Animal rescue volunteers say it’s the worst case of animal neglect they’ve ever seen. The Lake County Animal Shelter recently rescued two horses that were emaciated, dehydrated and scratched up.

  • Lake County rescued 2 horses that were emaciated, dehydrated
  • Horses now with Howey Horse Haven Rescue
  • It will take months to help these horses recover

The two geldings are now separated from other animals at Howey Horse Haven Rescue in Howey-in-the-Hills in Lake County until they can get healthy.

“Obviously it’s a shock when you see them,” said Katie Pearce, senior volunteer with the rescue. 

Pearce says the two horses have something she’s never seen – equine lice.

“Your hands go right down into the grooves of their ribs, and you can feel every single one of their vertebrae,” said Pearce. “It’s basically a skeleton with skin on it, and that’s not acceptable.”

Pearce says shortly after the rescue took the two in, one of them fell to the ground and nearly died.

“When you have a horse in this condition, you worry when they’re going down their organs are actually shutting down,” said Pearce.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office says animal control got a call from a woman in Eustis who says someone took her fence down, put the horses on her property and then put her fence back up. The Lake County Animal Shelter picked the horses up and delivered them to the rescue.

“We understand that somebody falls on hard times, and maybe you feel ashamed you can’t deal with it anymore,” said Pearce. “But you have to do something for the animal.”

Pearce says at first the two horses didn’t appear to have the will to live.

“They kind of lost the light in their eyes,” said Pearce. “I guess you could say they were out of it, didn’t really have that interest. But as you can see now, they’re doing much better.”

Pearce says it will likely take several months to get the two horses ready to adopt out.Volunteers have named them Loki and Captain for now. And they look forward to the day both are healthy horses.

“We want to see him when he goes from Steve Rodgers to Captain America,” said Pearce, referring to the Captain America story. “That’s the payoff.”

But even once Loki and Captain gain weight and begin looking better, Pearce says there’s still a long recovery ahead that will cost thousands of dollars.

The rescue runs off donations, so they’re welcoming any help they can get.  You can find out more information on the rescue and how to help at the horse rescue's website.

So far, it’s unclear who left the horses in such shape.