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FEEDback READER REACTION TO RECENT ARTICLES
HOARDING HORSES
I have to disagree with the comment that these owners have a “bond” with their animals [“Is Vermont Failing Its Livestock? A Tale of Two Animal-Abuse Cases,” December 14]. The bond that these people feel for their animals is not love for the animal; it is the same sickness that affects hoarders. According to research on this condition, hoarders are mentally ill. I have been in hoarding situations where dead cats were decaying in the house. Dying cats were left to die by owners who “loved” them. This is not love; this is an obsession. People who ignore the suffering of animals they own do not love them. Animals belonging to these sick people need protection. The law protects them from abuse and neglect, but only if applied effectively. Not the case here. Peggy W. Larson WILLISTON
Larson is a Colchester-based veterinarian
CONCERNED CITIZEN
[Re “Is Vermont Failing Its Livestock? A Tale of Two Animal-Abuse Cases,” December 14]: I saw a skeletal horse in Vermont last year and was so incensed by its appearance, I called to report it. I started with our local humane society, which referred me to the police of the
TIM NEWCOMB
area. I called them and was referred again to a state representative for animal welfare, who was then out of town, who then referred me back to the police, who then told me they couldn’t do anything about it until the person was back in town. I asked all of these agencies to let me know they had followed up on my complaint and not one of them called me back. That horse was on its last leg and, having described it that way, I was shocked that not one person seemed even a little interested in doing anything about it. It was disgusting. It was also very frustrating that no one seemed to know a set course of action. Each person I talked to seemed unsure of who the right contact was, didn’t know a name and certainly didn’t seem concerned at all. Beth Demers
LEBANON, N.H.
REALITY CHECK
[Re “Is Vermont Failing Its Livestock? A Tale of Two Animal-Abuse Cases,” December 14]: It is all well and good to say seize them, when referring to neglected animals, but then, who pays for that? You can’t give away good horses in this market. I used to be able to comfortably retire my horses — that have taught hundreds of children to ride — with former students. Now I am reduced to putting