Pahrump Valley Times
2160 E. Calvada Blvd.Pahrump, NV 89048
Marie Wujek, Publisher
Mark Smith, Editor
Re: Letter to the Editor
Dear Mr. Smith,
I am writing in regard to your ridiculous and completely unfounded April 3rd
story regarding my “alleged” photo shopping of the after photographs of the five
horses that were taken from the Dream Chaser Ranch Horse Rescue located in
Pahrump. Not one photograph was altered in any way. When I asked Ms. Wujek why I
was never contacted, or anyone at my facility ever contacted, to get our side of
the story, I was told that it was not necessary as I do not live in Nye County.
Shiloh would have been more than happy for your paper to come out and take your
own photos of the horses. Instead, Gina B. Good went ahead and wrote her
lopsided and laughable article and you went ahead and printed it on the front
page. To me that is shameful journalism and frankly, you should be embarrassed.
If the horses “looked” healthier- it’s because THEY ARE! All five horses have
gained weight and are healthier in the two months that they have been in the
care of Shiloh Horse Rescue. I invite all your readers to visit Dream Chaser’s
website at
http://www.dcrhorserescue.com as I am sure they will understand why we were,
and still are, extremely concerned for the horses at this facility. Since the
rescue of these five horses, I have been contacted by many members of your
community who have been concerned for years about the health of the horses in
Ms. Davis’ care. Ms. Davis also claims and accepts donations as a 501(c) 3 non
profit, for which no documentation has been provided after numerous requests.
This is a violation of IRS guidelines for non profit organizations.
Perhaps a better use of your newspaper would be to try to better the lives and
improve the laws to better protect the animals in your county. I would suggest
you get a few Animal Control officers who actually know something about horses
and who don’t fall for the old “they are skinny because they are in a rescue”
excuse. Mr. Tim McCarty admitted to us in our February 18th meeting concerning
this issue that he readily acknowledged the problems at Dream Chasers, but as
too often happens, he took the easy way out. He complained that there would be a
load of paperwork and turned his head away.
Dr. Hensler went out on the site check with Mr. McCarty to evaluate the
conditions of the remaining horses. Sadly, after body scoring some of the horses
at emaciated and starvation levels, Dr. Hensler also failed to come to the aid
of these horses. Claims that “there is food on the property” does nothing if the
horses are not actually being fed the food. In my opinion, horses in a “rescue”
situation should not suffer from a lack of shelters from the cold of winter and
the heat of summer. They should not lack adequate turn out and exercise nor
regular vet and farrier care. On February 12th, by Ms. Davis’ own admission,
these horses were “doing fine” on a diet that falls far below minimum feeding
guidelines for a full sized horse. These are basic needs that any responsible
horse owner and horse rescue should be happy to provide.
Shiloh has been in meetings all of this past week in Las Vegas with the Humane
Society of the United States and the Animal Welfare Institiute, as well as fifty
other large and well run horse rescues from across the country. We are hoping to
standardize horse rescues and improve the welfare of horses throughout the
United States. Perhaps it is time now for the people of Pahrump to turn their
eyes to their own backyard and make some positive changes for horses, and other
animals, in their county. Let’s stop turning a blind eye, stop making up lame
excuses, report abuse and neglect, and take a stand for the animals who are not
able to stand up for themselves.
The Internet is a powerful
communications tool, but it's also no secret that malicious postings can ruin
businesses as well as lives.
However, in Diane Davis's
case, it was an innocent posting on Craigslist by a part-time volunteer that
started her troubles.
The woman said Dream Chaser
needed donations of supplies like halters, lead ropes and feed.
"That lead some people to
assume we couldn't feed our horses," said Davis. Apparently, Jill Curtis of
Shiloh Horse Rescue in Sandy Valley, was one of those
people.
On Feb. 12, Curtis visited
Dream Chaser to transport a number of horses who needed advanced treatment to
Shiloh. "Jill has more resources than we do," explained
Davis. "Shiloh is in Clark
County, which gives Jill access to numerous veterinarians. She also does
business across the state line. She told me she gets X-rays for
free in California.
"Our horse, Tenacity, had
unexplained weakness in one leg," said Davis. "How do you help a horse when you
don't know what's wrong with it? Jill told me she works
with a veterinarian school. I
thought maybe we could get Tenacity more help if we gave her to Shiloh."
The second horse given to
Shiloh, named Brandy, needed work on her feet but was too weak to stand on three
legs while the work was done. According to Davis,
Curtis had the equipment
available to address the situation. Davis released a total of five horses who
needed specialized help.
But the same day Curtis
blasted Dream Chasers on her Web site's blog, saying they were not able to pick
up the horses they had most wanted to help.
Curtis wrote, "We begged,
pleaded, and even offered to buy both Blaze and Charlie Brown ... but we could
not save them. It was a horrible day for all of us who went to
help the horses.
"The condition of these
horses is inexcusable and something has got to be done as some of them will not
live long if things do not change. We heard every excuse in
the book today about why the
horses are all so thin and in such bad shape."
That dire prediction has been
proved false.
More than a month and a half
later, the horses are alive and well taken care of, according to veterinarian
Gerald Hensler's examination just six days later. Davis
readily acknowledges that
both horses are thin. Charlie Brown is more than 30 years old, has a heart
murmur and no teeth but is slowly filling out on a gruel diet
augmented by corn oil.
Blaze is nine and on a senior
diet. He is a cribber, meaning he chews on his fencing, causing gas to form in
his stomach. According to Davis, many horses who are
starved crib because when gas
fills their stomach, they aren't as hungry.
She said it's a hard habit to
break, but Davis and her volunteers watch Blaze carefully to assure he eats.
Blaze was starved before Davis rescued him.
Since Feb. 12, Curtis has
relentlessly mentioned how much better the "Fab Five." as she calls the horses
from Dream Chaser, are doing at Shiloh.
In fact, two weeks after the
five horses were brought to Shiloh, Curtis posted photographs showing remarkable
progress. Their ribs were no longer showing and their
coats had improved.
In fact, there is another
theory why the horses look so much healthier in such a short time.
Earlier in March, Pahrump
Valley Times photographer Horace Langford Jr. noticed that some photographs of
the horses shown on Shiloh's Web site appear to have
been retouched.
Specifically, Langford said
some of the horses from Dream Chaser that Curtis claimed made such progress
during their first two weeks at her facility looked as if they
were "badly Photoshopped by
an amateur." Langford said there are obvious differences in pixilation.
A second opinion was obtained
by sending a link to Shiloh's Web site to Debbie Feldman Jones, a graphic
designer in Baltimore, Md. She was asked to look at the
Fab Five's before and after
pictures.
Jones agreed with Langford's
assessment. She said, "It appears that in Sweetie's after pictures, the white,
gray patches from the before photo are an unnaturally
strong shade of reddish
brown."
She also said the after
images "have more dense color, which is something that can be modified in
Photoshop and added, "If the richer color is smoothed out while
the rest show clear pixels,
then I will say with certainty that the photos have been retouched."
The photos on Shiloh's Web
site look as though the rib area of the horses have been smoothed over, making
them look healthier.
The horses in question:
The above article is the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of Vegas Community Online, its editors/publishers, and/or other Vegas Community Online columnists. VCO respects the right of each author to express their opinion. If you have an opposing viewpoint or would like to send feedback on any article, please send email to
feedback@vegascommunityonline.com; state the title of the article and your comments. VCO reserves the right to add any submissions to its feedback page.
