Lily, Abused Horse Adopted By Jon Stewart, Passes Away

Lily the Arabian mare, the Pennsylvania horse suffering from a variety of maladies that drew national attention after she was adopted by Jon Stewart and his wife, has passed away, according to multiple media reports.

Lilyfell and broke her neckat the Stewarts' Middletown, New Jersey farm, CBS reports.

The horse, 20, first drew attention when she was found abandoned at the New Holland Sales Stable in Lancaster County in March.

It was initially believed that she had been shot up to 130 times with paintballs at close range, according to veterinarians with Penn Vet's New Bolton Center in Kennett Square.

However, Lily's previous owner, Doreen Weston of Smoke Hollow Farms in New Jersey, said that Lily was not shot by paintballs, however, and that she was used as a "canvas"at children's finger-painting parties, NBC 10 reports.

Weston reportedly said she gave Lily to a horse dealer assuming she would be euthanized because her quality of life was poor.

The horse dealer who apparently abandoned Lily, Phillip Price, has since been convicted of animal cruelty charges, police said.

At the time of Lily's discovery at New Holland, in addition to injuries suffered in what had appeared to be an assault, Lily was revealed to have a host of other medical problems which were not treated by her previous owners.

Lily was blinded in the right eye, and has an ulcer in her left eye, said Dr. Nikki Scherrer, an ophthalmology resident with Sherrer performed surgery to remove Lily's right eye on Tuesday, and performed another surgery on her left eye to help it heal.

Although Lily was permanently blind in her right eye, she still had some sight in her left eye.
"Lily's right eye has a severe and painful condition and will never regain sight, and physical removal of the eye will allow her to be pain-free," Dr. Rose Nolen-Walston, Associate Professor of Large Animal Internal Medicine at New Bolton Center, said at the time. "Horses do very well after this surgery. We expect her to make a full recovery."

The Stewarts reportedly said that Lily was very happy in her time at their farm, receiving massages and spending time listing to Ray Lamontagne.

Image via New Bolton Center.