However, X-rays discovered severe spinal problems in his back, with some vertebrae fusing from years of neglect. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s sad, but at least he\u2019s not going to die alone and in pain. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe length of time he has gone without proper care has forced his body to adapt and compensate in damaging ways. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis has shown up in his poor conformation, abnormal muscle development, and gait issues such as dragging a leg. <\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of this, we have made the incredibly difficult but kind decision to let him go.\u201d <\/p>\n
The horse had numerous white spots on his face consistent with scarring from a tight halter or \u201csome kind of trauma\u201d, and he was very head-shy and scared at first. <\/p>\n
\u201cEven after his first bath, they [the ticks] were still latched in really well,\u201d Hayward said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t pull them off, otherwise their teeth sink in; you have to repel them off.\u201d <\/p>\n
Cassa was initially going to see out his days in a loving foster home, but X-rays showed he was in a lot of pain.<\/p>\n
He has been given the name La Cassaforte, or Cassa, which means \u201csafe\u201d. Hayward said he would get a \u201cnice pamper session\u201d this weekend before being \u201clet go the week after\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe will be laying him to rest in the coming weeks, but for now we will give him the love he deserves. <\/p>\n
\u201cVolunteers have been given instructions to shower him with love and treats.\u201d <\/p>\n
It was unclear who owned Cassa, or why the seller of the house did not know about him. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt happens often,\u201d Hayward said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe amount of abandoned horses in New Zealand is next level.\u201d <\/p>\n
There had been five cases in South Auckland and the Waikato in the past three weeks, she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a lot of horses like this; he\u2019s not the only one out there. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere needs to be a lot more recognition of it and easier ways to handle abandonments. <\/p>\n
\u201cBecause they\u2019re on private property, the council can\u2019t do anything, and the SPCA generally can\u2019t either.\u201d <\/p>\n
Because of the demand for equine rescue services, Rodney Animal Rescue was in the process of rebranding as a national equine welfare organisation. <\/p>\n
To be called Equine Welfare New Zealand, it will have bases not only in Rodney, but in Taup\u014d and Christchurch. <\/p>\n
Hayward thanked the new owner of the property who found Cassa, saying the person \u201cacted immediately, recognised he needed help, and reached out\u201d. <\/p>\n
Hayward also thanked the sponsor \u2013 a woman from the Rodney area \u2013 who paid for Cassa\u2019s initial vet bills of about $600 and offered to pay for his other treatments. <\/p>\n
Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She covers human interest stories, along with finance, roading and social issues. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"However, X-rays discovered severe spinal problems in his back, with some vertebrae fusing from years of neglect. \u201cIt\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251445,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[31389,5195,24004,74059,6097,82705,528,1874,305,14568,78,119633,111,43,139,529,69,73559,9214,2249,42311,61,4518,1533],"class_list":["post-251444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-abandoned","tag-be","tag-coming","tag-covered","tag-down","tag-euthanised","tag-far","tag-found","tag-have","tag-horse","tag-in","tag-neglected","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-north","tag-nz","tag-paddock","tag-put","tag-soon","tag-ticks","tag-to","tag-weeks","tag-will"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}