Jon Stewart has done a great thing: He adopted Lily, an emaciated pony who was the victim of over 100 paintballs.
Stewart and his wife, Tracey, own an animal sanctuary in New Jersey.
Lily will be released from the Omega Horse Rescue & Rehabilitation Center this week. Center director Kelly Smith said:
“Oh my God, she’s phenomenal. You wouldn’t recognize her, she’s a different horse.
“I don’t think we could ask for better. She’ll be living the life of Reilly. She’ll be well cared for, and she’ll never want for anything again.”
The horse was abandoned on March 15 and found at a stall at the New Holland Sales Stables. The police investigated the incident and Philip Price, Jr. of East Providence, Rhode Island was convicted on three counts of animal cruelty on Friday. The judge order that he pay $3,056 in fines and $10,178 in restitution for Lily’s treatments.
Lily had to undergo eye surgery and other treatments before being released to Omega.
They have not figured out who is responsible for the 130 paintball injuries she received.
Stewart opened the animal sanctuary in October 2015. They spent two years getting their farm ready to house animals.
The comedian had this to say to the crowd at a Farm Sanctuary Gala:
“I’m a little uncomfortable. I’ve spent the last 20 years immersed in the world of Washington politics and the media landscape, so I don’t know how to deal necessarily with people who have empathy.”
Here is what Tracey had to say about it:
“Our hope is to get a lot of school groups in. If everyone did a bit more, if they fell in love a little bit more, so much could happen. It doesn’t have to be going vegan. You can advocate for them. You can show tenderness. You can play music for them. I really hope people can connect with animals the way most of us did as children.”
Here is a video of Jon and Tracey Stewart on the farm:
Featured image by Cliff via Flickr, available under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
