Susan Larson, a writer, owns a rescue and rehabilitation centre for horses, Empowered Equines. One rescue, recently, has been more emotionally challenging than normal. A Horse was brought out from a truck, an Amish horse, and led to the rescue and rehabilitation centre, the horse was in the worst condition, in fact the worse Susan’s friend had ever seen. Many people have the opinion that horses overworked and abused like this would be better off dead, but Susan’s friend didn’t have such thoughts. She wanted to really make sure that the poor Amish horse was cared for and had positive experiences in his life, even if he then died soon after. Poorly as the horse was, with sores everywhere, a hacked at tail and many other problems, not to mention bad joints and marks of abuse the Amish horse was worked to within an inch of death each day. The animal didn’t have anything left, no emotions, no happiness, nothing, so when groomed by new carers and his wounds tended to, he didn’t even flinch.

The Horse really did seem dead inside, the fight had long gone, the horse did not show much desire to do much of anything, not even to interact with others, people or other horses. A veterinarian tried to reverse the painful and sore wounds, all inflicted on the horse. Incredibly the horse had a genetic disease that was why he had misaligned joints and back, called degenerative suspensory ligament desmitis, similar the human Ehlers-Danlos condition.

Despite everything, the horse was still worked into the ground, whipped, and made to carry many heavy loads. Susan, whose granddaughter and daughter have Ehlers-Danlos, was especially upset. Her granddaughter and daughter receive care and therapy, but, the horse, however, was mistreated and abused.

Windfall was to be the horse’s name, at least for now, while learning to heal and trust again, large doses of patience with a lot of hard work and sure enough, he is beginning to come out of that hard shell he developed. Susan was really touched by the storey of this hose, now more than ever she is aware of the importance that must be placed on people supporting the animal rehabilitations centres and saving the poor mistreated animals who are so unfairly treated.

When Katie Dunkley’s instincts led her to believe there was a problem that day she became a Hero to two dogs, I guess it just goes to show that we can find heros in the most unlikely places. She had noticed that one of the houses, not far from where she lived, had been abandoned, and even more terrible the owners had left their dogs without food or water inside the house. Katie made a bold and brave move and broke into the house, where she found the two doggies, starving to death and very distressed. The Local RSPCA took the animals into their protective custody to look after them and closely monitor their health. The RSPCA said:

“One dog had already been removed from the property, and another was found inside. Both are now in the RSPCA’s care and are being closely monitored”

Shannon Harris witnessed the happenings, she saw Katie going down the street with one of the dogs! Shannon said:

“She told me that she had broken into the house to rescue him. She tried to rescue the female too but she went to bite her so only saved the male”

Shannon discovered that the police had noted that the owner of the house had moved out in March or April and returned infrequently. The poor dogs had been alone for three or four months, it’s no surprise they were so malnourished, it’s a miracle that they are still alive! Shannon took some pictures of the poor dogs in their awful underweight condition, ribs showing painfully through, living in such incredibly poor conditions. Shannon said:

“From the pictures I took, I believe the female dog was curled up in the corner. The police went in through the back and somehow got the female dog into the cage, broke the rest of the window and got her out through the window”

Even though the two dogs had been left in the abandoned house and neglected by their owner, they both now have the chance for a new life, all thanks to everyone’s efforts. And the owner, well the RSPCA are investigating, let’s hope they get the justice they deserve!

It’s back to school time again, it’s come around so quickly, and on this first day of school Jena Willingham, an Alabama mom made a facebook post we can all relate to, although her three kids didn’t seem all that thrilled! The post she shared was of her three children, 4 year Sykes, 7 year Emmy, and 11 year Wrangler, each of them wearing backpacks and unashamedly looking down into the pool at their mom, who was in her floating chair celebrating with drink in hand.

https://www.facebook.com/jena.willingham/posts/10155620012918221

Jena posted the amusing photo to Facebook this August just a few days ago and its already been shared over 20,000 times. She has been interviewed by PEOPLE magazine, NBC news, AND The New York Times, and USA Today, and more… This amazing and funny picture has spread like wildfire through social media everywhere, because, let’s face it, most of us in this situation can completely understand the picture! Jena said: “My kids have been driving me crazy with their fighting over chargers and iPads all summer”

“I kept telling them I was going to have a pool day all by myself when they went to school because it’s the first time in 11 years I won’t have a kid home. I was counting down to school, I deserve a break”

Jena really made her point with this innocent but clever picture, and many are writing comments like;

“Awesome! You deserve it!!”

AND

“You go, girl!”

There were a few though, as always, a minority, who were not as warm to it, calling her a spoiled self indulgent woman, but Jena had a reply to this: “Meanies y’all,” she wrote. “I have a job. Live in a trailer. Borrowed a pool. But I do need to exercise.”

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153763717973221&set=a.381905238220.160032.507333220&type=3

Jena, when asked what she would do with all her time now her kids were in fact back at school said quite frankly, she would use the time to be productive, like doing a grocery shop without the kids. Her kids are just fine with this:

“The older one likes being famous and the other two are kind of oblivious, But when I did go pick up Sykes Monday everybody in the class started clapping.”

“You know,” Jena said, “What I have taken away from this is that you should not feel guilty about needing a break from your kids.”

Thinking for one minute about all the like and shares, it’s a real safe bet that we all agree right?

Edward and 29 years old Lindsey Schmidt, were married, they were raising their children, 6 years, 4 years and 1 years old. They lived in Beecher, Illinois and Lindsey was pregnant again. Lindsey had signed up her sons for bible school during the holidays, it was a Monday morning, and she had put her children into their car seats of their 2014 Subaru Outback.

She drove them to their bible school that day, but also a 2002 Chevrolet pickup had missed the stop signs and smashed into the side of her vehicle, pushing the Subaru off the side of the road into a field. The Man driving the truck was 25 years old, he sustained minor injuries but required surgery.

Sadly the 1 year old Caleb and his unborn brother or sister died instantly, however Owen 6, and Weston 4, were put on life support at Comer’s Children’s Hospital. They both died in the hospital and their grieving father, now widower, had hanging over him the grim truth that he would have to bury his wife and all his children.

For someone to shoot through a stop sign and cause such a terrible accident is unimaginable, its difficult to imagine anything that could distract someone to do that, but some of us already perhaps have a theory! Texting and driving are a lethal combination and immensely distracting, but it hos not been proved that this was the cause of the accident. A citation was initially issued to the driver, but then dismissed. It doesn’t seem that anyone knows exactly what caused this awful accident, however investigations are ongoing, authorities are investigating any clues that will lead to a discovery of what did really happen that day. Everyone wants answers, but only time will tell in this case if that ever happens. The community is very close and heartbroken over such a loss to everyone, still all the community anxiously waits for more news as to what happened. When YOUR driving, please do be careful, it could save someone’s life!

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