Please help! Oscar's story....

AndiK

AndiK

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I am afraid I have a sad story to tell and I need some help and advice.

Two years ago my step mother brought a horse, we rescued him effectively because he was starved and in a bad way. She kept him at the same yard as my horse and I cared for him for 6 days out of 7 for nearly two and a half years.

Unfortunately, my father and step mother have been going through a separation recently and she has finally moved out of the marital home.

Last Friday my friend rang me and told me my horse was going ballistic and that Oscar had gone... She got him in for me and I thought to myself 'She has moved him then'.

I got to the yard on Friday afternoon to discover that Oscar's head collar and the rug I had turned him out in the morning, all of his other rugs, feed bowl and hay net were still at the yard but he was not. I grew suspicious.... I went home and as the dogs had been with me and had got dirty I was towling them off and discovered one of them had their front paws soaked in blood, after checking her pads my suspicions that something sinister had occurred grew. When I went to the yard on the Saturday morning I went to where the dogs had been sniffing about and generally had been very interested in the area. I found blood and the ground was disturbed and tyre tracks led to and away from the area. I knew then in my heart of hearts what had happened.

On Tuesday evening it was confirmed to me by a member of her family that she had had him shot. He was a perfectly healthy 11 year old ISH and she destroyed him. I think she destroyed him thinking she could claim on the insurance as he was insured for £4K. I have rang them and told them what she has done and they assured me that she can't claim without a certificate. The vet came out yesterday to vaccinate my horse and assured me she knew nothing about it. My poor horse is so confused and keeps shouting and looking for his friend, it breaks my heart that not only has she destroyed a perfectly healthy animal for her own gain but she has upset my horse so much and left him in the field going mental because they took his friend and shot him.

I dont know what else to do. It is important to note that she kept telling me that she had lost his passport and even accused my sister of stealing it.

Can anyone please advise or point me in the right direction? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
 
I am not sure there is anything you can do unless you have proof of ownership in the form of a reciept. A passport is not proof of ownership.
 
Have you spoken to your step mum about it?

I really wouldn't know what to do, unfortunately she is within her right to have him destroyed as she owned him. Not saying it was the right thing to do. :confused:
 
She wont answer my calls, I suspect she is thoroughly ashamed of her self and rightly so.

I feel so bad because if I had known what she was upto I would have moved the Earth to save him.
 
hey, how sad for you, but yes it seems if she was the legal owner of the horse- even though we understand you have been the one caring for him alot of the time, there is not much that you can do. It is very sad that she felt she had to end the horses life, insurance is not an option i wouldn't think as there was no reaso nto have him shot was there? I feel very sorry for you, please just think of the good times he had and how you put your heart into caring for him whilst he was with you, he was happy when he went i am sure and well looked after with you. It is a bitter end and an animal losing its life completely unnessesarily which is the real shame here. If you could i would try talking to her as to why she did it, although it seems you have sort of answered that already-she thought there was financial gain in it. xx
 
Sorry, but what a bitch! How can anyone have a healthy horse that is being cared for and that has no health or behavioural issues, shot! Heartbreaking.
 
Very sad story, I am really sorry to hear this. Unfortunately if she's the horse's owner she can decide to have him PTS for no good reason. I doubt she did it for the insurance as insurance companies will only pay out if the horse is PTS for humane reasons under a vet's instructions. Maybe she couldn't afford him?
 
What a cow. How would she like it if someone shot her just because they thought they could gain something out of it, people like that shouldn't be allowed horses. I'm not really sure how people like that can live with themselves.

Do you have any writing in paper about you caring for him? Did you pay for his costs or did you just do the work for her? I don't know if any of this can make any difference but at least she probably won't be able to claim for it.
 
People keep saying she shot the horse to gain something(money). Nobody knows this to be fact. Does anyone know for certain the horse is even deceased? Evidence appears so but there is no certainty that I have read.


She may have had other motivations to have him destroyed that nobody is mentioning. It is possible that knowing the horse was her responsibility maybe she thought it was best destroyed than sold on if she had no future means of caring for it? Especially if he had been a neglected rescue previously.

My heart tells me that I wished she had asked the OP if she would like Oscar first and that the OP was able to take this responsibility on but none of us have any way of truly knowing why this woman detroyed the horse. (or if she did)

If she did it purely out of spite because of divorce then she is a sad individual but we do not know her reasons.
 
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JadeWisc said:
People keep saying she shot the horse to gain something(money). Nobody knows this to be fact. Does anyone know for certain the horse is even deceased? Evidence appears so but there is no certainty that I have read.


She may have had other motivations to have him destroyed that nobody is mentioning. It is possible that knowing the horse was her responsibility maybe she thought it was best destroyed than sold on if she had no future means of caring for it? Especially if he had been a neglected rescue previously.

My heart tells me that I wished she had asked the OP if she would like Oscar first and that the OP was able to take this responsibility on but none of us have any way of truly knowing why this woman detroyed the horse. (or if she did)

If she did it purely out of spite because of divorce then she is a sad individual but we do not know her reasons.
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I do agree but I can't really think of many valid reasons why someone would shoot a healthy horse which someone else is/was happily looking after anyway (if the horse did indeed get pts). If she couldn't care for him I am pretty sure someone out there would have given him a good home.
 
jadelovescassie said:
I do agree but I can't really think of many valid reasons why someone would shoot a healthy horse which someone else is/was happily looking after anyway (if the horse did indeed get pts). If she couldn't care for him I am pretty sure someone out there would have given him a good home.
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Sure and I get that. I even agree and that would be my choice I imagine BUT there are too many possibilities here for anyone to be bashing this woman and what she supposedly has done.


It is possible that she contemplated long and hard about this and felt it was best? especially if Oscar had a history of past neglect. Maybe she felt the OP did not have the means to take on the horse permanantly and maybe it was the best choice for her to live with? The OP said she cared for him but she not say she was able to financially support him as well as her own? Sounds like the womean was already in a rocky life changing situation and may have had to make some hard choices.


I'll stop making up scenarios because none of us know all the details. I feel bad for the OP and especially her horse if this has been hurtfull. The choice had to be with the owner though and it is possible her intentions for this horse were pure.
 
JadeWisc said:
It is possible that she contemplated long and hard about this and felt it was best? especially if Oscar had a history of past neglect. Maybe she felt the OP did not have the means to take on the horse permanantly and maybe it was the best choice for her to live with? The OP said she cared for him but she not say she was able to financially support him as well as her own? Sounds like the womean was already in a rocky life changing situation and may have had to make some hard choices.
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Have to say I thought this too. There are always 2 sides to a story and whilst this is all very sad for you and your horse, there may be alot of stuff re the split between your step mum and dad that you don't know about.
You can never guarantee when you part with your horse that he will end up in the wonderful home you would wish for any maybe that is what troubled her. A very tough decision to make, but shooting a horse isn't always the worst thing that can happen to him. As previous poster has said, maybe money is a big problem for your step mum - it very often is when a marriage/partnership breaks up.
Hope you find some answers soon.
 
Booboos said:
Very sad story, I am really sorry to hear this. Unfortunately if she's the horse's owner she can decide to have him PTS for no good reason. I doubt she did it for the insurance as insurance companies will only pay out if the horse is PTS for humane reasons under a vet's instructions. Maybe she couldn't afford him?
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Booboos - trust me you dont know the half of it.... She never was very bright and I truely believe she did with £4K insurance in mind....
 
Thanks for all your replies.... Makes for interesting reading.

FYI- I do have the means to have had him and if she had told me what she was up to I would have even given her money for him. She could have even given him to a charity. I also know for definite that he is dead, a friend confirmed it to me yesterday afternoon but my step mothers sister told me on Tuesday evening too.

Would it help you to understand what kind of women she is if I told you that after she had cleared out the family home I discovered that she took antique furniture and china that belonged to my mother..... I dont believe she ever really cared for him, he was just an accessory, that why I was caring for him 6 days out of 7. In my heart I believe that she did thins harbouring the misconception that she could claim on the insurance.
 
Sounds more like she did it out of spite to me. Didn't want to leave you anything that was hers. It must be shattering for you. I would want to have it out with her.
 
AndiK said:
Thanks for all your replies.... Makes for interesting reading.

FYI- I do have the means to have had him and if she had told me what she was up to I would have even given her money for him. She could have even given him to a charity. I also know for definite that he is dead, a friend confirmed it to me yesterday afternoon but my step mothers sister told me on Tuesday evening too.

Would it help you to understand what kind of women she is if I told you that after she had cleared out the family home I discovered that she took antique furniture and china that belonged to my mother..... I dont believe she ever really cared for him, he was just an accessory, that why I was caring for him 6 days out of 7. In my heart I believe that she did thins harbouring the misconception that she could claim on the insurance.
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Thanks for clarifying and as I said before. if she did this just for spite or money that is wicked. I hope you all are able to heal from this. Even though I know there are two sides to every story in a divorce that does not take the pain away or the fact that some people can get nasty.

Divorce can be brutal and sometimes bring out immense strength in some while bringing out the very essence of evil in others. Obvioulsy a lot more people than just the married couple often suffer too.

If her intentions were truly greedy, evil and unprovoked with Oscar she will have karma return to her. There is obvioulsy nothing more you can do now but move on and learn from this. Have you found a companion to stay with your horse yet or has he calmed?
 
Hi Jade,

My boy is calming, he can see others and one of the old boys goes and speaks to him in the morning as that is when he shouts and looks for Oscar. Its very sad and it breaks my heart that I can not explain to him that Oscar is never coming back :o( He was much more himself when I brought him in this evening and there is a new livery coming to stay in Oscars stable so I hope that will help him realise that Oscar has gone.

Again, thanks for all the replies - all I really wanted to know was if there was anything legal I could do - seems wrong that a healthy animal can be destroyed on a whim.... At least I know for sure she wont get a chuffing penny out of this.
 
....what has your father got to say about it?

Sounds like you are both well rid of the woman to be honest.

Such a shame she decided to do this - you must be gutted for yourself, your horse and poor Oscar:(

Is she really stupid enough to shoot a horse thinking that it was that simple to claim on the insurance?

Although I don't think you should torture yourself by digging deeper beyond having it out with the woman herself, I'd be tempted to see if I could find who had shot the horse and ask them for their account of it all - you might be told that the horse had injured himself badly, or that your SM was just crazy that day.

I'm so sorry you are going through this.
 
Has anyone looked at this from the other side so to speak. The owner of Oscar has separated from her husband,not something that is usually done lightly or on a whim. She ,I suspect,cannot care for a horse due to lack of money or time,or both. She decided that the horse wouldnt be passed from pillar to post,become a welfare issue ,maybe become part of a protracted legal claim over divorce assets,maybe end up going on a meat lorry to the continent...........so,she decided to have the horse PTS ,at her own expence,at home in familiar surroundings. She will be unable to claim insurance unless she sends the insurers a vet certificate saying euthinasia was needed for a medical reason. This is not thecase here. Whilst I do not condone destroying healthy animals , I can see that if the owner couldnt afford to keep the horse that in this uncertain economic climate she thought she was doing the right thing by him. Sad though.
 
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