SUFFOLK, Va. — News 3 is following through on a story about horses rescued from North Carolina July 26.
As of Aug. 2, the horses had begun the rehab process so News 3 is talking to a representative from the organization that coordinated the rescue about what she's dealing with and what's next for the horses.
Debby Kelly is a busy woman.
Along with caring for seven horses on her property, she now has more than 20 horses rescued from a farm in Pasquotank County, North Carolina she’s trying to keep tabs on.
They were rescued after being found in poor condition.
Watch: 23 Horses rescued from North Carolina farm
“The death threats stopped the first day," Kelly said.
Kelly is the regional director for the U.S. Equine Rescue League North Coastal Region.
She said she had been getting threatening phone calls ever since the news got out the Rescue League was called in to rescue the horses.
“I don’t worry about my safety because I’m just cocky enough to not care," Kelly said.
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She said people have also been calling and complaining about the way the rescue is being handled. She says she's working with law enforcement to address those threats.
“It’s just incredibly frustrating when you have people that want to piece meal what you’re doing and they have no idea what you’re doing," Kelly emphasized. 'You’re getting too many donations from this group and not enough from this group’ or ‘How are you takin care of this’ or ‘Why didn’t you do this.’ Most of the time, I just ask them ‘Were you there? Did you see this?’ Because if you weren’t there, hush.”
Watch: Virginia Beach facility helping rehab horse rescued from Pasquotank County
Of the 23 horses rescued, two were sent back to their owners because they had contracts for their horses to be trained, Kelly said. She said four of the other horses were owned by other owners who were boarding them at the farm and the remaining 17 horses were owned by the farm.
Those 21 horses are now owned by the Rescue League.
On July 29, News 3 introduced you to one of the horses and the women helping rehab it in Virginia Beach.
“I cried. I just cried, and so did a few others. It’s sickening. It makes you angry," said one of the women said.
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She was emotional when talking about helping rescue the horses.
Kelly said all of the horses being rehabbed seemed to be doing well and will be adopted out when they’re healthy. She said all of the owners were given a choice of surrendering their horses or having them seized and then having to go to court.
As News 3 has reported, the Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office is investigating this case. News 3 called Friday to try to get an update but did not get a response.
If you have a concern about a horse, contact your local animal; control officer with as much evidence, including pictures if possible, you can get.
