Detroit Free Press
Oakland County News Briefs
October 28, 2007
By Bill Laitner

     At Oakland County's animal-rescue farm in Orion Township, a thorourghbred horse that county authorities said was starving and dehydrated is now thriving -- the beneficiary of more than $10,000 in donations that officials say flowed in after a Free Press story on Sept. 26
     But the county has yet to take legal action against a Springfield Township woman that investigators say neglected the horse after being warned.
     "I'm trying to negotiate with her although there's nothign to negotiate," said Director of Public Services Mike Zehnder, who oversees animal control for the county.  The county has declined to identify the woman.
     "Either I will pursue this legally and go after all of our expenses, or she will sign the forfeiture form and the horse is ours.
     "We've tried to communicate.  I sent an officer out there last week and she threw him off the property," Zehnder said Thursday.  He said the county would send the woman a letter, setting conditions in which it might settle out of court.
     "She's not going to get this horse back," Zehnder added.
     The county expects to spend about $3,500 boarding the horse until concluding a settlement or court case, then find a new home for the horse while saving the balance of donations "for more of these kinds of abuse cases," said Oakland Pet Adoption Center manager Larry Obrecht.