Dead Horses Found Beaten In North Philly

Investigators got a tip about unsanitary conditions for horses in a North Philly stable. And it turns out well, the tip was dead on:

Officials from the SPCA said they received and anonymous call reporting the nearly block of stables housing dozens of horses, were rundown. The SPCA along with the Department of License’s and Inspections responded to the scene and found mountains of manure, malnourished horses and a partially buried carcass.

The article said charges are pending as they investigate, but I can only assume that has to be a typo. These are horses, people! Whoever leaves them in conditions like that ought to get a parade down Broad Street. Hell, let me be the marshall, I can ride Zombie Barbaro all the way to the Navy Yard!

Update: I get phone calls about my shitty joke, too!

SPCA: Malnourished Horses Found In Philadelphia [CBS 3]

City Councilwoman’s Deep, Dark Secret

I’m still kind of confused by Stu Bykofsky’s Daily News column this morning. His column revealed that Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller has a horse in her backyard.

This wouldn’t be all that weird if she lived at, say, a horse track. But, no, Miller lives in Germantown. And has a horse. In her backyard.

Amazingly enough, city law doesn’t forbid horses, mainly for the reason that, ah, almost nobody owns a personal horse in this city. You can’t have farm animals — “any chicken, goose, duck, turkey, goat, sheep, pig, cow” (cow? —ed.) — but horses aren’t considered farm animals.

It’s actually Miller’s husband’s horse, but she declined to let Byko talk to him. But, of course, this isn’t the only time Byko has dealt with Miller.

Miller reminded me that I had called about a pony in her back yard 10 years ago. I had completely forgotten that.

The Shetland pony named Shera was a pet for her daughter Shakira, I reported at the time. The loyal pony was getting old and probably was going to be sent to the slaughterhouse.

So not only does she own a horse now, but the last one she owned she probably had sent to the slaughterhouse.

Stu Bykofsky | Hoofing it to G’town to nag a pol (again) [Daily News]

In Which The Author Sort Of Feels Guilty For Mocking A Possibly Soon-To-Be Dead Horse

Well. Just when we thought he was going to be okay and it was alright to make fun of him — oh, whatever, we were making fun of him immediately after his injury — it seems that Barbaro has taken a turn for the worst.

Dick Jerardi reports that Barbaro is now in “guarded” condition. The colt has been having complications stemming from his May 21 surgery for about a week now.

Gretchen Jackson, Barbaro’s owner, has said the doctors are not near a stage where they would consider putting the horse to sleep.

Barbaro got a bunch of emails, so we’re guessing he can read blogs, too, and if he’s really in the know, he probably checks out this site once or twice a day. So we’ll say this: Get well soon, Big B. After all, we only poke fun because we love. Neigh!

Breaking: Barbaro’s condition now ‘guarded’
May 20: Is Barbaro The Worst? Boy, I Guess!
Related: Hoagie Dip: Color Me Barbaro
Archives: Barbaro

Craigslist even kinkier than originally thought

From the “Missed Connections” section of Craigslist, which has posts like “I saw you at your laptop today at Last Drop. You were blogging for PW. Email me.” Okay, it never has anything like that, but things like that. And a headline today:

No, but I know a few llamas in the area.

Anyone Know of a Horse Named Coco from Walnutport, PA? [Craigslist]
Earlier today: This city is a zoo