Wild Horse Thanks His Rescuer With A Smooch As He’s Freed From His Chains

Oct 15, 2020

In 2018, Four Paws International veterinarian, Ovidiu Rosu, found a horse in Letea, Romania chained up to prevent it from running away. When the vet decided to set the horse free, he got a priceless "thank you" from the grateful animal in the form of a kiss.

In parts of the world, horses are usually given enough room to roam around freely, food to eat, water to drink, and freedom to do whatever they want as long as they do it inside the confines of the fences that hold them in. 

However, wild horses are a different matter. In Romania, specifically the Danube delta region, wild horses roam freely. Because the area is a protected biosphere reserve, the population of wild horses put flora and fauna at risk. In response, the local authorities have allowed horses to be shot, or in other cases, their front and hind legs are bound by chains to keep them from running far away. 

Since 2012, Four Paws International has been working to help these wild horses living in Europe. Instead of allowing the authorities to shoot the animals in a bid to keep the population down, Four Paws has established a birth control program that aims to control the population long-term. 

Their approach doesn't involve risky surgery but instead works through immunization using a contraceptive vaccine. This is a more realistic approach and also less invasive to the animals.

However, it is still possible to find animals who have been chained or mistreated. Ovidiu Rosu, a vet, recently found a horse chained in the Romanian countryside.

Rosu did what he had to do. He cut the thick metal bands off of its legs, revealing that the pieces of metal had rubbed off all the skin in the area. Just as Rosu released the injured horse into the wild after fixing it up, one of its friends touched noses with the vet. The horse's gratitude didn't go unnoticed and was captured on camera.

Check out this adorable video—it's so cute!

What would you do if you encountered a horse chained and shackled in the same way the horse in the video was? Let us know in the comments and pass this story along to your friends and family to spread awareness of animal abuse around the world.