In January of this year 48 malnourished horses were taken from a farm in Unison by Loudoun County Animal Care and Control authorities. A Loudoun County Grand Jury later indicted Dennis B. Danley of Charles Town, West Virginia, on 48 counts of animal cruelty and soon thereafter he began serving a 90-day jail sentence in West Virginia for violating the terms of his probation on an earlier charge of animal cruelty.

When the sudden arrival of 48 horses proved a severe burden on Loudoun County's facilities, sixteen horses were sent to Roanoke Valley Horse Rescue in Hardy, Virginia. The Eccentric asked the facility's President and Founder, Patricia L. Muncy, how they were doing. Muncy reported, ". . . we took in 16 of these horses, of which 2 have now foaled . . . ." Now, ". . . we have a total of 18. Everyone is doing great. Many of them are putting on much needed weight and getting the care that they need."

At press time Roanoke Valley had already placed five of the horses with new owners, and five more were "waiting to go home to their new families."

Gracie and Dakota

Veronica Killion and her family promised to adopt one of the Loudoun 48 and, instead, took two. "We took in Gracie, a beautiful 15-year-old mare," Killion told the Eccentric. "She had a foal . . . while still at Roanoke Valley Horse Rescue . . . and we took the foal too."

"I have six children and they are all over the moon to have Gracie and her little colt Dakota. Gracie is super sweet and seems right at home at our house. She seems to be an old pro at parenting Dakota. . . . We hope to give all of them a happy, loving home since they have been through a lot and deserve a break."

Contributions Welcome

"With the additional cost of good feed and good hay," Muncy said, "we are still in great need of donations to care for them . . . along with tack supplies. Four of the geldings we took in also turned out to still be stallions, so we just had them gelded . . . at a cost of $750.00 which we did not expect to have when we took them in."

Contributions may be sent to Roanoke Valley Horse Rescue Inc. at: P.O. Box 13, 1725 Edwardsville Rd, Hardy, VA 24101, 540-797-1999, www.rvhr.com

Loudoun County Animal Care and Control may be reached at 39820 Charles Town Pike, Waterford, VA 20197, 703-777-0406, 540-882-3211, Fax: 540-882-3984, e-mail: animals@loudoun.gov