BONIFAY — The Holmes County community was left buzzing after a social media post went viral last week, accusing a Bonifay horse farm of the neglect and abuse of over two dozen horses.
Amy Shepherd of the Marianna-based Hidden Springs Horse Rescue said a quick response was what had in mind when she authored the Feb. 5 Facebook post expressing concern about information she received regarding conditions at Lewis Quarter Horses in Bonifay.
“Last Monday, I received a message from a lady (who went to Lewis Quarter Horses) to look at some horses for sale,” Shepherd said in a phone interview. “She was horrified by what she saw and called the sheriff’s department. They were no help, and she wanted to know if we could help her.”
Shepherd’s post included graphic photos of horses appearing to be in very poor health. One was missing an eye, another had a tumor growing on its face, and others had lesions and appeared underweight. What seemed to grab the most attention was a photo of yet another, lying on its side with blood pooling from its mouth after being euthanized.
The Holmes County Sheriff's Office conducted a welfare check of the property, and three out of the farm's 27 horses were deemed in poor health by inspectors. The Lewises provided feed and medical bills to show a history of the horses' care, however.
The investigation also revealed more information about some of the images posted online, including that the horse with lesions on its side had a persistent infection, despite vet treatment, and that one caused sores on its own chin by rubbing on the barbwire fence in attempt to mate with another horse.
Still, deputies contacted the Humane Society of America and turned the investigation over to the Department of Agriculture.
Shepherd says while her organization doesn’t typically approach a rescue as she did in this case, she feels no remorse for making the Facebook post that spurred the investigation and got the community up in arms.
At press time, Shepherd’s post had received over 1,500 shares and more than 600 comments.
Because the case is still open, the Lewises declined to comment other than to say the farm has been compliant with treatment plans set forth by Department of Agriculture vets.
“I’m just going to let the people doing the investigation figure out who’s doing what wrong,” said Lewis. “It’s all going to come out in the wash.”