How To Report Abuse

We at USESR receive many, many abuse reports.
Together, we can help the horses in the shortest amount of time by having accurate, easy to understand information.

What is abuse?

Texas Animal Abuse Laws

Adequate Shelter:

As of September 2001, Texas law no longer requires an animal to have shelter.

The first thing one wants to do when reporting abuse is determine if any laws are being broken. A commonly heard complaint is that the Equine does not have any shelter. Legally, trees can be considered shelter. Of course, a tree must provide actual shelter from the sun. Historically, people don't worry about trees losing their leaves in the winter. Many trees still have a lot of branches. It is trees that do not provide any shelter from the sun that the law is usually concerned about. Take a picture of the tree(s) if possible. From the very start, think as though you will be the lawyer that pleads the case for the animal. If you say there is no shelter and the defendant says there are trees (or a tree), who is the jury going to believe? Are there trees or aren't there?
You, the lawyer, must provide an airtight case. A lot of the counties are small. They have small budgets. It is hard for them to justify the expense of a trial, an appeal trial, housing the seized Equine (often in large herds), and providing adequate health care and nutrition during the trial and appeal trials. Even an animal abuser can appeal all the way to the Supreme Court.

Wholesome and nutritious food and water:

A black bale of hay that the horses aren't touching is not wholesome or adequate. Take a photo of the hay, and take another one with the horses grazing on weeds to show the jury that the horses don't want the hay. There is often algae in water. Algae is not an illegal substance, although it is green. An example of bad water would be a tank (pond) that had visible rusting auto parts in it or other trash. Take a picture of that and get another with the horses drinking out of it if you can. Make sure the photo shows that the same polluted water is what the horses drink out of. Remember, the law doesn't care who is feeding the animal, as long as it is getting fed once a day. If you are feeding an animal because it's owner isn't, you are stopping the law from being able to take action for not feeding.

Lack of veterinary care:

Someone once told us a story about a horse who needed veterinary care. The horse cut it's forehead. The owner literally taped the wound with duct tape and turned the horse back out to pasture. The horse's wound healed, but it probably wasn't pretty. The horse and the owner were very lucky. The only defense to lack of veterinary care we have found is when an abuser had a deep knowledge of veterinary medicine in the type of animal that is being denied veterinary care. This is the type of person who owns many Equine and has for a very long time. This is the type of person who is so trusted by his or her vet that when they call for a prescription, the vet just gives it to them. This is the type of person who has already correctly diagnosed the problem and the treatment before they reach the vet and who informs the vet of what to do. Yes, these types of people sometimes also abuse their horses. USESR worked this case and the law refused to act. You can read about it on our "Investigations" page.

Who are the abusers?

Anyone can be an abuser, even a rescuer. Some people start out being rescuers and become what is called a "collector". A collector has dozens of animals, usually of many different species. Collectors do not get a lot of respect from Law Enforcement or larger humane societies. Some collectors can afford to keep and maintain all of their animals, and have time to spend with them. Just because a person is a collector doesn't mean they are mistreating their animals. Not all collectors start out as rescuers. Some people are just uneducated. Some people simply don't see ribs showing as a bad thing. Some don't even notice the ribs showing. Having horses and taking care of them often comes in degrees. Some people use cameras to watch their broodmares and know when they are foaling so they can be there. Some people let their mares foal out in the field. Some people want a stall for every horse. Some people don't have any stalls at all and keep herds of horses. Many people think that just because a horse is old, that is a reason for it to be all "skin and bones." This is simply not true; it is a myth that has been believed as truth for many, many years. There are many 'newbies' to the horse world and this is just what we want - more people to enjoy the experience of owning Equine. Before approaching or reporting anyone, try to determine what that person's situation is.

Your identity as the Reporter

You can choose to remain anonymous, but it is not recommended. Although at times, remaining anonymous is necessary, if it is not necessary, please do not do it. Law Enforcement is more likely to get involved if they have a reporter who is willing to testify. If they have a reporter who has already typed up a statement and had it notarized, that is even better. That really gets their attention, especially when one supplies photographs. Unfortunately, Law Enforcement has to deal with a lot of nuts. There are people who have nothing better to do than harass someone they don't like so they find something to report about them to the police, even if they have to make it up. Plus, it may be a year before the case actually gets to court. Will they be able to find you without your drivers license number, address, place of employment, or other forms of identification they can use to find you if you've moved, changed jobs, had your phone disconnected?

Now it is time to file your Abuse Report.

Case Histories