In the early hours of Tuesday morning, The Netherlands, and particularly the north area received a weather alarm. A big storm was announced and an alert was put out for rising flood waters.

I think it’s safe to say that the whole country was shocked to find a hundred horses stuck on a knoll surrounded by water as deep as four meters (thirteen feet). The horses where grazing the wilderness area outside the dikes at Marrum, Friesland.

First I was shocked, then I became furious. How can anyone who claims to care about animals do this. Leave their animals (and in this case horses, which brings it close to home for me). Than some more shocking news came, not only where there over a hundred horses stuck on an ‘island’ (or rather, a ring because the center held water too and was about four meter deep) but a lot of horses had drowned already. The weaker animals had ended up in the water, but because of the deepness and the danger that lays underneath the surface they couldn’t make it to shore or back to the island.

This news brought tears to my eyes. Someone left the horses out there knowing there was a storm coming, and flood alarms were given. To me that just sounded like they were purposely left to drown. Volunteers tried to safe the horses that had gotten into the water but didn’t succeed at saving them all. At least nineteen horses have drowned, and three horses died after being rescued. Either from exhaustion or from pneumonia.

The army has also tried to rescue the animals but they failed because their pontoon boats grounded. It is amazing to see how many people care about these horses (and probably would have done the same for any other animal in this situation). One of the ladies rescuing a fall that had gotten into the water said;

I only have one good coat; a suede one, and I draped it over him to keep him warm.

Yesterday there were a few tears of joy though. The water level had gone down a bit and reached up to a little under a meter (three feet). The fire brigade and volunteers wanted to attempt to get the horses to walk to shore. After setting out a path that was safe to follow, because of barbed-wire fences and channels under the surface four women on horseback rode to the group and made a 180 degree turn. All the horses followed them to shore! They finally made it and the last horse had to be guided by five fire fighters because it was so weak but every single horse made it to shore.

There was a live broadcast on TV showing the rescue attempt. I can tell you it was an emotional thing to watch. It’s a big relief to see the horses back on main land again.
The horses are now safe but there are quiet a few weak horses amongst them. Vets have been going to the island every day to check on the horses and others brought food and water to them so they could at least eat and drink.
The news reports that the horses are being brought to a field inside the dikes and are being looked after.

I truly hope none of the rescued horses are going to suffer the consequences from being in the water for three days.
One of the political parties; Party for the Animals has filed a complaint against the owner of the horses as well as the operator of the field they were stuck in.

Let’s hope whoever is responsible for this tragedy will be punished accordingly.

Plugged: Nile, Corinne, Amber, Tracey

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