Dear editor:

News of not so recent events causes me to ask the following question: What happens to horses whose caregiver goes to jail, leaving the herd without food and water? The answer is simple: Nothing good.

Wyoming prides itself on minimal law and interference; wide open spaces; cowboys and cowgirls; horses, cattle and sheep. We could be talking about cows and sheep I suppose, but this discussion is about the horse.

Are we doing enough to see that the equines of Park County offenders are provided for when the offender goes to jail for more than a few hours? Some offenders have no support network in place, but the need for support remains. True, the average person can call on neighbors, coworkers, friends or family for help in the short run and perhaps those people can be contacted from jail. But not everyone who goes to jail is average or has anyone reliable to contact.

Deputies are busy, the county lacks a formal animal control agency, and brand inspectors rely on citizens to make a complaint.

It's not difficult to imagine the situation in which horses appear to have plenty of water in the form of full stock tanks, a water gap or stock stream. But if the water supply fails, vulnerable horses have only days before suffering a miserable fate. Starvation takes much longer, and, while that certainly does happen, distress from a lack of pasture or hay may be easier to spot.

Please join me in investigating a remedy that fits Park County and its horses. Contact me at thecopygypsy@yahoo.com to begin that conversation.

Written in memory of horses who died of neglect in Park County.

Nicole Kukuchka

Weir, Kansas (formerly of Deaver)