By Mihingarangi Forbes
In 2003 the SPCA removed 23 of Ann Power's horses along with 5 dogs. Those who were there at the uplift say they were skinny, diseased and seriously neglected.
But eight years on the High Court has ordered all the animals must be returned to Ann Power, the woman who allegedly neglected them.
Former SPCA worker Rachel Foster helped uplift the animals. She says she very clearly remembers the uplift.
“There was never any grass… The horses ranged from thin to worm burdened to emaciated,” she said.
She is in disbelief that the animals will be returned, saying Ann Power should never own animals again.
Campbell Live wanted to speak to Ann Power about the decision to return the animals but she didn't want to speak on camera. She later spoke to us on the phone.
“To say they were feral is just absolute lies. They weren’t showing ribs - a load of nonsense,” she said.
“I don’t care what false reports or fabrications there were, because in court it was proven there is more than meets the eye.”
She says she has “huge, beautiful paddocks” for the animals to return to, but also says she doesn’t have to justify herself to the people who fostered them,
“They clearly understood when they fostered them - it wasn’t ownership. If they had any concerns they could have gone back to the SPCA. They knew jolly well upon fostering it was exactly that.”
Don and Lynley have been members of the SPCA for 40 years and foster parents. They took two of Power's horses eight years ago
“They were emaciated. In fact, I stood and cried but I got my two, and took them back to our rural property. One had mange all over one side and it took months to clear it up, and the other worms almost like an extended tummy which is a sign of bad worms, so we had to go right back to basics with them.”
They wouldn’t let Campbell Live film the horses or tell us where they are. They're willing to defy the courts and hide them.
Ann Power calls herself an animal lover. Others say she's a hoarder.
Her front porch is home to dozens of caged birds, nearby dozens more chooks and out back dogs bark
A few kilometres down the road her horses graze. We count around 13.
But they're overstayers. The owners want the horses removed and they'll be contacting animal control next week.
Ann Power refuses to discuss that, but insists she has paddocks to house all the animals.
Where the horses will be housed is also a concern for the SPCA. Last week they tried to return two of them but when they arrived at the farm . The owner turned them away saying he didn't want them at his property.
It appears this is a recurring theme. Court documents show many more land owners have turfed her and her animals away.
We spoke to another who had Ann Power's animals on her property she said Ann Power should never be able to own animals because she rarely feeds them and her animals are so poorly behaved they damage the property.
Three other foster parents are standing by Lynley and Don
In a statement one says the decision is ‘a kick in the teeth, heart ache and pain, too much for some to ever think of being able to foster again. All because the law is weak and has failed again. Failed to support the tireless efforts of the SPCA, failed to stop suffering, failed to support anyone willing to help.’
Another says ‘[Power] was never punished for starving and neglecting the horses, she thumbed her nose at the court system and is now being rewarded for it by having the horses returned to her in good health and socialized. Why did no one stand up for the horses?’
The court has also ruled the return of five fox terriers that the SPCA has been caring for.
This despite a Rodney District Council ruling that power be banned from owning dogs till 2015, after two of her dogs attacked a woman in 2009.
Power has three convictions for neglect and dozens of council infringements.
“Past history and past behaviour is a good indication to future behaviour. If I were those foster parents I'd be fighting it tooth and nail as well,” former SPCA officer Rachel Forster said.
The SPCA says it's caught between a rock and a hard place. But Campbell Live understands it's looking into new legal action to keep the horses out of Power's hands. The foster families are 100 percent behind them.
“The thing is, they've been to hell those animals. The suffering they've put up with and now after eight years of love and care - their feet done every 6 weeks, fed everyday - there is now a ruling they have to go back,” Lynley said.
“It’s so wrong.”
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