WKU Employees Care For
'Forgotten, Mistreated Animals'
December 19, 2003
Bowling Green, Ky. - Karen Thurman has an important, but often thankless job. She is a Western Kentucky University parking enforcement officer, also known as "the ticket lady." Not exactly a
friend-winning job, but there is much to be admired about Karen Thurman.
Thurman is the owner, groundskeeper and sole employee of the Rainhill Equine Facility, a 185-acre farm in Warren County that is home to cats, dogs and 16 horses.
"It has always been an interest of mine and a great love of mine to take care of the sad, forgotten, mistreated animals of the world," Thurman said.
Though she has several dogs and cats, she is particularly fond of horses, having taught horseback riding for 10 years. Some of the horses currently living at Rainhill were used to teach horseback riding, but others are horses she has rescued or adopted.
"It's referred to as either rehab, rescue or retirement," she said, "and I'm involved in doing all three of those."
Thurman said that horses become in need of rehab, rescue or retirement for a variety of reasons. Often, changes in a family's income can make continuing to care for a horse an impossibility. In other cases, a horse becomes injured and its owners are either unable or unwilling to provide the proper medical treatment. Still more horses simply become old, unwanted, or not fast enough to continue careers in racing.
Typically, a horse in one of these situations will be sent to an auction house. Previously, the majority of horses sent to auction would be slaughtered, not for dog food or glue as is widely assumed, but for human consumption in Asia and Europe, more common due to recent outbreaks of mad cow and hoof and mouth diseases.
Thurman said that animal rights advocates have been successful in getting rid of the "killers." Few horse slaughterhouses are left in the United States, but Thurman said that this is not without its own negative consequences.
"Horses are still dying, mainly because people are indiscriminately breeding them," she said.
Now there is a surplus of horses, Thurman said. Whereas once the killers would bid on horses at auction, now the price of horses has dropped drastically. "Where an average horse before would bring $600 or $700, now there are no killers to bid, so every idiot with a half acre and a piece of dirt in the backyard is buying a horse."
"I used to think that the slaughterhouses were the worst thing that could happen to a horse, but we've found something worse," she said. "Instead of a relatively quick death, now people who have no ability to care for horses are buying them because they are so cheap."
Thurman attends auctions to buy "the saddest horses." She recently bought a Percheron, which is the largest breed of horse. They are workhorses used for pulling carts and plows. The horse, which she has named Mountain, weighs 1,500 pounds. Thurman purchased him for $95. The bidding began at $40.
"Where before those big animals were certainly bought by the killers, now nobody wants them. Nobody wants to feed them because they are gigantic. They eat so much more than a regular sized horse," Thurman said.
Without Thurman, Mountain would probably have died from maltreatment or starvation. This is the fate from which Thurman works - and works very hard - to save many horses. In addition to her full-time job at WKU, she also works at least 30 hours a week as a server at Cracker Barrel, all to buy and care for the horses she has rescued.
Thurman's ultimate ambition is to obtain nonprofit status for the Rainhill Equine Facility so that she can have more time and money to devote to the care of at-risk horses.
"My wish for the horse industry is the same as for the dog and cat industry, and that is fewer animals," Thurman said. "That way, when an animal comes available, there will be people who want it."
Deana Wehr, office associate in Ogden College, knows all too well what can become of unwanted animals.
Wehr volunteers at the Bowling Green Warren County Humane Society five days a week and works there one day during weekends. From her home, she arranges transportation for animals in danger of being euthanized from the local Humane Society shelter to breed-specific rescue groups located across the country. Once an animal reaches a rescue group -- a Labrador retriever reaching a rescue group in Cincinnati for example -- the dog is in no danger of being euthanized.
In addition, Wehr maintains the Humane Society's website, and has herself adopted two dogs and two cats.
Wehr urges anyone considering a pet to first think about adopting from the Humane Society. She also said that it is important to research the breed that you are interested in.
"Everybody wants a little blue-eyed Siberian Husky," Wehr said, "but once little blue-eyed Siberian husky puppies grow up, they want to roam, they want to run, they're very active, and a lot of people don't want to deal with them when they get older."
Wehr said that once this happens, the dogs wind up at the shelter. "It's hard on the animal to be adopted and brought back and adopted and brought back. Sometimes that makes the animal not adoptable."
Wehr said that animals have been returned to the shelter after only 24 hours. She encourages people to be patient and understand that it can take up to two weeks for an animal to fully adjust to new surroundings.
Researching a breed or breed mix before getting a new pet can help determine whether or not it is compatible with your home and lifestyle. Wehr said that one thing to remember, especially at this time of year, is that most small breed dogs are not fond of children unless they were raised around children. Employees and volunteers at the shelter can help people determine what type of animal is right for them.
"We want to make sure that the animal is right for the home and that the home is right for that animal," Wehr said.
She said that aside from adopting an animal from the shelter and being a responsible pet owner, there are other ways in which people can help animals at the Humane Society. Donations are always welcome, and those can include money, dog and cat food, cat litter and other supplies. Foster homes are always needed to care for an animal until it is adopted. Volunteers to help out at the shelter or to walk the dogs, allowing them to become socialized to people, are also needed.
A new no-kill facility is being built and will open soon. Animals brought to the Humane Society will first be brought to the old building to receive medical treatment and vaccinations, be spayed or neutered and temperament tested. If the animals are then deemed adoptable, they will be sent to the new no-kill facility. No animal that goes to the new building will be euthanized.
Wehr explained that the benefit of adopting an animal from the Humane Society is that for a relatively low price -- adoption fee for dogs is $70 and for cats and puppies under six months is $60 -- you receive a healthy animal that has already received its shots and has been spayed or neutered. You also get the satisfaction of knowing you saved the life of another living thing.
"When you adopt a dog from the Humane Society, that dog knows you saved its life," Wehr said.
Karen Thurman said that each person could help the increasing problem of animal overpopulation "by doing your part."
She said that if everyone took care of the animals that they have, including spaying and neutering and not indiscriminately breeding, then every animal owner would become part of the solution and not part of the problem.
People like Thurman, Wehr and others give of their time and money to improve the lives of animals that have become victims of irresponsible pet ownership.
"Everybody can help in their own way," Thurman said. "I've got other things to spend my money on, but as long as I see this mess and it hurts me as much as it does, this is what I will spend my money on. They will have before I have."
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