Canton: Read How Abused Horses Got 'Second Chance' Thanks to Inmates & Animal Lovers

By Wendy Ann Mitchell (Patch Staff)

One astute delivery driver, some prison inmates and hundreds of concerned animal lovers have given two Redding horses a ”Second Chance” at life.

In July, a Redding woman was arrested after a delivery driver discovered two severely emaciated horses in the dark barn of her 6 Packer Brook Rd. home. Lisa Lind-Larsen, 75, was charged with two counts of animal cruelty.

The horses were found standing in nine inches of their own feces, left without food and only murky water to drink. They were extremely underweight, with their ribs, hip bones, and spinal bones showing, officers said in a release.

The two mares, Chinook and Cheyenne, were taken to the Department of Agriculture’s Large Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Facility. They were so weak that they had to be lifted and guided by ropes to get on the trailer. They are being cared for by prison inmates at the York Correctional Facility in Niantic as part of a rehabilitation program. Inmates volunteer to receive minimal pay and work in partnership with agency personnel.

The agency partners with the UConn College of Agriculture Annual Spring Horse Auction to find homes for animals, once they are healthy enough to be placed in permanent homes.

Director of Department of Agriculture Animal Division Raymond Connors said the program “allows us a facility that is secure and allows corrections to work a program in our facility and help us with our labor.”

“It’s a great experience for our inmates and it’s a great experience for our staff,” Connors said.

Over 200 horses have been nursed back to health through the program since it began in 2003.

Hundreds of concerned horse lovers across the country read about this case of animal abuse and helped Chinook and Cheyenne by contributing to a fund set up to cover the expense of saving the two beautiful mares. Horse and Man raised over $1,600 through their “Bucket Fund” which helps cover the costs of food, medications and other expenses.

On Aug. 12, the horses’ former owner, Lind-Larsen, went to Danbury Superior Court to answer to the two charges of animal cruelty. On Sept. 17 she was in court for a pre-trial meeting where she reportedly fired her attorney. She is due back in court on Nov. 4, 2014.

To learn more about the Department of Agriculture’s Large Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Facility, click here.

To learn more about Horse and Man, click here.

Photo: Department of Agriculture’s Large Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Facility

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