Help Homeless Horses
During the recession, many people with horses lost their homes and can no longer care for these amazing animals. Some of these surrendered or abandoned horses find loving new homes, but others become victims of neglect and abuse or end up being sent to slaughter.
The Humane Society of the United States is working to change that.
To find out more about the issue of homeless horses, I spoke to Shelly who is the founder of Dude’s Ranch Equine Rescue Center in Acton, Ca. Her rescue is at capacity - they have to turn away thousands of horses every year for lack of funding and space. What happens to these horses that are turned away? According to the Humane Society, there is no data on the specific number of horses slaughtered in this country every year, but some speculate it to be in the six-digits. There are many organizations and sanctuaries around the country like Shelly’s that adopt out horses and desperately need help.
If you’re thinking of getting a horse, please, please don’t buy one! Instead, consider adopting one of these beautiful creatures, or encourage others who you know love horses to adopt. Find out how to adopt a horse through the Humane Society here. You can also call your local animal sanctuary to find out if they have any horses available for adoption.
If you are unable to adopt a horse, you can still make a donation to the Humane Society to help homeless horses.
Do you have a rescued horse? I’d love to see!
Please tell me about your rescued horse(s) in the comments below. You can also upload a picture to your profile and share the link with your comments!
Credit: Public Domain Photos
19 comments
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In October 2012, LA County Animal Control seized all of the horses and dogs from Dude's Rescue. The owner, Michelle Testa, has been charged with felony animal abuse. She currently has no animals in her possession. Please GOOGLE reviews on Dude's Rescue, or research her court case, before you consider donating to her or giving her any animals. -
My horse Duke was starved. They almost put him down. He lived behind the lady house, she saw him everyday when she look out the window. She had 10 horses but 1 died before help came. I adopted him from Healing horses. He was a stallion for 15yrs. I trained him to ride 6 months ago. He went to his first horse show on Sep 8, he won 3 ribbons. We are training him to do dressage. Here is his before and after pics.
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Thank you. We are searching for help in any way. It's a hard time for many, but even harder to watch animals (we've rescued dogs, cats, chickens, llamas, cows, goats & horses) that have been entrusted to you and depend on you for their well being and not know where the next load of feed will come from. I've been suffering physically for over a year and recently diagnosed with a degenerative disc disease. My husband has torn both rotator cuffs and requires surgery so neither of us are able to work (he's retired law enforcement). We do our best each day to keep going, but, again, can use help in any way. Bless you
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This is a wonderful thing you are doing. Thank you for supporting and promoting a very wonderful cause. We have a sanctuary full of horses, many of the wild horses, that were either slaughter bound or surrendered due to family hardships. We have done our best to give these animals the lives they deserve in a peaceful setting. However, we are now facing the same situation that so many others have. We can no longer afford to care for all the animals we have taken in. Our hay prices have gone up and our donations have gone down. We are facing a critical time and unsure where to turn. We have several horses needing homes. All photos and details are on our website www.whisperingwindsanimalsanctuary.org If anyone has a home and the ability to care for any of these horses, please contact us. Each has their own detailed stories and now need forever homes so they may continue to live safe and loved.
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Here is my Haflinger pony Baxter http://thekindlife.com/user/788033/photos I saved him in May 2010 from a killpen in New Jersey. He was 8 years old at the time and supposedly came from an Amish farm. I took a chance and brought him home and he has been the most perfect family friend. He is sweet, kind, fearless and loves kids and treats. -
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We have 4 horses: one, a Thoroughbred who was raced in his youth, and needed a patient, understanding forever home that could handle and heal his anger over time, and a white Arabian who was scheduled to go to auction and certainly slaughter, due to his 20 yr age. Both were given to me years ago. Then, we bought 2 mares from people who had fallen on hard economic times and were desperate to sell: a registered Arabian and a registered Morgan. We could afford to buy them because their prices had been reduced to a fraction of what these beautiful horses are worth. Fortunately, we live on acreage outside Tucson and so they live here with us. By searching, we have found excellent alfalfa hay that we buy from the "rez" for only $8/bale - and so, it all works, and it's a beautiful life. I can hear the horses through the open window now...:-) -
And thanks to Caroline Betts founder of Southern California Thoroughbred Rescue and Bridget (ranch manager) for all they have done for Sassy Lil Belle! -
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I am writing about a horse named "Sassy Lil Belle" - A thoroughbred mare whose owner couldn't pay her board and the facility was going to ship her to the local horse auction - and surely on to slaughter. A friend of mine Mara Brown was going to dedicate one of her TV cable shows "Living Your Dreams" to our Wild and Domestic horses when we found out about Sassy. Mara had previously loved a horse named Sassy in Canada who she recently learned had gone to slaughter. We set out on a mission to save Sassy and within four days had raised almost $4,000 to save Sassy. Sassy now has a forever home with Southern California Thoroughbred Rescue. The rescue was facilitated by Wild for Life Rescue, Katia Louise (producer of a wonderful film called "Waving America's Horses" which has won awards at numberous film festivals and hopefully will go to general release and Cate Crismani, founder of TrueCowboy emagazine. Sassy Lil Belle is in training and looks like a different horse. American horses are in grave danger and the rescues are full and fighting to survive with the poor economy and price of hay. If you want to help there are rescues out there trying to save horses if they just had more resources. Anything you can do - start with googling horse rescue and you will see how much need there is
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I'm so happy to see this subject getting some attention... I have some thoughts though... while i am sooo for adopting I also have to wonder if no one buys the horses that are out there.... they will eventually turn into rescues so I say please consider adoption but most importantly find a horse that fits your needs (rather it be adoption or purchased) so that it will have found it's forever home and not have to be shuffled around any more... And for goodness sake STOP BREEDING SO IRRESPONSIBLY!!!! -
Great work helping the horses, Shelly, and of course, Alicia. Have a lovely day, Miss Silverstone! x. -
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15 years ago I took in a 15 year old arabian gelding. He had a rough life from the start, but his attitude was always great! He was (and still is) very curious, spunky and happy! We celebrated his 30th Birthday in May with "Carrot Cake", party hats and lots of love!
I know not everyone can adopt a horse, but I encourage everyone to help and animal in need - in anyway you can! Or please help to educate those around you to be responsible to the animals of the world!
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