be approved and are being processed out of those received already, than there are horses actually available — due to that stipulation — to be able to be adopted.

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      • Actually…I’ve been trying my best to keep the horses from going to slaughter. I helped move the sale date to the 20th…so that it would fall on the same day as a huge horse sale in Gordon NE where there will be a lot of KB’s present…but someone screwed that up by harassing Philip Livestock Auction…to the point that they decided to not have the sale there.
        I have now found an alternate sale I will announce in a day of two…otherwise the horses will go to Gordon…where they will be crammed into the ring and run through so fast people will barely be able to see them. They will almost assuredly all go to Mexico (or Canada).
        The auction I have set up will be on Dec 20th, will not be in conjunction with a cattle sale, will have live feed video and they will take phone bids. Horses will go through in small lots (3) and a person can take just one if they wish.

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  5. What’s missing here: a statement from the ISPMB board apologizing to the taxpayers of SD, to the sheriffs departments who stepped in, to the unpaid and mostly unknown volunteers trying so hard to get horses adopted in a hurry, and to the horses themselves, who deserve so much better than this.

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    • It will still be held on the 20th. Philip Livestock Auction cancelled it because they were harassed and got threatening phone calls.

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      • Apparently the location was changed and it will still be held on Dec 20th. See: Dewey County Sheriff’s Office
        December 7 at 8:48pm ·
        THE ISPMB HORSE SALE WILL NOT BE AT PHILLIP LIVESTOCK

        THE SALE OF THE ISPMB HORSES IS STILL SCHEDULED FOR THE 20TH OF DECEMBER. HOWEVER I WILL NOT LIST WHERE THE SALE WILL BE HELD UNTIL CLOSER TO THE SALE DATE

        THE REASON IT IS NOT BEING RELEASED IS TO PROTECT THE LIVESTOCK YARD FROM THREATS, ECT AS WERE RECEIVED BY PHILLIP LIVESTOCK

        YOU HAVE CAUSED THIS ACTION IN ORDER TO PROTECT THEM FROM BEING HARASSED AND THREATENED.
        I TRIED BEING OPEN WITH INFORMATION SO THE PEOPLE WHO WANTED TO BID WOULD HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO PLAN. MY ONLY OPTION NOW IS TO SHORTEN THAT TIME. I WILL PUT THE LOCATION OUT BUT IT WILL ONLY BE A FEW DAYS BEFORE THE SALE

        DO NOT ASK EARLIER AS IT WILL NOT BE RELEASED

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