Does anyone know when a horse becomes considered abandoned ?

Question

I had a woman leave three horses with me and not one cent paid for feed in 7 months. No contact from her in 5 months. I am wondering about the law on selling them and re-cooping the losses. There's more to the story but will leave it at that. What are my rights? This happened in California if that's important. Thx in advance!

Answer 1

well, do you have a boarding contract with her, or some kind of contract stating how long of time she has, and when or whether you can sell them. That would be the best thing. I would document everything, the money you pay for the horses, etc. I've seen a lot of horses wind up for sale because of this. I would calculate all the money you put in each horse and sell him for that much, AFTER talking to a lawyer or involving some sort of legal representative. I would consider that abandonment.

good luck!

Answer 2

i'd consider them abadoned. it really depends. if the owner used to come out alot and then didnt show for 7 months, then definetly. if she came around once in a while, i'd still consider it abandonmet..just because 7 months is a long time. what about farrier or vet?

well where i used to board (depends where) if you didnt pay board for 3 months, they claimed your horse as their property and can sell them.

Answer 3

I live, worked as a vet tech, and volunteer with the SPCA in California.  I've had some experience dealing with this.

An animal is considered abandoned 14 days after the last attempt to contact the owner is ignored.

You have to send a registered letter to the owner telling her you intend to sell her horses, wait 14 days for a response, then the horses are legally yours to do with as you please.

Type up a letter, take it to the post office and tell them you want to send it registered mail.  That means the person has to sign for it, and you'll get proof the person got it.  

You MUST! keep the proof of registered letter for 7 years.  If at any time in that 7 years the person comes to claim the horses, they have no legal standing.  After 7 years, the court won't even consider a claim.

If you have no way of contacting the person, after 14 days of no contact, the animals are yours.  (If the phone numbers the person gave you are disconnected, the registered letter is returned for any reason, etc.)

I hope this helps.

Answer 4

While they aren't attorneys, your local humane association or animal shelter will know the guidelines for your state.  I'm guessing it involves sending verifiable (certified letter) demand for payment notices with a deadline for payment in full or the animals will be offered up for sale.  This is sent to her last known address.  You may be required in your state to post a public notice in the newspaper.  

You may be required to offer at "public sale" but that doesn't necessarily mean an auction.  You can advertise the "public sale" and hold it informally at your facility.  You can declare minimum bids at the cost of 7 mos board to prevent the killers.  If someone bids higher than your advertised cost, then you must sell and any amount that exceeds the amount of the board bill, plus reasonable collection costs, must be given to the former owner.  If there are no acceptable bids, you take possession of the horses and then can sell them at your leisure for whatever price you wish.

Generally there is a line of possession that you must follow.  Up until the public sale, they are still her horses.  At the sale, you have the option of accepting the highest bid up to the board bill or rejecting them and taking ownership of the horses.  After that point, they become yours to do with as you please, but you do need a paper trail to prove you did things legally.

Answer 5

29 Palms horses?  I would think 30 day, heck 60 days no contact no money for feed i would sell them.  Let say this goes to court, do you have proof of trying to get a hold of this person, phone, letters, emails whatever?  I believe 5 months of her not contacting you, not paying you for feed you had the right to do what you did.  Did you have a boarding contract, this is one of the reasons I'm not planning on taking in boarders to much crude can happen.  5 of the horses i have at my rescue were ones that the owner left with a friend of mine, i do have all their registration papers and no way dude can come after me.

Good luck, i think legally its in your favor.  Plus if she does sue, then counter sue for board, feed, feet and all the goodies you had to do while she abandoned her horses.  

Answer 6

I'm guessing there is some paperwork that you need to file.  It could be as simple as filing a public notice in the local newspaper, but I'm sure there is a legal process you need to go through before selling them.  You could contact an attorney for some free phone advice, or try kicking bear's suggestion.

Answer 7

God I dont kn ow how any one could do that to a horse. Masn I would say after a month of not showing up or paying any bills that they are considered abandoned. But Ya if i were you go ahead and take action.

Answer 8

There is two issues.

1) She made abusive threats towards her animals. Should of reported it.

2) You still trying to get a hold of her. Never let this unstable women near them.

As a residence in California, you have the legal right to sell the horses for the loss put into them.

It becomes a little tricky if the horses are registered (contact the Association and attorney for further legal input).

Any contract that I signed when I boarded my horses states that after 60 days of non payment of board (include feed),  the horse will become rightful owner of the property owner (locked stall etc) and to be sold for the loss after 90 days.  

Answer 9

Yes, they have abandoned them and if not they are just leaving them there until they can get another place but not paying and may take them with out i noticing. I have heard that if they leave the horses there for more then 2 months without pay u legally own them but i would check it out. If u have another place u could keep them maybe a friends for now until u either sell them or keep them for ur own. If u keep them at another property they dont know where it is and cant "steal" them.

Would read, it is a possible scenario that might happen to u.

The owner of the place i ride, had a horse on her property and the chick that owned that horse had moved the horse away she came bak saying we apparently stole all her gear, because when the service came to ship her horse up to another place he said," we dont take gear just the horse" she we left it there and now it is missing, then about 2 months later, they drop the horse off bak to where the gear was ment to be, then another 2 months later they show up at the gate with the police saying they took out gear blah blah blah, and then said "im going to get my horse now", but it was somewhere else

He though he was going to win the case, take the horse and not have to pay agistment for the past like 5 months. But he lost because he was the one that hadnt paid and kind of adandoned his horse, so he ended up paying the agistment and getting his horse bak but no gear because we didnt take it and we dont know what happened to it.

hope i kinda helped but i would be cautioned.

cya rokchik

Answer 10

I would have consited them abandoned a long time ago . I would contact your local animal control. And express your concerns with them. they would know the appropriate time-lines. They need to do something as this animals have no owner (well muby you )  I think animal control could help you with more information regarding that .

Answer 11

During my many years of boarding horses I have been there and done that many times. What a pain! when people abandon their horse. You have the right to an agistment lien on those horses, more commonly known as an "agister's lien." An agister's lien is similar in law to a mechanic's lien and after a reasonable length of time it allows to foreclose on the lien when there is non-payment, subject to the agistment lien laws in your state. The horses are already in your possession and a debt is owed to you for services and care and so you can already assert what is known as a creditor’s possessory lien, which is also similar in law to a mechanic's lien, and that allows you to legally retain possession of the horses to secure payment of the debt. So you already have legal right to retain possession of the horses for as long as necessary to collect the debt and that requires no court action to enforce. But to foreclose on your agister's lien and  sell the horses to settle the debt owed to you, you need to check and comply with the agister's lien law in your state. In some states, like Texas, it is a very simple process with very little judicial burden. But in many states it is a real pain. But I learned a long time ago that there is a slippery loophole, a loophole which I am sure can be used in every state. Banks and other financial institutions sell and transfer liens to other banks and financial institutions all the time. It's a common legal practice and any legal lienholder can sell the lien. So if you want to avoid the judicial burden of getting court authorization to sell the horses, you don't sell the horses you just sell the lien and transfer possession of the horses to the new lienholder. A very simply worded "assignment of lien" contract is all it takes to transfer your lien and legal possession of the horses to anyone who wants them and is willing to pay whatever price you choose to sell your lien rights for. But here is a link to a good place to check the agister's lien law in your state (scroll to the bottom of the page and click on your state):

http://asci.uvm.edu/equine/law/lien/lien...

Answer 12

To do this legally in California you MUST post an add in the local newspaper, send a registered letter to the last known address and wait 90 days.  Then at the end of 90 days you can hold a public Auction or run them through say the Bakersfield Horse Auction (First Monday of each month.) or Mike's Auction.

You've been really nice to this gal and she hasn't even bothered to stay in touch regularly.  It's been nearly 6 mos and she hasn't bothered to contact you.  Too bad you don't have that note (Bad filing system?) that would help if you could call her folks (Is she a minor?).

Answer 13

In Australia it is considered that the horses are yours after the bill has reached $500...

If I were you I would sell them or at least advertise for an owner that will actually respect that they have horses and not abandon them...

Good Luck! :)