Posts Tagged ‘good rescues’
Pulling the trigger, so to speak
I was recently made aware of a news article wherein a rescue saved three horses from auction that were assuredly going to slaughter.
Apparently this rescue has formed a symbiotic relationship with an auction house to receive tips when horses come through that are ‘saveable’. They’ve been operating in this manner for over 15 years. In 2011 alone they saved approximately 80 horses from slaughter, 60 of which were rehomed. The article didn’t mention what happened to the other 20 horses, nor are they listed on the rescue’s website. Fortunately though, nothing I’ve learned about this rescue sets off any hoarder red flags so perhaps they’re being fostered or maybe the article was incorrect.
Of the three most recently rescued horses, one was a 19 year old Standardbred mare. Shortly after rescuing her, she colicked. Unfortunately she required surgery and was given (at best) a 60% chance of survival. After her surgery, this horse stayed at the veterinary hospital for about a week and brought home with her over $10,000 in vet bills – and that’s after the rescue received a discount. One of the articles covering this rescue goes on to quote them as saying they have enough feed for another two months and then they’re out.
I don’t want to condemn this rescue for making the decision to save this horse. On one hand, I think it’s great that after so many years saving horses they aren’t so jaded as to say “19? Colic? 60%? No.” And then move on to the next horse. Unfortunately, on the other hand, maybe that’s what they should have done.
Since JG and I started writing Snarky Rider and more recently, FHOTD, we’ve had the opportunity to develop a number of relationships with different rescues and have started to learn a few things – astounding, I know. It seems to me that, to be successful, a rescue needs to be run similar to a business. And here I’m defining “successful” as being able to support their rescued horses without being in a desperate scramble each month to pay the necessary and inescapable bills. It’s having a contingency fund for emergencies, having a plan and setting parameters for when to save a horse and when to let them go. Think Corporate Triage.
Let me be the first one to state that it must be next to impossible to make that life or death decision. I imagine it would be a type of hell with the potential to haunt you for the rest of your life. However, when you make the decision to start a rescue, do you not willingly take on that responsibility?
I freely admit that I don’t have any direct experience with running a rescue. (I’d like to, eventually, but I think for that to happen I need to figure out how to keep myself alive first.) This entire post and any opinions it expresses come from outside observation and what I’ve read about and discussed with rescuers. Although, I think most of Fugly’s readers are in the same boat as I am – with a few exceptions. It’ll be very interesting to get the opinions of rescue organizations and what, if anything, they would have done differently.
From all other accounts this organization is a good quality rescue that truly has the horse’s best interests at heart. The issue is: do they perhaps care too much? So much so that the objectivity required to save the ‘saveable’ horses has perhaps been compromised? Did they save one horse potentially at the expense of others already in their care? Was their decision to save this horse made with too much heart, or is that an essential component of rescuing horses that, in these hard economic times, is sometimes forgotten?
Guest Post: Buying vs. Rescuing
This guest post is by a regular reader; you may know her from the comments section as “Charm”.
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The Rescue Fetish
I recently traded for a new horse. Believe me, I really tried to turn Sugar into a forever horse; she just wasn’t the one for me. She needed someone younger, who didn’t mind the dancing, prancing, and sometimes manic behavior of an 11 year old mare who consistently wanted to GOOOOO…
Yes, I traded her away. In her place is a much quieter, more laid back little mare who is already squirming her way into my heart. Sugar’s new owner seems very happy so far, I’m happy, and the other people involved are happy. Of course there are a few grumbles, elsewhere—just a few little whispers on the wind—why didn’t I rescue instead of buying? Why didn’t I SAVE A HORSE?
Oh believe me, I considered rescue. I’ve actually rescued horses before. I thought about getting something from Camelot, or one of the hundred other venues that are popping up like Orville Redenbacher in a high powered microwave. So I looked online, and I looked at what was out there. The pressure to rescue instead of purchasing is huge; shopping for a horse is like trying to watch a PBS special during their fund raising period; I try to enjoy the show, but all around are voices demanding that I donate. So I looked at the rescue posts. I looked at the brokered horses. Unfortunately, I discovered that I was far too picky. My list of demands is just too…well… demanding.
- I would like a sound horse. Yes, I know it; it’s really unreasonable for me to want a horse I can ride. And because I want the horse to be sound longer than a week or a month, I’m also demanding a horse without a structural defect that is going to turn into lameness soon.
- I would like to try out the horse first. I get it—the truck is coming! Someone is going to buy her first! I can’t go to the feedlot or babies in Africa will starve to death! That doesn’t change the fact that I want to try the horse out. Otherwise it’s like buying clothing at Walmart without trying it on first—it might fit nicely, or it might not. At least at Walmart my purchase is $3 on the clearance rack, instead of hundreds. Besides, I can return items at Walmart.
- Papers that are up to date would be nice. I don’t need to breed or show, nor do I get a kick out of waving my papers in random strangers’ faces screaming, “Look! Her great granddaddy is Northern Dancer!” However, I do like knowing where my horse came from, who handled her, and whether she has ever actually been ridden outside of a barn aisle in an auction lot. Unfortunately, in this modern day world of genetic diseases, I won’t even look at a stock horse anymore without a set of papers; HYPP is too heartbreaking.
- I want to pay what the horse is worth. I just read a Facebook post that was trying desperately to find this lovely nice Tennessee Walking Horse mare a nice new home. She deserved it! She was in terrible danger! She was going to slaughter! She was ON THE FEED LOT! And for the low low reasonable price of $600 plus Coggins plus shots plus quarantine plus shipping she could be mine.
~insert announcer’s voice~ “Now taking all major credit cards and wire transfers and first born sons”
Folks, that is not rescue. You are buying a horse off of a feed lot from a seller who is checking to see if he can make a lot more money by selling his horses to private buyers like us. We want to save them all, and instead we have created a fake industry in which horses at certain auctions are sold for a higher price, just so a dealer can spin the ‘rescue’ angle and make a few hundred dollars. Think about it; they have companies that will ship anywhere in the U.S., they have people who will quarantine your horse for you (for a price of course), and they can pull blood for a little bit of nothing, almost any day of the week. It’s an entire industry, in existence because we are desperate as an equine society to ‘save them all’.
Some of these organizations are truly legitimate. Some of them truly care about the horses. That isn’t my point. My point is actually this: Why buy a horse like that when you can take your money and go to a quality breeding or training farm and purchase a horse that has been well treated, well trained, and well kept? Imagine what kind of world we would have if we personally visited the farm of the horse we wished to purchase? You go there, and you see happy, healthy horses, owners and trainers and breeders who know how to care for horses, and a facility that is clearly safe and healthy. THIS is where you should spend your money. There may not be that horrid tug on your heartstrings—you know, the one you get when your prospective purchase is standing knee deep in muck, with dingle berries hanging from his belly and hips, nibbling old straw—but this way your money is going to someone who will spend it wisely.
There are great rescues out there, places that carefully vet, feed, and retrain their horses and then offer such horses for a reasonable adoption fee to the RIGHT new owner. Such places take their time to make sure the horse matches the new owner. There is no pressure on the buyer/adopter, and like the better farms in the world, the owners of these facilities are trying to create a long term home for the horse. So tell me, where have you been that deserves a shout out? What farm has well cared for horses? Which people in our industry deserve to get that money you were going to spend bailing out some unknown skinny mistreated wreck? Wouldn’t it be lovely if we changed society so that you received maximum credit for purchasing your horses from a quality caring organization, instead of getting credit for buying a horse sight-unseen from the other side of the country so you could save it?
West Coasters: Horse Feed Recall!
From sfgate.com:
“Missouri-based Manna Pro Products announced Friday that it is voluntarily recalling Family Farm Complete Horse 10 horse feed, lot number 1006, because it may contain potentially harmful levels of the medication monensin sodium, or Rumensin.
The feed was distributed Jan. 11 through Jan. 21 to retailers in California, Nevada and Oregon.
No illnesses or deaths have been reported and retailers have removed it from their stores, but the company says customers who purchased the product should stop feeding it immediately.”
Please share this with your friends in those states – thanks, all!
Now read Shiloh’s blog entry today: This really makes me furious, but at least he is at a quality rescue. If you would like to send them a donation toward his vet and farrier care, it would be very welcome. Poor little dude! You can go to Shiloh Horse Rescue to make a donation.
Happy Holidays – How can we help?
It’s almost Thanksgiving and that time of year is coming when many of you will think about doing something a little extra for animals with your holiday bonus money. So today, I’m going to let those of you who run or volunteer for rescues plug whatever holiday fundraisers you have going!
Please be clear about: Location, time, place, cost, and the name of the rescue that is benefiting. You can post events for other kinds of animals – I think most horse lovers are either dog or cat lovers or both so that’s cool. I’m also cool with events that are being run to help out horsepeople who have suffered an accident or other genuine health crisis, but you should realize that neither I nor my readership will take kindly to pleas to save someone’s home/farm/rescue when that person has not gotten off their posterior to get a damn job like the rest of us…so save the drama and don’t go there, kthx?
I’m also VERY interested to hear your creative fundraising ideas that may help other rescues. We had a ball with drag queen bingo in West Hollywood and it was one of the easiest and most fun ways of making some money for animal rescue ever. A lot of people who would never think of going to a traditional silent auction/dinner will head out gleefully for an evening of margaritas, screaming, singing and fun prizes! Think outside your usual box, and you may pull in a whole new group of donors. (And folks, the gay community is very animal-friendly in general and bursting with quality potential adopters, so if you are the least bit homophobic, get over it – not only is it wrong but you’re losing a LOT of donations and opportunities for education.)
So let’s hear it – what are YOU doing this holiday season? What can we come out and support? Remember, post all the details – we (usually) do not know what state you are in from your screen name. 
Mid-Atlantic Horse Rescue has received a grant to implement a terrific new program for their adopters. “On The Right Track” provides a voucher for up to $200 to each adopter to be put toward professional training of their new OTTB or just lessons with their new horse to help them start out on the right foot and get on track toward being a successful team. What a great idea, huh?
If I could pick one, I would go pick up Phantom I mean, what is not to love? This is a registered Thoroughbred, despite the Paint markings, and he is cute as a bug! He’d make a great stocking-stuffer for a deserving teen or her even more deserving Mom this Christmas. Check him out!
It’s a filly, not a science experiment!
Just had to share this, from the Horse & Man blog:
Worst case of cheap-ass owner DIY’ing EVER
See, I don’t care if this was the result of being cheap or the result of being ignorant. I don’t care where this person’s heart was or if they were trying to help the horse. I don’t care if they’re unemployed and live in a shack and have cancer. It does not matter to me a bit. They tortured this mare as badly as if they’d set her on fire.
And the one thing I didn’t see are the names of the people who did this to her, and whether they have been prosecuted. So that’s one reason I’m blogging about it. Someone knows. Feel free to “leak” that information here – as anonymously as you like. WHO DID THIS?
If you’re in the Los Angeles area, come on out tomorrow night (Wednesday the 17th) for Legendary Bingo to benefit Angel Acres Horse Haven Rescue! This is not your grandma’s bingo…and you will laugh harder than you ever have in your life, guaranteed! A $20 suggested donation (more is welcome, LOL!) gets you in the door and gets you 10 games of bingo and the chance to win gift bags stuffed with fun prizes and even an Ipod shuffle complete with $50 worth of new music. Starts at 9:00, be there a little early to get seated & your bingo stuff, at Hamburger Mary’s, 8288 Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood. 21 & over, please.
If you’re not 21 and over, or you just love cupcakes (really, who does not?) then join us for Cupcake Camp LA at the Music Box Theater in Hollywood on Saturday! Again, we are supporting a GFAS Accredited (not just verified, but one that has been through the whole process including the financial audit and passed with flying colors!) rescue, Angel Acres, that rescues mostly TB’s but occasionally naughty ponies (more on that later), retrains them and finds them wonderful new homes.
