How To Prove it to Others and Neglect Question?

You cannot administer your own vaccinations when you plan to show your horse where proof of vaccination will be required. If you want to vaccinate your own animals that never leave your property, that is one thing. But if you want to take them off the property and expose other horses to them, then you need to have the vaccines administered by a licensed vet.

Proof of vaccination can usually be shown by 1.) An itemized bill from the veterinarian stating the name of the horse, names of vaccinations and date administered, 2.) A veterinary certificate stating the name of the horse, names of the vaccinations and date administered, and signed by the veterinarian, or 3.) A form provided by the organization sponsoring the show that is completed and signed by the veterinarian.

It is a violation of federal law for a veterinarian to sign for vaccinations that he or she did not either administer himself/herself, or directly supervise being administered. A veterinarian can lose the license to practice medicine by falsifying these documents. This protects the public interest in controlling the spread of contagious diseases.

As for the situation down the road, you can check with the county zoning dept to find out whether there is a zoning ordinance violation. Some properties are zoned to allow unlimited numbers of horses, while zoning on other properties may restrict the numbers allowed, or some do not allow them at all. If there are zoning violations, you can file a complaint with the county. You can report neglect or abuse to animal control authorities and they should investigate, but they may or may not be able to do anything about it.

1) ''My gelding is deathly afraid of vets (horrible experience with them in the past) so my vet showed me how to give my own shots. I give my gelding all his shots myself but for most horse shows, you need proof of shots. How do I go about proving this?"

-I would create an affidavit of some sort and to make it official, have your vet sign it and have it notarized. This is the legal way to handle proof of self vaccinations since your vet has shown you how and supports you doing it without him present.

2)" There is a farm right down the road from me where I personally feel it's neglect but others might not. She has close to 21 horses standing on about 3 acres of mud. They have 1 or 2 round bales at at once for all the horses, dirty water and a shelter big enough for maybe 5 horses top. Some of them are really skinny (usually the lower ranking ones as the bigger horses are overweight). Would you call this neglect or? I know that most shelters say as long as their is food, water, and shelter they can't do much but the horses are standing in mud almost knee deep."

-Legally, that's too many horses for 3 acres. That alone is enough to call animal control/ASPCA. The fact that they have water that 'potentially' might not be good to drink would help too. But you are correct, as long as food is somewhere on the property (even if its in the barn and not out where the horses are) they can't do anything. When you call to complain, only mention that there are too many horses on the property. Animal hoarding is a big problem lately. This will get them out there to investigate, and they will notice the other forms of neglect themselves. Good luck and I hope those horses are ok. :/

I am not too sure about the shots. I know people who administer their own, and they take the sticker and receipt and staple it in a book along with the date. But for rabies and Coggins, those are required to be administered / drawn by a liscened vet. My bf's mare has a fear of vets too, but as long as they aren't wearing the bibs she is fine. Maybe talk to your vet to see if you could try that.

As for the neglect issue, I believe you have a valid case. Look up equine laws to see how many horses are allowed per acre. Where I am, you can only have 2 horses on 3 acres, but if they have owned and used the property for horses continually since before that kind of law was put in place, then nothing will be able to be done. But the dirty water might do it. They are required to provide clean water for their animals. What will most likely happen is that the owners will get a verbal warning along with a follow up. If the property wasn't grandfathered in, then more will happen. Good luck!

1. I believe you need to ask your vet on this one.

2. Mud happens from rain. It is not always considered neglect. All dirt or grass grounds get muddy when it rains. However, knee deep mud is not okay. They should be put in stalls if it is that muddy. Dirty water is not okay! Skinny horses! Not good! I suppose you can call it neglect for sure! You should call animal control if you feel like it is a big issue or if it is bothering you.

Not much is neglect! I took in to really skinny ones and called the vet right away, they made a 2 on the scale and it was not enough for the vet to agree on neglect.

If those horses have something to eat and water whether they have shelter or no is not neglect, I agree it is not conducive to good horse care, but as long as they have water and something to eat it is not considered neglect or abuse.

How to prove your horse had the shots, you can not. No Respectable Vet is going to sign anything saying you gave the proper shots in the proper place unless he was standing there, because he does not know that you did.

1. I would have the vet write up a thing saying that you gave them yourself and then he/she can put it in their records

2. I would say yes it is neglect. If I were you I would tell a rescue about it and have them look the horses.