Last week, San Diego County Animal Services rescued 39 animals from a property in Rancho Santa Fe after receiving a tip about possible neglect. Officers found horses, miniature horses, goats, geese, and two dozen dogs. Many were underweight. Several had skin and dental conditions. One dog was found dead inside the home.

By the time the county was able to act, it needed a search warrant and worked late into the night to remove the animals. That is not a system designed to prevent suffering — it is a system that responds to it after the fact.

San Diego County has the authority to require routine welfare checks on properties where large animals are kept. It does not currently do so in any consistent, proactive way. Horses, goats, and farm animals are often overlooked by the animal welfare systems built primarily around domestic pets. That gap has consequences.

We are calling on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors to direct Animal Services to conduct regular, unannounced welfare inspections of properties licensed or registered to house horses and other large animals. These checks would catch problems early — before animals are left starving, before a neighbor has to make a call, and before officers are scrambling with a search warrant at night.

This is not about targeting responsible owners. The vast majority of people who keep large animals care for them well. This is about creating a basic layer of accountability for the animals who have no way to ask for help themselves.

Sign this petition to urge the San Diego County Board of Supervisors to act.