‘These horses are loved’: Animals from Gage County off the auction block for now

CRETE, Neb. (KLKN) – More than three dozen horses from Gage County will no longer be sent to auction this weekend.

The Gage County sheriff said the court couldn’t sign off on the auction until both the county and Dr. Jennafer Glaesemann were in agreement.

SEE ALSO: Seized Gage County horses are ‘lively’ after being transferred to rescue

Last summer, the Gage County Sheriff’s Office seized the horses from Glaesemann’s vet clinics in Beatrice and Pickrell.

Deputies cited her with 37 counts of animal neglect.

At least 17 horses died while under her care, the sheriff’s office said.

SEE ALSO: Volunteers tending to horses seized in Gage County as caretaker recovers from injury

Epona Horse Rescue has been caring for the seized horses for the last six months.

Volunteer Tanya Martin-Dick was worried about what would happen to the horses if they were sold at auction, so she started a GoFundMe page to help Epona buy them.

The rescue has surpassed its initial goal of $50,000 in just six days.

Martin-Dick never expected they would actually raise that much.

“I was hopeful, but you never know,” she said. “It was amazing, it was incredible to just check on it every little bit, and it had gone up $100 or $2,000 or $5,000.”

The rescue said this is just a temporary reprieve.

“It means we have more time to find the correct solution,” owner Lin Guyton said.

SEE ALSO: Volunteers seek to save seized Gage County horses from the auction block

Guyton said there’s still a good chance the horses will be sent to an auction at some point.

But she said the GoFundMe has shown that there are people who will fight for these horses.

“If that doesn’t send a message to whomever that the community is behind these horses and these horses are loved, then I don’t know what does,” Guyton said.