This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Animals still need your help.

Imagine being thirsty and starved almost to death with water and food close by, but that your legs have been tied together, or “hobbled,” and the ropes that confine you are stopping you from reaching the vital provisions you desperately need. Law enforcement officials are powerless to help horses, goats, cows and other animals who commonly face this form of torture in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi. Act now to free horses, goats and cows from this slow torturous death — end hobbling, tethering, and deprivation in Tallahatchie County!

Tethering or hobbling as a means of imprisoning horses, goats, cows, or other animals considered “livestock” is cruel and subjects animals to constant pain and discomfort as well as possible attack or injury. 

Concerned Tallahatchie County community members reported the plight of two such tethered horses to In Defense of Animals in June of this year. We launched a joint investigation with the Sheriff’s Department and found two horses suffering severe neglect on separate properties along the same gravel road. 

Mercifully, we were able to free these horses from their torment. We worked with the Tallahatchie County Sheriff’s Department and community members to seize the horses and provide them with sustenance, veterinary attention, and temporary housing. 

The negligent “guardian” of one of the horses is guilty of repeated animal neglect. In merely three years, In Defense of Animals has aided a total of six of this man’s unfortunate horses. Some were suffering so badly that they had to be euthanized. 

This awful case — and the hobbling, tethering and neglect of hundreds of goats, cows and other animals — shows the desperate need for a ban on tethering and hobbling. 

Tallahatchie County is one of the poorest counties in the state of Mississippi. Although it is poor, the county is rich with people who care, and together with your support, we can show the concerned local sheriff support for a county-wide ordinance that will curb this incredibly cruel form of ill-treatment of animals in Tallahatchie County.

Our proposed ordinance would ban tethering and hobbling for horses, goats and cows, and also regulate and restrict dog tethering. Those guardians who fail to prevent their animals from destructive and nuisance behavior would be fined to deter animal abuse by aggravated neighbors. 

If our ordinance is passed, law enforcement officials and animal rescuers like In Defense of Animals will no longer have to wait until tethered or hobbled animals endure neglect to the point where the full extent of their suffering shows before we can act. Animals would be allowed to legally be liberated from their horror and freed to safety! 

What YOU Can Do 

This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Animals still need your help.