This page is dedicated to the stories of all the horses we couldn't help, but
they made a difference to so many lives. As is the case with many rescues, they are either brought to AERO for help too late or have been misdiagnosed. Each one teaches us so much about
compassion and how to help other horses before it's too late.
Valiant
came to us with an advanced case
laminitis with no coffin bones. He did well for a period of time but
started to decline and in his last days started getting facial paralysis, severe
abcessing, and his heart and digestion began to fail. Valiant was the most
extraordinary horse we've ever had in our barn and we loved him very much.
See his memorial page for fond memories.....he
was euthanized on 3/24/07 at his request (of course).
Diamond
came to us with an advanced case of Squamous Cell Carcinoma in her
eyelid and eye socket. She received surgery to remove the
tumor and the eye in an effort to save her life. However the
surgery uncovered that the tumor had spread to her sinus, her bone,
and eventually her lymph node. AERO was able to provide three
months of care for Diamond where she was able to enjoy life but
eventually the tumor grew aggressively making it hard for her to
breathe. She was euthanized on 7/25/05 and we will miss her! See
more pictures and read Diamond's
diary here!
Rascal
was
a 7-week old foal that was found at auction by Colt Behrens. Colt purchased the foal immediately and
sought urgent care for Rascal upon her arrival at their home. He and
his mom
contacted AERO for additional assistance to help with Rascal. Rascal
had a badly damaged eye that
needed to be removed, was severely malnourished, and ran a
high risk of septic infection. Filled with compassion and a
heartfelt desire to try and save Rascal, Colt spent nearly a week
caring for the foal following very strict post-operative
instructions. This included changing an IV every 2-hours, bottle
feeding, and changing the bandaging. After Day Five the infection
was too much for Rascal and he passed away. Through this experience
Colt was inspired to become a veterinarian. AERO was
equally inspired and we are currently working on setting up a
scholarship fund for students seeking a career in equine medicine.
KoKo
was
a 12-year
old mare who's owner could
not afford proper care for her injuries that she had sustained over
10 years ago. The long term effects of this form of neglect caused
the coffin bone in her right-front hoof to nearly
disintegrate. KoKo was rescued by the Maricopa Horse and
Pony rescue, who contacted AERO for assistance.
Unfortunately, her diagnosis was poor and she was euthanized on
New Year's eve 2001. We thank MHPR and Dr. Lisa Berg for
their help with KoKo. Close-up
photo of Koko's damaged foot.
Cinderella's
Pumpkin
was
a 8-month old Arabian filly that was rescued by a Mom and her young
daughter. Pumpkin had been stepped on by another horse at a
very young age resulting in her hip
joint being damaged. The Arabian farm that owned Pumpkin
at the time did not make any attempt to seek medical care, and
instead put Pumpkin out in pasture. After being rescued by the
mom and daughter team, they tried to rehabilitate Pumpkin for
several months and then called in the assistance of AERO in
anticipation of surgery. After several hip x-rays, Dr. Julie
Lucas at Southwest Equine deemed there was not a feasible surgical
option. Pumpkin's owners made a difficult decision to
euthanize Pumpkin since her quality of life no longer existed in her
current state. Pumpkin warmed the heart of the young girl who
rescued her, and gave us all a bit of joy and love before leaving
us.
Biscuit
was a 1-year old draft mix
filly that had unusual swelling
in her hock joint. After having several veterinarians review
the x-rays, it was determined that Biscuit was a rare case of Valley
Fever. Due to the fungus' behavior in horses, it had 'eaten'
away a weight bearing part of the bone from the inside of the bone,
out. It was only a matter of time before Biscuit's leg
fractured and there were no treatment options to help Biscuit at such
a late stage in the illness. Biscuit left us all with such
important learnings on the rare occurrence and unique behavior of
Valley Fever.
Bobbie
Girl
came
to AERO as a possible surgical candidate but upon examination by Dr.
Julie Lucas of Southwest Equine, it was determined that she had irreparable
trauma to her fetlock joint. Bobbie had a bone cyst in her
fetlock joint (usually a result of trauma) that over an extended
period of time had resulted in significant deterioration of her cartilage
and had bone rubbing on bone. The owners agreed Bobbie's quality of life did
not exist because of her immobilizing condition and made the
difficult decision to humanely euthanize her.
Windwalker was
a 2 year old horse that we found at a stable
that purchases horses (typically at auction) to sell to slaughter
houses in Texas for rendering plants or human consumption. We had to purchase Windwalker for
$75 in order to "rescue" him from this stable.
The bones on his back were exposed and blackened, his flesh was
falling off in sections, and he had severe infection.
(Photos available soon.) We had several veterinarians look at Windwalker's wounds which resulted in several conclusions as to
the cause of these wounds. Some felt it was either fire or
chemical burn, while others felt it may have been a stud bite that
quickly became infected and "chewed" by Windwalker
himself. Windwalker was
humanely euthanized several days after attempted rehabilitation -
his condition was so extreme that nothing could be done for him.
The tragedy in these cases is that there are many horses with
severe medical conditions, like Windwalker, that suffer for weeks
waiting to be transported for 3-4 days and finally slaughtered.
Many arrive dead from the trip conditions alone.
In loving
memory to
all the other horses that we were unable to rehabilitate. May they come back soon in healthy bodies to wonderful homes!
I
want to make a tax-deductible contribution to AERO
