Councilman Huff Initiates Horse Rescue

District 3 , a Lutherville resident, was personally involved in the rescue of two neglected horses.

Huff said he received a call from one of his constituents about the horses, a mare and a gelding, both of which are Tennesee Walking Horses, and personally went to check them out at a Hereford farm. In lieu of a citation, the owner of the horses agreed to surrender them to the Baltimore County Animal Control in Baldwin.

The owner previously received two citations for neglecting the horses, a $100 charge for not giving enough food and water to the gelding and a $200 one for not providing veterinarian care for the mare, according to animal control.

"I've been working adamantly to try and help out the horse industry," Huff said. "Baltimore County has the highest population of horses in Maryland. I'm working with animal control to get them more involved with horses."

The horses were in bad shape when the county got ahold of them, said Mark Clark, a spokesman for the Baltimore County Health Department, which oversees animal control.

"The horses were underweight, they had overgrown hooves and some other minor medical issues," Clark said.

The horses are currently housed at animal control, but are scheduled to be transferred to the Angel Acres Horse Haven Rescue, just over the Maryland line in Pennsylvania, pending the results of a Coggins test. Fran Burns, a volunteer and spokeswoman for Angel Acres, said horses need to produce negative results on the Coggins test, which detects equine infection anemia, before they can be transferred over state lines.

"We rehab the horses that have been neglected until they are healthy and good for forever homes," Burns said. "We're very appreciative to Councilman Huff and animal control for saving these horses and providing them with a promising future."