STOLEN EQUINE cuedeebarhemp,

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Mekeezun and her new filly Nitika, their story, Born March 24/03 (we think)

Imagine my surprise and horror, when I was told that my pregnant mare was missing and presumed stolen. The story started on Saturday night, March 22/03 in Puslinch Ontario. My mare (who had been at the birthing barn for 6 weeks) was put to bed in her stall at 7 pm. She was waxing up and the owner of the barn expected her to foal in the next 3-4 days. The owner left the barn, returning at 8 p.m. and discovered Mekeezun was not in her stall. The stall gate was on the floor. The water was not knocked over, the grain was in the bucket and the hay was on the floor.

What prompted the panic is that Mekeezun loves her food. She also does not like to leave her barn friends. There is another pregnant mare there, who is her buddy. She has many friends in the barn that she has know for a number of visits over the last 3 years.

The owner searched the barn looking for her. No sign anywhere. She then called my house to let me know, but I was in Halifax NS. She got hold of my roommate, Carrie and my boyfriend, Grant. They searched until 2 am Sunday morning along with many friends in the area.

The next morning at 6:30, a number of these friends saddled up and rode around the concessions and neighbourhood until 12 noon. The area was walked again, looking for a sign that she might have run away. No sign of Mekeezun. There were tracks of a trailer and hoof prints on gravel. It made everyone think they were Mekeezun’s because there were scuffles and her broad hoof prints in the dirt.

On Sunday I came home and went into shock, hearing for the first time about this situation. Another friend had started the paper, email and phone notifications on Sunday and a local vet gave us names of Veterinary associations to call. We continued on Monday notifying hundreds of vets, people, stables etc. We handed out flyers by the bunch. It was amazing how all these people rallied together to find the mare. We had a common cause and we were determined to beat the odds.

Tue I was at work, when I started to get messages on my cell. I called them during a break and the message was that they had found my mare, and she had had a foal. The barn owner went to pick up Mekeezun and her new filly. They were 2 concessions over at a place that everyone had been to, 2-3 times.

When she was picked up she was clean, no dirt, mud or otherwise to indicate a birthing in the forest. So we expect she was in a barn when she had the filly and then dropped off at this stable near where she had been taken on Saturday.

One of the things that I had learned on Monday was that branded horses that are reported stolen are not resalable without a bill of sale. We have a good system in place in Canada, the RCMP handle the branding process and all brands are registered. The registry for brands is in Alberta and can be contacted at http://www.lis-alberta.com/

We had the Guelph O.P.P. helping us, and they suggested tattooing would also keep the thief’s away. I was very impressed with the two officers who took the call, PC Banter helped us search the area on Saturday night and PC Melnychuk was able to provide information on the procedures for tracking a horse through the police systems. My new filly will be either branded or tattooed when she is old enough. I hope that all horse owners take on this initiate as well.

A special thanks to all the people that help with this traumatic situation, especially Linda and Pete of BurMac Quarter Horses, Jackie Flexman and Cathy, Mary and Kori, Grant, Carrie, Bruce, Judy, Marion of Whinny Acres and Shelly for searching long hours. Also want to thank Jan of Wingrove Vet Clinic for Veterinary Association phone numbers, Tina of Cambellville Equine clinic for calling me, Windsong Stables for calling their vet when they saw Mekeezun in their field, Keith from Colquhoun and Associates for giving the filly a birth date and physical, Russ Tomson my black smith for delivering flyers, and Peter Clarke of Perry Transport and all his drivers and all the tack shops and local business for posting the flyer. If I missed anyone, I apologize. I am so impressed and thankful for all the people that rallied around a common cause and that together we were able to get her back. They helped me emotionally through the process and we were able to get so much information out that the thief did not have a chance