Horse Shelter &

I feel obliged to fore-warn visitors that the images on the page are fairly upsetting. This page is an account of one horse's tragic ending. The experience of being present on that day was the impetus for my formally founding an equine welfare organisation.

As promised to Scruff, his life, and his death, have not been in vain. Many horses now have him to thank for their lives, and many more horse's have him to thank for the fact that they now live in safety, respect and love.

I realise that this event occurred some time ago now, but it is completely relevant, every day, to the work we do. Scruffy is responsible for the positive outcomes of every horse/pony/donkey who has had its life saved or improved through its contact with Quest.

Forever in our hearts and minds Scruffy,

Rebecca

I have created this page dedicated to this horse after a great deal of thought. It is dedicated to a horse I met yesterday in the most tragic of circumstances.

I warn anyone who has a heart that they may find this distressing. I am not aiming to upset anyone, but after thinking about it long and hard I just feel very strongly that what befell Scruff should not be forgotten, or swept under the carpet. At the very least I am hoping that maybe I can ensure somehow that justice is carried out.

I apologise if the pictures do offend anyone, but I think that we should all be exceptionally offended by this despicable set of circumstances. What has happened to Scruff IS NOT OK, and yesterday I actually felt very ashamed to even be a member of the human race.

I hope to not denigrate the memory of this special horse, and the last thing I want to do, is to be the cause of Scruff suffering anymore indignities than he already had. I don't feel comfortable about displaying the photo's of the boy for this reason, but I hope that by doing so, that maybe some people will sit up and take notice, and that something positive may come from his tragic life, and his ultimate death.

R.I.P Scruffy

My girlfriend called by and picked me up yesterday afternoon, as she had received a call from her mother, regarding a horse that was in trouble and was on the outskirts of Inglewood, our town. Her mother had asked my friend to try to find the horse, and do what she could to help it.

Apparently my friend's mother has a neighbour who has horses. My friend actually grew up riding past this neighbour's property, and knew the horse in question. The neighbours son was apparently transporting this horse from Bendigo to Mildura (a long way), and had rung his mother to tell her that they were in some kind of trouble with the horse, and that they had pulled over on the outskirts of our town. The neighbour had called my friends mother, knowing that my friend, who is a highly respected professional horsewoman, lived in the area in which they had stopped the float. She asked that she ring my friend and send her out to help.

SO, we set about looking for a car & float on the Calder Highway. We spoke to the local Policeman on our way out of town and asked that he accompany us, in case the horse was injured to the extent that it needed to be euthanized. We found the car & float a few minutes out of town, and pulled off the road, along with the policeman.

What we witnessed was a horse lying in the ditch at the side of the road. He was lying down, but had his head up and was very obviously struggling to even do that. Every time his head hit the ground there was the noise of his broken teeth clunking around in his mouth. I assumed that he might have been down in the float for some time before they stopped, and broken teeth while struggling on the floor. He had the saddest eyes. I cannot describe the look of total resignation and defeat in his eyes. I was shaking from anger and sorrow as this horse was a bag of bones. He had obviously been starving to death slowly for some time, for whatever reason. How anyone could have imagined that a horse so close to death could survive a float trip was just beyond me. Apparently he had gone down in the float, not surprisingly.

The owner of the horse had called her son and told him that the decision of how to deal with the horse was to be left to my girlfriend. My friend had no choice but to ask the policeman to end the horse's suffering. I stroked Scruffy's head, small recompense I know for all his other experiences at the hands of us humans. Our local policeman was quick, and treated the horse with the respect that he deserved. I did my NANA at the MORONS that had been floating Scruffy, and they told me that they were "only trying to help him"...WOT THA????? ....that it "wasn't their fault", as the mother owned the horse, not them.

My girlfriend is gutted. Although there was no option but for her to ask for the horse to be destroyed, it has really taken it's toll on her. She, (we all) would have much preferred that a Vet had been summoned hours before we finally arrived, by those responsible for attempting to transport the horse. I have since found out from another local who had stopped at the scene earlier in the day that they had been pulled over there for approximately 4 hours, that she had rung her Vet, who had offered to attend, and that the owners declined the offer.

What follows are a couple of the photos that I took at the Police Officer's request:

Now I have been accused, by someone who I strongly suspect IS Scruffy's owner, of not seeing the other side of the story. As far as I'm concerned, I don't see that any "other side of the story" is even relevant. It is inconceivable to me that the horse loving community could ever condone subjecting a very old, and frail horse to such a traumatic ordeal, which ultimately resulted in his death. End of story.

I have tried to remove any specific references to Scruffy's owner, as bringing this event to people's attention was intended to provoke constructive debate and awareness, not a dirty slanging match, which is what it became reduced to. I still stand by my comments re my personal feelings towards anyone who could be responsible for reducing a horse to a sad end such as this, but that goes for ANYone who does not show their horse/s the respect, kindness and care that they deserve, and is not reserved solely for Scruffy's owner.

I initially added a link below, further down the page, which enabled anyone who felt able, to send a message to be posted on Scruffy's page for him. Over the past four years many messages have been sent for him, and this is a wonderful thing. It shows to all, that many people care about the boy, and are keen to know that justice for Scruff, and those like him, is carried out. In constructing the new site I have not added this message box. There was an incredible, and heart-felt response.

Click here to read Scruffy's messages.

I have spoken to various professionals, within a variety of organisations, who are in the business of following up on situations such as Scruffy's. Many of them have visited Scruffy's page and have read the various comments, thoughts and feelings on this. I think it helps them also, to know that they are supported in their work. Thanks so much to all who have taken the time to acknowledge Scruffy and his miserable end.

  Here is a just lovely poem that somebody has forwarded through to me.
I think it belongs on Scruffy's page...thanks so much.

An Ode to Scruffy

I am so sorry Scruffy that I didn't know you were there,
I didn't know of your plight, your suffering and despair

Those nights you were hungry tired and cold,
I wish I knew sooner, for I was only just told,

I sit here and wonder why you had to go through such sorrow
But for you Scruffy, you endured it hoping for a better tomorrow.

I am so angry and hurt that your owner didn't care much
Not even a soft word, a whisper, a warm hand to nuzzle and touch.

I am so sorry Scruffy I did not know you were there,
But today I am crying because I really do care.

You may not have known me, but I wish that you could
I would like to have taken you home and looked after you as we all should,

Your owner was a disgrace and you deserved so much better
So this is why I am here, writing you this letter.

So please Scruffy, please let me apologise
Your carer was rotten and evil and even tells lies.

You are now free from this life, no more pain
And I hope you will forgive us for not hearing you calling our name.

Rest in peace Scruffy

Ray

From the R.S.P.C.A Inspector in charge of Scruffy's case:

"Scruffy's case was resolved with a plea at the Bendigo Magistrates court yesterday. The defendant pleaded guilty to one count of failing to provide veterinary or other appropriate attention to Scruff.  He was sentenced to a 4 month Community Based Order and was ordered to pay nearly $4,000 in costs. Given the difficulties with the case, this is a good result. Thank you all for your efforts in bringing the case to a conclusion."

Thank you to all of those genuine horse lovers who have taken the time to email me re this incident. It's reassuring to know that there are those out there who also find Scruffy's fate unacceptable. I am also heartened to learn that there are quite a few individuals out there who are doing whatever they can, in even the smallest of ways, to try to get the message across that it's time that those who are involved in the horse community stand up and say that we all need to take responsibility for the tragic circumstances that far too many horses find themselves in.

It's all about attitudes and education. There are people everywhere 'rescuing' horses, I now know. Why are there so many horses that need rescuing? All too often, those who do try to intervene are branded 'trouble makers'...well if that's what it takes, to exhibit some respect towards these magnificent creatures, then so be it, and what a sad indictment that is on the characters of those doing the name calling.