Flame – the Horse That Refused to Die

By Bill Reilly

Who Cares They Are Only Animals

The true, shocking story of an animal rescue that took 14 months and the death of three of the characters will show you what Humane Law Officers really go thru.

Everyone knows there are laws to protect children, the elderly, the disadvantaged, spouses and even those charged with crimes... But how about animals? Who protects them and what are they protected against? They are only animals.

The majority of this story takes place on a 12 acre piece of property that formed a small mountain. Nothing that happened could be seen from any roads. The animals were owned by a hermit who needed help almost as much as they did.

If you are interested in animals, suspense or drama and believe that human nature and abuse do not discriminate, you must read what happened.

At the end you will read about a few other cases where human nature prevailed when the animal owners also needed help. Each one contains its own intrigue. By the time you are finished, you will learn how animals should be cared for and why they must be protected.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 2, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499008852

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 by Bill Reilly.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2014907636

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-4990-0887-6

                Softcover         978-1-4990-0888-3

                eBook              978-1-4990-0885-2

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Photo Credit—Stacey Lumley @ Montgomery, N.Y.

Rev. date: 04/29/2014

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris LLC

1-888-795-4274

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CONTENTS

Foreword

Preface

Chapter 1: Just A Routine Phone Call

Chapter 2: Snow, Rain And Mud

Chapter 3: The Ultimatum

Chapter 4: Dr. Jekyll Or Mr. Hyde

Chapter 5: Let’s Try A Who’s Who

Chapter 6: Not Real Happy With Us

Chapter 7: I Really Tried To Avoid This

Chapter 8: Another Bad Winter

Chapter 9: You Can’t Make This Up

Chapter 10: The Rest Of The Story

Chapter 11: Where Are They Now?

Chapter 12: The Transition And Why

Chapter 13: The Dog In The Bathroom

Chapter 14: Dead On The Lawn

Chapter 15: Almost A Tragedy

Chapter 16: Are Dogs Color Blind?

Chapter 17: Has Anyone Seen Ebony?

Chapter 18: Autistic Children

Chapter 19: Finally… . The Final Chapter

Chapter 20: Acknowledgements

Chapter 21: A Little Education

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FOREWORD

T here is a famous essay by Loren Eiseley titled The Star Thrower. It talks about a wise man that was walking on a beach and notices someone throwing things into the sea. As he hurries to catch up, he asks the stranger what he is doing and is told that he is throwing starfish into the ocean. Surprised by this answer, he then asks the young man why he would do this and the man replied, " The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them in, they’ll die."

Upon hearing this, the wise man decides to educate the starfish thrower with a bit of his wisdom and comments, But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can’t possibly make a difference!

At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, It made a difference for that one.

Over the years I’ve spent hundreds of hours in a patrol vehicle with Bill. The conversation that resonated with me the most was concerning the path he believed led to success. Bill told me that to be successful, you needed to stand by one underlying principle; surround yourself with good people. He claimed that’s what he had always done. When I think about what I saw the Humane Law Department accomplish in the years that I was there, I know this to be true. I was fortunate to be surrounded by a talented team of individuals, both officers and volunteers who made it possible to do phenomenal things with precious little to work with.

We worked undercover to investigate dogfighting related crimes, talked our way into the homes of hoarders, left no stone unturned in pursuit of abandonment cases and unwound the intricacies of abuse cases often revealing child and spousal abuse in the process. Looking back into the portal that Bill crafted is a reminder that it wasn’t all about the legal cases, the warrants and arrests, it wasn’t all about saving animals. Just as often as we prosecuted people, we instructed them, counselled them, and extended resources that were desperately needed. The characters Bill brings to life in his book were some of those stranded starfish we managed to toss back into the sea.

Bill was an expert at picking up starfish. He found his way to the SPCA chasing word of a newspaper story detailing an arrest made by our department for an emaciated dog who was discovered in a clothing drop box. With an unlikely background in computer science, he wasn’t the typical Humane Law Volunteer, but he held the promise of a genuine devotion to the department’s mission. I didn’t come from a traditional law enforcement background, so I was open to seeing potential in untraditional places. Bill didn’t disappoint me, and he certainly kept me on my toes.

Bill embodies something that is desperately needed in the United States today; volunteerism. The Humane Law Department was available 24 hours a day for emergencies and investigated thousands of complaints per year. We ran training academies for humane law officers, taught remedial classes to convicted offenders, and ran PAWS; a cruelty prevention and animal care class for school aged children. Officers were paid for a forty hour workweek, but typically worked almost double that time. We did what so many non-profit employees find themselves doing out of devotion and with a fierce determination to see things through. Without volunteers like Bill and our interns, much of what we were able to accomplish would not have been possible. He worked with a commitment equal to that of any employee and is an especially talented teacher and storyteller. He took over the PAWS education program, expanding it more than anyone imagined it could grow. He worked with us on a myriad of cases, and took special interest in those that involved helping people. Bill’s story speaks to kindness and humility in all of us, but it also carries with it undertones of duty and commitment. Every hour of volunteered time could represent another starfish somewhere tossed back into the sea.

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PREFACE

L ike many of the SPCA’s (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) across the country, the organization I was part of is a non-profit organization which is supported through donations. In addition to rescuing animals that have been abandoned and/or need medical treatment and then finding them permanent homes, this SPCA has a second mission which deals with enforcing all of the State Animal Cruelty and Abuse laws in the County. This was done by Peace Officers that have been trained by the County Sheriff’s Dept. and certified by the State Department of Justice.

The primary story you are about to read involves two horses that had been living on a piece of property for almost their entire lives. They are a father and son and the mother died soon after the son was born. The property was privately owned by a man that had many serious physical and mental problems. It was a very isolated, 12 acre parcel that cannot be observed from any roads. Even the closest neighbors were not aware of what happened here. The investigation and the ultimate results are in some ways sad, quite detailed and full of suspense. I suspect there are times that you will be as shocked as I was when you finish reading this story.

I may change a name or two to protect those involved and do not use last names for the same reason but everything in this story is true. It is one of the most heart-warming events I have ever been involved with. It has taught me a lot about human nature and why I love animals as much as I do.

The main story is about this case and six more events have been added that also focus on human nature as much as they do on the animals.

I hope you will enjoy and appreciate what you are about to read.

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CHAPTER 1

Just a Routine Phone Call

A t about 4:30 P.M. on a Saturday in January 2010, I was sitting at my workstation in the Humane Law office when the phone rang. The caller said he was a Sergeant with a local police agency and needed our help. He told me that there were two horses walking on a road that needed to be secured and returned to their property. He then said that one of his officers was on the scene and had tried for about an hour to catch them but was unable to. His immediate concern was that they were about 300 yards from a major highway, where traffic is typically heavy and travels at 55-65 MPH. If the horses made it to the highway, a disaster would surely happen. This fairly simple and routine phone call began a saga that affected the lives of two animals and dozens of people for almost 14 months.

I started asking the Sergeant several questions but unfortunately, did not get many good answers. During our discussion he told me that the owner of the horses had called him and said he was in a local hospital, was concerned that he had