Rashad/Valor’s hooves used to identify him.
	Rose Corey

What started as a sad tale of a good samaritan becoming entangled in the snarls of a heavy-handed bureaucracy has taken a heart-warming twist.  Rose Corey, the horse rescuer of 138th St., has purchased one of the two horses she saved on Dec. 31 upon request of Pierce County Animal Control, and then had summarily taken from her twenty days later by the same agency. 

In her rescue, Corey retrieved two of fifteen abused horses: a bay stallion nicknamed "Valor" with severely infected genitals, and a four-month-old foal with pronounced joint and bone disorders named "Teddy Bear."  She and her family nursed them back to health at their Creekwood Farm just north of Graham.

However, on the morning of Jan. 19, Animal Control told Corey they would be removing the two horses that afternoon and transferring them to a Snohomish County facility run by Hope for Horses, which was attending the other thirteen abused horses.

Concerned that the horses were too ill to travel, Corey protested but was over-ruled.  In fact, she was told that if she did not surrender the horses, she would be arrested.

Complicating matters, Corey says that Pierce County officials had told her in early January that she would be able to adopt the two horses if the owner of record, Donna Gale of Puyallup, did not file a court petition demanding the return of her horses.  As of Jan. 19, Corey was told that Gale had not done so, and in response, Corey began plans to adopt Valor and Teddy Bear.

Further, the County had not made arrangements to reimburse the Coreys for their care, and therefore, on Jan. 30, the Coreys submitted a bill to Animal Control for $6,000 and used the invoice to file a lien on Valor and Teddy Bear in order to facilitate the adoption process. [NOTE: Ms Corey placed the lien on Valor and Teddy so Ms. Edwards wouldn't sell, euthanize, or adopt them out. The alleged abusers did not file a petition for their return. They did however, file a petition for the other thirteen horses return, then failed to show up at their court hearing, thus forfeiting those thirteen horses to the County.]

The county rejected her adoption claim, and Corey says she has not received a dime. [CORRECTION: Ms Corey did not file for "adoption" of the two horses. She filed for a petition for their return.]

But, because of her now deep affection for Valor, Corey began an Internet search for the original owners of the stallion.  Using photographs, dental records and other physiological evidence, she discovered that Valor was a pure-bred Arabian named "Rashad-al-Sharaf" and had been owned recently by Jodi Fowler of Lopez Island.

Corey contacted Fowler and learned that she had sold Rashad-al-Sharaf in 2005 to Lisa Gale, a sister of Donna Gale.  Fowler claimed that Lisa Gale had not paid her in full, nor had she provided the two foals from Rashad as per their contract.  Hence, on Feb. 20, Fowler filed a repossession claim for Rashad-al-Sharaf, and in turn sold the stallion to Rose Corey.

The question now is, will the County return Rashad-al-Sharaf to Corey?  The County has filed felony charges of abuse against Donna Gale regarding Rashad and the other horses, and considers the stallion prosecutory evidence.  Hence, they intend keeping Rashad impounded.

"But why should the taxpayer keep footing the bill when I'm willing to take Rashad back?" Corey asks.

"This is the first I'm hearing about it," replied Pat McCarty, Pierce County Auditor and chief of Animal Control, when asked about Rose Corey's claim of ownership and her offer to board Rashad with no expense to the county.

"When a Superior Court judge tells me that Rose Corey is the legal owner of the horse, then the county can discuss that issue," said Allen Rose, county deputy prosecuting attorney.  "In the meantime," he added, "we're dealing with the owners of record, the Gales."

Rose Corey and her attorney, G. Paul Mabrey, have filed a petition in Pierce County District Court for the return of Rashad-al-Sharaf and Teddy Bear.  Their petition will be heard April 3.

Fortunately, Lisa Drury, Manager of Animal Control, says that Rashad and all the other horses "are doing well."