We had to make the very difficult decision to euthanize Crackerjack. He was a beautitul bay we got from LIS (Livestock Inspection Services). They had seized him and asked us to take him in. He appeared to have broken his foot at a young age and it healed crooked but he wasn't in any pain from it. However it turned out that Jack was not gelded, either he was a bilateral crpytorchid or gelded on one side only. Though he was very sweet and nice to handle, his stallion-like behaviour around mares forced us to make the decision to put him down. We don't have the facilities to keep a stallion and it would not have been fair to keep him penned up, and we couldn't justify the cost of surgery even if we could have found a vet that would have been willing to do it, with his foot the way it was.

Sadly, we at Bear Valley Rescue have had to say good-bye to our dear Samson. While we could not halt the devastating progress of his ringbone, we were able to give Samson three great years at Larosa Home of Rest for Horses, where he won many hearts and became Kerry’s Beloved. We are profoundly grateful for the excellent care Samson received from Larry Nault and Tammy Thompson (Steppin’ on the Frog Farrier Services), Ashley Pederson (Timberlost Farrier Services), and Dr. Chad Hewlett (Energy Equine Veterinary Services). Samson was, indeed, a good and well-loved horse, and he shall be missed.

Rocinante (“Roz”) came to Larosa Home of Rest for Horses four years ago from Bear Valley Rescue. In her twenties, and despite her poorly healed broken leg, she was a sweet, beautiful mare. Unfortunately, her damaged knee was becoming unstable and painful, and she was put down peacefully with Samson —on Thanksgiving Day, 2009—before the difficulties of winter set in. Bear Valley Rescue is so thankful that Samson and Roz were able to enjoy their final years at Larosa through the compassion of Ed Johnston and the generosity of his daughters: Laurie, Robin, and Sarah.

Payton came to us on New Year's, 2007. She was SO thin that at first I only posted her picture on the site wearing a blanket. She did so well on her mash though, she had a couple of wonderful years with us before having to be put down due to colic. We will miss her always.

Ginger was a sweet old pony mare that passed away at her foster home - thank you to the Ekvall family for looking after her.

For Michelle, who gave Cloud a home: Cloud came to live with us for a short time. Cloud was a special horse, he was a gentle teacher for my family and a wonderful pasture mate for the other horses. He loved to have his neck rubbed and any treat that had molasses in it. We love and miss him very much but we are thankful for the time we got to spend with him.

Lady was one of our first pmu mare rescues. Though she was only 16 years old, she was arthritic, underweight, had bad teeth and a fistula on her shoulder, and was also of course, pregnant. She spent almost 5 years here at Bear Valley before we had to put her to sleep due to her arthritis. I think after several years we managed to gain at least a little of her trust.

For Kelly, who lost her mare Tess:
Tess, my 14 year old "non-conformist" standardbred mare suffered a devastating injury and had to be euthanized.She was my true friend and I will miss her terribly. She was one of a kind.
"You took me to adventure and to love. We two have shared great joy and great sorrow. And now I stand at the gateof the paddock watching you run in an ecstasy of freedom, knowing you will return to stand quietly, loyally, beside me."Pam Brown

Lovie, the sweet old one-eyed mare we rescued just hoursbefore she was to board the meat truck to the slaughterhouse.Thanks so much Shauna for caring for her and she became a much-loved fixture at the stable where she lived.

Eddie, the beautiful foal, tragically to colic.

Skelly was a sweet but emaciated old horse that we picked up from a horse dealer. He was only with us a few days before he had to be put down due to heart failure.

Tulip, the donkey, had to be put down when she developed ulcers. Poor girl never really trusted people, must have had a rough life.

Ike broke his leg in a tragic accident and had to be put down. Ike was one of my favourites, the most playful horse I've ever known. He was my bud, I miss him very much.

Anyone that's been out to the farm will remember Joe. He was one of our first rescues and Mike's favorite. Joe had a hard life as a baby but we rescued him from the feedlot and gave him some good years and he'll be missed a lot.

Luna, a beautiful 2 year old filly had to be euthanized due to a serious illness. It is so difficult, especially with the young ones, to make that decision, but that's part of the responsibility.

Snowy was only with us a short time. She was the typical sweet well-broke little Arab mare, but obviously as soon as she had health issues she was discarded. We at least were able to make her last few weeks good ones.

We lost Twiggy suddenly after an injury. She was a sweet 2 1/2 year old bay filly that was just coming into her prime. We had her for 2 years and sadly she was still waiting for her forever home, but we were glad to have her and to know that she had a good life while she was with us.

Cleo passed away suddenly from a serious bout of colic. She was a real personality, her own horse right to the end. We'll miss her a lot.

Nellie, the old grey mare, was with us for 3 years. She must have been well over 30 by the time we had to put her down, but she gave us a beautiful filly, Sundae (yes, she was pregnant when we bought her at auction!) and hopefully by the end of her life Nellie had come to realize that people were not necessarily a bad thing.

Thanks so much to Joan for fostering Pumpkin and Winter through the last years of their lives and for being with them to the end.

Bear, aka Black, was an amazing old guy we bought at auction, thin, old, going grey, the shaggiest horse I'd ever seen. He thrived under the loving care of his new owner, Debbie, until a sudden illness took him. Thanks for giving him the best years of his life Debbie, and thanks for the courage to do what was best for him in the end.

Tess was a little chestnut filly from the feedlot. She was so thin and undernourished, she couldn't even stand up once we got her home. Unfortunately distemper, starvation, pneumonia and hypothermia were too much and poor little girl just couldn't survive. Too little, too late. No one cared for her while she was alive and we only cared for her once she was already dying. At least she didn't die in that horrible place.

Dani the goat developed a tumor in her jaw and had to be put down, poor girl.

Ben was Janine's first rescue. He was such a patient and sweet old guy (witness his picture, putting up with Ace's shenanigans!).

Emma, a 26 yr old QH mare with a badly deformed front leg, she spent her last summer under the wonderful care of Jane, one of the sweetest people I've had the pleasure to meet.

Jake was a draft/appaloosa cross gelding, a real sweetheart. His arthritis got the best of him unfortunately, and we had to make the decision to have him put down.

Lohan (Lola) was a standardbred mare purchased from a horse dealer in very bad condition. She never did recover completely but she had the best last year of her life under the loving care of Paula and Twyla at Autumn Hollow Sanctuary.

Dempsey, a beautiful QH ex-pmu mare (pregnant of course) suffered badly from founder. We did all we could for her but she never recovered and had to be put down.

Sienna, another pregnant QH ex-pmu mare, blind in one eye, died from colic but not before having a beautiful filly (Charlotte) that was adopted by Silk after she was orphaned at 7 weeks of age when Sienna died.

Rosie was yet another pregnant ex-pmu mare that came to us in poor condition and badly foundered, as well as pregnant. Unfortunately she died from colic and we lost the foal she was carrying as well.

Sera was a sweet donkey we purchased at auction. She also had to be put down due to a severe bout of colic.

Belle was an old brown swiss cow we bought quite a few years ago. She lived longer than most cows get a chance to live, but eventually we had to put her down as she had what was most likely hardware disease.

Chester was a wonderful standardbred gelding we rescued from auction, where he would have gone for meat because he had a cracked hoof. He had to be put down shortly after going to his new home with Kira, due to a tragic injury. I'm so sorry Kira that you didn't have more time with him.

Cisco was a donkey we bought at auction, he had very badly overgrown feet. He had to be sedated in order to try and trim back his hooves and his heart stopped while he was under sedation.

Scout, my first horse and the world's greatest horse ever. I had him for 22 years and finally had to have him put down at age 32.