NELSONVILLE, Ohio — After social media posts sparked an investigation into Hocking College’s equine program, the Athens County Humane Society has advised the college to improve its care for its 20-some horses.
ACHS issued a warning to the college on Jan. 15 following an initial inspection., In a Jan. 22 statement posted on Facebook, ACHS said society agents and two independent farriers returned to the college on Friday, Jan. 19 for a more complete investigation.
According to the statement, ACHS gave the college “detailed information regarding changes that needed to be made. Our agents worked with the school administration to develop a priority list and work plan.”
On Jan. 22, ACHS “provided the college with our expectations moving forward. We have confidence that these requirements will be met and our agents will follow up in 30 days” — Wednesday, Feb. 21. A records request by the Independent to the college regarding what the humane society advised is pending.
“Based on the veterinarian report and the feedback from the professional farriers that the humane society brought to the campus on Friday we do not have any concerns about the quality of the program,” Hocking College President Betty Young said in an email.
Athens County Humane Agent Andy McDonald said the college was cooperative and the humane society handled the case as it would any other.
“Things were, I think, satisfactorily resolved,” McDonald said. “We’re working with the college and the few minor problems that we found will be taken care of.”
McDonald described the visiting farriers as “brutally honest,” adding “that, by and large, they agreed on everything. So that was cool.”
The initial complaint was for hoof care and that’s all the ACHS investigated, McDonald said.
“It was all those photos playing around of disembodied feet,” McDonald said. “Who knows where they came from? So we had to go out and look for ourselves.”
Young said in an email that the equine program is “conducting its intermediate and capstone farrier courses at this time,” in which students perform farrier services.
“The care of our horses is our utmost priority and they are cared for daily,” Young said in an email. “We have a veterinarian on call, regular health visits conducted by a veterinarian, and regular farrier services to care for the horses. Our horses also have regular health evaluations by the students while in the program all while being supervised by a credentialled faculty member.”
The horses also receive “massages as a part of the program,” Young added. She assured the college will continue working with the humane society.
“Hocking will continue to cooperate with the agency to close this case,” Young stated.
