A Northern California man was arrested this week for what some members of a local animal rescue group have described as the "worst cases of animal cruelty they've witnessed." According to CBS Sacramento, Dwight Bennett, the owner of Whispering Pines Ranch in Lassen County, was charged with 30 counts of animal cruelty.
Authorities searched his 54-acre ranch this week and found the remains of 28 horses and and two dogs. The Sacramento Bee reports that police also seized five firearms and "a small amount" of methamphetamine and marijuana.
Over the past several months, The Grace Foundation, an equine rescue and rehabilitation ranch near Sacramento, has rescued 56 horses from the Whispering Pines Ranch. Adding to an already slow and difficult recovery process, rescuers discovered that 18 of the horses are pregnant.
Sadly, "there aren't enough people with the means and interest" to take care of the horses, reported CBS Sacramento. The Grace Foundation founder Beth DeCaprio said, "We're just desperately asking the community to step up and help us in any way they can."
In September, a Colorado woman learned about 60 horses bound for slaughter in Mexico and raised the money to save them. Horse lovers from around the world donated $24,000 in five days to save the horses.
Another organization, Red Bucket Equine Rescue, was created after a couple discovered a graveyard of skeletons and 50 starving abandoned horses, eating each other's tails trying to survive.
For more information about how you can help the surviving Whispering Pines horses, visit The Grace Foundation's website.
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