FREE MAGIC FROM HIS CELL OF TORTURE
by Nicki Callahan · 29,002 supporters
Petition update
Update 3/29/2016
Nicki Callahan
Seattle, WA
Yesterday I spent most of the morning scrambling for a trailer to move Magic. We had 2 incredible offers come in to front the rest of the funds needed to purchase Magic. A kind woman from Tennessee whose Uncle had actually shown horses and knew of Magic before the Taylors purchased him, and the Milguard Foundation – a wonderful philanthropic organization that learned of Magic through word of mouth and reached out to offer the remaining funds as well. I wanted to be ready. I scrambled for an equine vet to be onsite, for a trailer to transport and for a close by area to house Magic in the event he would not load.
Everything was coming together we just needed approval from Ted Taylor that he would sell Magic for the $20,000 as he said he would. You may know that his phone has been disconnected, so last week I had an outside attorney reach out to him as well as a local gal who has experience with Tennessee Walkers. Both offered Ted a chance to ask for what he wants, they offered to be mediators in order to secure a happy ending for all. Ted Taylor did not respond to either letters or to emails. On Sunday night someone did some great research and found his work number. I sat as a witness as a call was made yesterday to Ted with the offer of $20,000 cash for Magic. We were ready to take him, ready for him to start his new life. It was a brief conversation. Ted Taylor simply said “the horse is not for sale.” The caller asked “Even for the $20,000 cash that you asked for?” To which Ted Taylor responded “He is worth $20,000, but is not for sale.” And with that this chapter is closed.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Before we got the offer of funds (last Friday from both parties) we had retained an attorney. He started working for Magic last week. He is gathering documentation of the investigation(s) and the many times that Pierce Animal Control has gone out to check on Magic. However…… when I went to Animal Control yesterday ironically I walked away with 161 pages of complaints filed between Feb. 25 – Mar. 2 – Thank you everyone! (right after The Dodo article was released) but not one record of the animal control visits. I asked the records clerk why I did not have those and she said that they are given in “batches” and that I could come back in 2 weeks to pick them up. I asked if they were given in chronological order that there should be some notes regarding the investigations. She again stated that they are given in files in no particular order. Seemed odd. The attorney is going to call on that.
The attorney is going to take it from here – but we should still be working to get the word out. Emailing government officials, emailing media outlets. This will take a great deal of publicity to continue to spread the word. The offers to front the rest of the money were only for Magic’s immediate purchase, so what we have to work with is what has been raised in the GOFUNDME account. We are hopeful that people will continue to donate as this is what will fund the lawsuit and ultimately Magic’s release. I will work on the legislation portion of it so that we can save as much money as possible with the attorney – although he is giving us a deal because it is animal rights related.
We are working with the attorney on a two pronged approach – to free Magic by way of a lawsuit – there will be some language and work around needed, and then also to change the laws in unincorporated Pierce (which I have been told will take about 6 months) and indeed the state law here in WA which could take several years. These changes will make it illegal for owners to keep horses in the state that Magic has been kept in – these laws are not unusual and in fact just a few miles away in Roy it would be illegal to keep Magic in this way. Magic’s struggle will not be in vain. The work will be wide spread and will hopefully have a positive result for those horses who are being kept in similar conditions right now but are not as known as Magic.
We continue to fight for Magic but now it will go through the courts. I am sure that this is a real blow to you all, as it was to me, that with a simple “yes” from Ted Taylor Magic could have walked out of that tiny stall and started his new life yesterday. But we must keep our heads up and focus on what we can do to push this along and get even more attention put on Magic, put more pressure on the Taylors.
Please continue to email and share on your facebook pages, twitter accounts and talk it up with friends. I am not giving up with this road block – I hope that you will continue to fight for Magic as well. He is not forgotten.
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Update 3/29/2016
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