BUILDING A STABLE ENVIRONMENT SINCE 2001 ®

Hope For Horses has assisted many county animal control officers over the years, including those employed by Pierce County, Washington.

This story relates to one such assist that took place in January, 2008.  The short version is that 15 horses were removed from a property in Pierce County, Washington.  All fifteen horses recovered and the owner was prosecuted.  End of story. 

Except that it wasn’t that simple.  It wasn’t simple at all. 

eighteen months and counting

How long has this been going on?

How long has this been going on?

Well your friends with their fancy persuasions

Won’t admit that it’s part of a scheme.

But I can’t help but have my suspicions,

Cause I ain’t quite as dumb as I seem.

                                            --Ace

September, 2006

Fall and Winter in the Pacific Northwest are wet.  Sometime in late September or early October, the skies begin to darken and the rains begin to fall.  It’s a tough season for horses because even the best kept pastures get muddy.    Muddy pastures lead to a painful condition called rain rot, which produces scaly patches of hair that slough off leaving raw skin exposed and open to other infection. The mud also leads to hoof abscesses, making it difficult and painful for a horse to walk.  The mud oozes through unkempt pastures carrying urine and feces and bacteria.  It sucks at shoes and boots.  It chills the legs, and disheartens the soul. 

By late September Diane Ellis was getting worried.  There were at least eight or ten horses being kept in a small pasture next door to her property, and although she had seen someone feeding them, it didn’t happen every day.  Diane owned horses herself and was concerned enough about the ones next door to report her concerns to animal control. 

Six Months Later

By late February 2007, several more complaints had been filed, and animal control had begun calling on Donna Jean Gale, one of the owners of the horses. 

In early March the rain turned to a freezing drizzle.  The only shelter on the property was a makeshift affair held together with baling twine for one of the stallions.  The hard-packed feces had piled so high during the winter, the little stallion’s head nearly touched the top of the shelter.  None of the horses, which now included a new baby, had any blankets. 

Complaining neighbors and at least one private animal welfare organization had begun taking pictures of the horses and sending them to animal control.  Animal control dispatched an officer, who requested that at least one horse with a “deformed hoof” be seen by a vet.  But the vet indicated that the condition wasn’t painful, so nothing more happened. 

In late April, Hope For Horses learned about these horses for the first time from yet another citizen (who had not previously complained to animal control).  Apparently one of the horse owners was using a bank account that did not belong to her to purchase hay at the local feed store.  And to make matters worse, she was selling drugs.

Hope For Horses does not have law enforcement capability, and when issues of drugs or domestic violence are raised, it’s a clear signal for us to take a backseat in an investigation.  So we passed the information to animal control and the sheriff’s office, and waited for instruction on what to do next.

Summer 2007

In July of 2007, Donna Jean Gale and Ronald Eugene Minor were busted for selling morphine and Xanax to a confidential informant in a controlled buy.    

The property at 96th and Waller was continuing to catch attention, and by August, there was yet another foal on the ground.  The caller sounded desperate.  “This baby is very skinny,” she said, “It needs help before it is too late.”  Animal control responded, but according to the officer’s report, the horses looked “well-fed and healthy”  and were receiving a “high-dollar” feed. 

But the neighbors disagreed, and in late September, one of them complained that the mare and foal were dropping weight and “there was no way in Hell” the horses could go into yet another winter with no shelter. 

Finally, animal control began to escalate.  Officer Davidson insisted that Donna Gale get a shelter put up and encouraged her to begin getting rid of some of her herd, which was now up to sixteen or eighteen horses. 

Chapter 2 ...

IMPOUND AT WALLER ROAD