Horses found starving and abandoned

SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. (WSVN) -- Officials believe the owners of horses found in heartbreaking conditions may have had to make a desperate decision leading to their abandonment.

It's a tough economy, and owning horses is very expensive. Sadly, some owners are just dumping them, leaving them to starve to death. As for what may have happened to one of the new horses at the ranch owned and operated by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Jeanette Jordan of the SPCA, is only sure of one thing: "Nothing good."

Thursday Night this female horse was found wandering a rural area of Southwest Miami-Dade, near Southwest 168th Street and 203rd Avenue, with one other horse, skinny and near death. The other was so bad it had to be put down. "One of the horses was so far gone, it was very emaciated, that the vet made that decision from the SPCA," said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Lt. Scott Mullin.

The vet said the mare would not have even survived the ride to a shelter. Jordan described the female horse's condition: "The other one's eyeball was bulging out of the socket, and she had intestinal rot, no less. She had no rectal wall. She was unable to stand ... Bad care or no care whatsoever, that's what causes that."

The survivor has been named Ariel, and for now, she would rather socialize with the other horses. "I guarantee that, within a couple of months, this little female mare that we got out of the ditch will be like him," Jordan said, stroking the face of another horse who would not stop nuzzling her throughout the interview, "and will come when called and will love us and have a lot more weight on."

All animals here, including two emus, are all up for adoption. In the meantime, the animals cost the SPCA more than $250,000 a year to house and feed. If you wish to help, visit the SPCA's website above.

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