CASE STUDY: Compassion and Courage save a Severely Abused Mare
WARNING: The details of this case may be disturbing to some readers. Gail Jewell, DVM, CAC, is a holistic veterinarian who practices in the Lower Mainland and Okanagan areas of British Columbia. With her emphasis on chiropractic and homeopathy, she is used to dealing with devoted horse owners willing to do most anything to help their horses. In 1998, however, when she was called out by the SPCA to examine an injured horse in Aldergrove, BC, she became a central player in an animal cruelty case that brought her face to face with the worst of human nature. The horse was an Appaloosa filly now named Kessie, approximately 1 ½ years old, who had gotten a leg caught in a piece of derelict farm machinery left in a field housing a number of horses and cows. “The place was wall-to-wall junk”, says Jewell, “so it’s amazing more animals didn’t get hurt there.” As for Kessie, she was unable to get...