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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (June 29, 2017)
NEWS BY CARL SEGERSTROM TWO DEAD HORSES Despite not guilty verdict, questions linger about horse rescue organization O McBride is the owner and operator of two separate n a rainy day three days after Christmas in 2015, horse-related businesses, the currently registered business Douglas County Animal Control Deputy Lee Triple D Livestock and the now defunct nonprofit Clouds Bartholomew came to the property of Venita Mc- and Clover Race Horse Rescue. Bride in Lookingglass, Oregon, about nine miles The dividing lines between the two companies are un- southwest of Roseburg. By the end of the day a clear, and an ex-employee and people familiar with the local veterinarian would euthanize two horses and take five ranch say McBride would take horses as rescues and then more away. sell them for personal profit through her business. McBride was cited with two charges of misdemeanor The state of Oregon does not require individual records criminal neglect for the horses shot on the property that of horse ownership, making it nearly impossible to track day. the ownership history of horses. In the months leading up to the incident, Deputy Bar- Tax filings for Clouds and Clover Race Horse Rescue tholomew made multiple visits to the property after hors- do not show any income to the nonprofit from the adop- es were reported to be in poor condition by community tion or sale of horses. But filings do state that rehabilitated members. The pasture where one of the horses was shot horses will be put up for adoption. is fronted by Lookingglass Road, less than a quarter mile According to Shalynn McCallum, the horses were ad- from the local elementary school. Pictures of the neglected opted out from the ranch at a rate of more than $3,000 a horse garnered hundreds of shares on social media at the year. The income from one adopted horse would have been time, paired with a #nomoreDouglasCounty campaign on more than half the in- Facebook. come reported by the According to Bar- nonprofit in 2012 and tholomew’s court tes- There are no laws in Oregon 2013, the last years timony, he had spoken that taxes were filed. with McBride about that require annual inspections “No matter how sending horses to other overloaded or bad off rescue operations, and of animal rescue facilities. the horses are, she’ll she had shown inter- take them if she can est in downsizing. Bar- make money off of tholomew previously them,” McCallum says in a phone interview with EW. found rescues for three of McBride’s horses in 2014. When McCallum worked at the ranch in 2012, she expe- Though animal rescue operations are required to reg- rienced the neglect and abuse firsthand. Stalls were filthy, ister with the state, there are no laws in Oregon that re- food wasn’t provided and horses suffered without access to quire annual inspections of animal rescue facilities. Rescue veterinary care. McCallum says she saw McBride break an facilities are bound by the same animal neglect laws that uncooperative horse’s nose with a homemade stud halter. govern private citizens. “Anything that didn’t have value she would let suffer,” A person or organization found guilty of neglecting a McCallum says. According to McCallum, there were three horse would be barred from owning horses, but not other horses on the ranch that were treated well because of their domestic animals, for five years. If an individual was found prowess at the racetrack. During the trial, Bartholomew guilty of neglecting or abusing other domestic animals, testified that some more valuable and healthy horses were such as dogs or cats, they would not be prevented from kept in better shape while others suffered. operating a horse rescue operation under Oregon law. Veterinarian Buff Rainsberry, tasked with the responsi- Less than two weeks before the horses were euthanized, bility of euthanizing the horses, testified that the horses at Bartholomew says McBride told him she was either go- McBride’s ranch were “excruciatingly thin” and were ex- ing to sell them to Wildlife Safari for meat or shoot them periencing a “downward spiral of weight loss with nothing herself. being done to change that.” According to Rainsberry, the five horses taken from the property are now in good health. Replies to comments on the Clouds and Clover Race Horse Facebook page reflect a flippant attitude towards the health of the horses. In a now deleted response to a com- ment on the organization’s Facebook page about the starv- ing horses, the Clouds and Clover account wrote that its critics were small-minded, and that the rescue had shot an old horse with a broken pelvis. The reply concluded “… all the oldies will be shot now. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!” Despite the history of community outrage and run-ins in with animal control, McBride was found not guilty on June 23 for the animal neglect on her property in 2015. Mc- Bride’s defense, by Portland-based litigator Ivan Karmel, argued the horses on her property were not in her custody and control, and belonged instead to Raymond Griffis, who was living on the ranch at the time. In testimony, Griffis said the horses were his and that he should be held liable. Griffis was arrested immediately following closing arguments. He said that he was “step- ping up” to take the blame for the horses in a conversation outside the courtroom. According to Bartholomew, Griffis was arrested “be- cause he admitted to having custody.” Bartholomew also added that both parties could be held liable for the neglect. Although one of the euthanized horses was in a stall about 150 yards from her home and the other was lying in a field along the road, McBride testified that she was unaware of the condition of the horses. McBride did not offer comment after the closing argu- ments of the trial and did not respond to a written request for comment. Deputy District Attorney Ian Ross, who argued the case, appeared overmatched against Karmel, the more experi- enced defense attorney. Ross spoke in a soft voice, asked few questions during cross examination and on multiple occasions was prompted to speak up by Karmel. For critics of McBride, a dozen of whom attended the trial to show their support for the prosecution, the result of the case is frustrating but not entirely surprising. “She’s always got something up her sleeve,” McCallum says. eugeneweekly.com • June 29, 2017 9
