Rescued Pony Finds Love, But State Says Neigh

It’s a heartwarming story: abandoned pony rescued from railroad tracks finds loving new home.

But it may not end well. Under an obscure state law, the pony could be turned into dogfood.

Its new family is hoping common sense will prevail.

Carlene Whitesell brought the pony home Dec. 30 after it was spotted wandering untended near the tracks. The animal was unlikely to survive a run-in with a freight train.

“The pony wouldn’t have been there the next day,” said Dolores Milliman, a local farm owner. “The crows would’ve been eating him.”

Whitesell was among those enlisted by Postmaster Beth Allen to lure the frightened animal away from the tracks and into this Benton County town.

She brought the pony home to the house she and her family share with four dogs, two cats and a cockatiel. Sons Israel, 12, and Benjamin, 8, took to their new friend immediately and named him Blaze.

Whitesell set about trying to find the pony’s owner, posting placards at the post office, and contacting area veterinarians and the sheriff.

Finally someone suggested she call the state brand inspector.

That’s when the Whitesells learned about the Revised Code of Washington, Title 16, Chapter 24, Section 110, which says: “Any horses, mules, donkeys, or cattle of any age running at large or trespassing … are declared to be a public nuisance.”

Blaze will be impounded today. If the brand inspector’s office can’t find his owner, he’ll be auctioned to the highest bidder, which could be a slaughterhouse agent looking for horse meat.

Whitesell can scarcely believe it.

“I resent the idea that they (the state) think they can sell what’s not theirs. This is just so stupid,” she said.

Whitesell’s offered to pay for advertising to find the pony’s owner and to sign documents saying she would give him up if his owner makes an appearance.

She’s offered to pay the state whatever Blaze would likely fetch at auction.

But the law doesn’t work that way. If the pony remains unclaimed and Whitesell wants him, she would have to hire a horse trailer, drive an hour or so to the auction site in central Washington or Oregon, and try to outbid the meat industry and anyone else who might want Blaze.