WHEN YOU PROVIDE FOSTER CARE

If law enforcement authorities ask you to house a horse while they search for his owner, look up the law governing estray, stray or loose horses in your state. Statutes usually specify how the report of an estray must be handled, how long

the horse is held, the steps required in searching for the owner and which expenses are reimbursable for the person holding the horse. In Texas, for example, owners of estrays must pay the property owner for any damages caused by the estray horse as well as costs of housing the horse (provided the property owner reports the stray horse to the sheriff’s department).

In addition, the sheriff’s

department is required to prepare a notice of estray, to search for the owner, and to place a “found horse” announcement in a local newspaper. The owner has 18 days from the date the horse was found to claim him, and if the horse is not claimed he can be sold at auction, given to a nonprofit or kept for use by the county (he cannot be given to an individual). Although the exact timelines

may vary, most states have similar laws.

Few sheriff’s departments are experienced in dealing with estray livestock, so they may be unfamiliar with the law, and you may need to encourage them to follow all the steps in trying to reunite the horse with his owner. You may also want to conduct your own search to complement law enforcement efforts.