Pike County Fiscal Court debates stray/wild-horse response, asks county attorney to draft agreement with humane society

Pike County officials spent an extended portion of the Dec. 18 fiscal-court meeting on a recurring problem: stray and wild horses that roam county roads and reclaimed mining sites.

The county judge read passages of the Kentucky statutory requirements governing stray equines and said the law requires the county judge to contract with a licensed veterinarian, record animal-identifying information, post photos on the state veterinarian’s database, and keep records in a county book. The judge repeatedly stressed a need to comply with the statute and asked the county attorney to draft a legal opinion and a contract the court could ratify before delegating responsibilities to an outside rescue or the Humane Society.

A Humane Society contact (Lori Redmond, cited in an email read into the record) told county officials the humane society and a partner rescue could collect animals, transport them to their facility in Simpsonville, Kentucky, pay for veterinary checks and certificates, and post required photos and documentation on the state database; the Humane Society asked only that the court sign the required “taker-up” form and permit them to operate on permitted property. In the transcript the Humane Society’s representative is reported as saying the county would only need to post the animals in the clerk’s office for 15 days.

Safety concerns were repeatedly invoked. One commissioner said he was “scared to death that we’re gonna have a family or a child get killed” because horses are seen near roadways and school-bus routes. The judge noted prior threats to county workers who have been involved in rounds of removals and stressed the need for written assurances and a contract that would protect the county if the Humane Society failed to perform all required statutory steps.

Court action: The judge asked the county attorney to prepare a written legal opinion and draft an agreement that would allow a humane-society or rescue-group partnership while ensuring the county’s statutory obligations are met and that the county would receive required documentation. The court did not adopt a formal contract at the meeting; commissioners and staff agreed to meet with the Humane Society and discuss operational details and liability protections.

What’s next: County attorney to prepare forms and an opinion the judge can rely on; the judge said he would sign an order if the attorney confirms the approach complies with statute and provides reasonable protections for the county.