Sparky was signed over to animal control in Palo Alto because the family couldn't afford to care for the thoroughbred anymore. Sparky was the first horse to be taken in by animal control in the city. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

Horses also becoming victims of foreclosure crisis

In the last few months, the Grace Foundation located in El Dorado Hills has been inundated with phone calls from animal owners seeking help.

Nancy Conley

"People are calling and calling and saying 'can you please take our horse,'" said Nancy Conley, director of volunteers at the organization.

The Grace Foundation of Northern California is a horse rescue and rehabilitation ranch that serves as shelter for unwanted, neglected or abandoned horses.

More people are looking to place their horses at the foundation because of skyrocketing feed prices and the foreclosure crisis that is forcing many rural homeowners off their property.

Conley said the foundation only works with county animal control departments, so staff members are forced to direct people who call looking for help elsewhere. She said it has been "unbelievable" how many more people are looking to place their horses in a safe place.

The foundation has a list of people looking to adopt horses, and can sometimes match people looking to give up their animals to someone looking to adopt one. Most of the time, they refer people to animal control departments.

Often, though, horse owners who can no longer take care of their animals are choosing to just walk away from the problem. Alfalfa and other feed has doubled in price, and the ongoing turmoil in the real estate market is making the expensive pursuit of horsemanship even more pricey.

Animal control supervisors in both Sacramento and San Joaquin counties say they are seeing more and more abandoned horses as well as horses just ditched on abandoned, foreclosed properties.

"It happens all the time," said Dave Dickinson, the supervisor of Sacramento County Animal Care and Regulation Department. "Especially with the horses right now, the feed prices are so high people can't afford the horses and the feed."

Dickinson said that in the past year, he's seen in increase in the number of abandoned horses.

He said his department just sent a pony and a quarter horse to the Grace Foundation. The animals had been abandoned at a foreclosed property for four weeks. Neighbors took care of the horses for an additional two weeks before they decided no one was coming back for the animals and contacted the county.

Horses roam in an open range Thursday at the Grace Foundation, a horse rescue rehabilitation ranch in El Dorado Hills. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

Dickinson said some people will even just drop a horse off on the side of a rural road.

When Sacramento County collects a stray or abandoned horse, they will keep it for 14 days. If no one collects the animal after that period of time, Dickinson said the county will open the horse up for bid.

However, if the animals are in weakened condition — like the horses that had been left at the foreclosed property — Dickinson said the county will try to place them in a rescue agency.

San Joaquin County Animal Control Director Ernest Molieri also said the number of abandoned horses is on the rise, as well as other livestock such cows, pigs, donkeys and chickens.

"I think it's kinda across the board," he said.

When San Joaquin County staff collect a stray or abandoned horse, Molieri said staff will corral the animal on county property for four business days. That usually works out to a week.

If no one claims the animal in that time, Molieri said the county will send the animal to an auction or a rescue agency.

At auction, the animals can be sold off to private owners, equestrian centers or slaughter.

Molieri said that if people believe animals have been abandoned, they should not hesitate to contact animal control. And if people are having trouble affording care for their animals, Molieri said staff could help with contacting a rescue agency.

If it's unfortunate that people are getting rid of their animals, the Grace Foundation's Conley takes heart that people are still helping to support the nonprofit foundation.

The center just recently rescued 47 neglected horses; of those, all but seven were adopted. Currently, the foundation has about 100 horses grazing on its 600 acres. The Grace Foundation does not euthanize animals, so if a horse does make it there, it has a home for life.

"Even though the economy is as poor as it is, people just open their hearts for the animals," Conley said. "If (horses) wind up here, they stay here. If they're not adopted out, they are not put down."

Contact City Editor Andrew Adams at andrewa@lodinews.com.