The Alberta SPCA has removed 25 horses from a property east of Taber, Alta., out of concern for their welfare.
SPCA communications manager Roland Lines confirmed Feb. 6 that the herd of saddle horses was voluntarily surrendered by the owner when the SPCA responded to reports of horses in distress.
“There was concern for the horses being underweight,” said Lines, adding a veterinarian will be doing a full assessment of the animals’ health.
“We did not have a search warrant for this. The owner surrendered them to us.”
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An investigation by the SPCA is now under way, and Lines said he could release few other details. He could not speculate on the reasons for the horses’ condition.
“There may be some other information to give out around what happens to the horses,” Lines said.
“We’re holding them right now under our authority with the SPCA. I’m not sure what will happen with the horses at this point because the investigation is ongoing.”
Taber RCMP confirmed they had received a report about the horses and turned the matter over to the SPCA for investigation.
Various posts on Facebook indicated a number of horses had died and that skeletal remains were also found on the same property, but Lines declined comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
“There was a report to us of concern for their welfare. I can’t go into details of exactly what their conditions were,” he said. “We won’t necessarily find out why, but as part of the investigation we will likely engage a veterinarian to do a full body condition assessment on the horses and just establish if they are indeed underweight, why they’re underweight in terms of whether it was a medical condition versus lack of feed.”
