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WHAT CAN I DO
TO HELP?
by Linda Olson
I’m so glad you asked.
My last article was about the feedlot horses in Benton City, WA,
awaiting shipment to a slaughter house and a small dedicated group
of horse rescue volunteers burning up the hours and working their
buns off trying to help as many of these horses find homes as is
humanly possible.
Columbia Basin Equine Rescue is making a difference. But, as always
in rescue, much more needs to be done. . .so much more could be done
if they just had a little more help. The groundwork is already in
place and I think they are pretty pleased by the response thus far.
They have been given permission to work the feedlot and get these
horses out of there. Their website that is one of the best I’ve ever
seen and. . .they keep it current. They take telephone calls and
e-mail inquiries about these horses. They sort through adoption
applications and coordinate arrangements for meeting new owners and
pulling horses from the feedlot. They sort through and approve
foster home applications and coordinate removal from the feedlot to
the foster homes. They take care of the feedlot horses that are
sponsored and not yet in foster care. Every few days they are at the
feedlot taking pictures of the new arrivals and posting them on
their website so the rest of us know what is there. They spend a
considerable amount of time catching and riding those horses that
are agreeable and evaluating them. And, after all that, they even
have time to communicate with this writer so that I can get the word
out. This is quite a remarkable feat in the world of rescue. They
are doing it all and they are doing it well.
Quite frankly, I am amazed at the success they have had in such a
short period of time. As in all areas of animal rescue work, these
horses just keep coming. . .regardless of how fast and how much
effort you put in getting them re-homed. I pray that they don’t burn
out too soon. Rescue is an emotional roller coaster because even
though you save so many, you also know how many you didn’t save. .
.and often times they were just as worthy (or better) than the ones
that were saved.
As is always a problem with rescue work, there are more pulled and
saved than there are foster homes. PLEASE, if anyone out there has
the space and the goodness of heart to help foster some of these
horses, step forward. The need is very real. Right now, you can see
on their website and on the PetFinder website just how many horses
have been sponsored but are still waiting for a foster home. A
bottleneck at any stage of the rescue process will prevent others
from being saved.
To adopt a horse that is already in a foster home is a very good
idea. These horses have had a lot of work done with them and their
foster home will know their temperament and their capabilities. The
vet work has been done and if there was an injury, it has had the
time to heal. As with the dogs, a fostered horse will have a recent
history to better judge if that animal will be a good fit in your
home.
If you are like myself and do not have a place to put a horse, then
sponsorship is the way for you to help. Yes. I follow my own advice
and my heart. I’ve teamed up with two other ladies to sponsor a
wonderful horse with an injury that will now have the vet care
needed and a 2nd chance. If you are led to do this, just contact the
person listed with the horse picture.
Supplies to care for these horses are very much needed. . .money for
shots are needed before they can be removed from the feedlot and put
into foster care. . .and vet care. There are so many ways to help. .
.a way for each and every one of us regardless of our income or
circumstances.
AND, once a sponsored horse has been placed into a permanent home,
the sponsor is contacted and asked to choose another horse needing
rescue. Your donation will not disappear into some big deep black
hole. . .it will be recycled to save another one. They’ve really got
the right idea here. In the pet rescue group I once belonged to, any
money given to help the rescued dogs/cats was never seen again. .
.no reimbursement. . .and no other animal saved.
To present options for helping these feedlot horses, I’ve asked and
been given permission to quote verbatim if needed from the C.B.E.R.
website. It is well written and will give all the details.
OPTIONS FOR HELPING FEED-LOT HORSES
Placement – To adopt a horse that is at the feedlot and listed on
the “Feedlot Efforts” pages of the C.B.E.R website, an adoption
application must be filled out by the potential adopter and
forwarded to the responsible C.B.E.R volunteer as listed under each
horse’s description and picture. To adopt a horse, a person must be
18 years or older and their application approved by C.B.E.R. Horses
are placed on a first come/first served basis, which means that if
an individual sends an application in and is approved for a horse
and commits to purchasing that horse, they are first in line to
receive that horse. However, if the placement falls through, the
next person who has submitted an approved application will be
offered the opportunity to adopt that horse.
Individual Sponsorship
Individuals may be unable to physically adopt and take in a horse
from the feedlot, therefore, the option of sponsorship is available.
To sponsor a horse, please contact the C.B.E.R volunteer listed
under each horse’s description and picture and inform them that you
would like to sponsor a horse. An individual or individuals pay the
purchase price of the horse as listed under the horse’s
description/picture. C.B.E.R also requests that you include one
month of board at $150/month and $76.00 for vaccinations/worming so
the horse may be moved from the feedlot into C.B.E.R foster care.
If, however, free foster is available, then $76.00 for shots/worming
is requested. Once the horse is placed into a new home, the sponsor
funds are then recycled back into C.B.E.R and the individual is
contacted about which horse the individual(s) would like to sponsor.
Group Sponsorships
There are various groups that pool their funds together to sponsor
one or more horses from the feedlot. C.B.E.R asks that the group
contact C.B.E.R as early as possible to notify them as to which
horse(s) they would like to sponsor from the feedlot. $150/month
board per horse is also requested until they are placed and $76.00
for shots/worming so the horse can be moved into foster care. Once
the horse is placed, then the sponsor funds are recycled back into
C.B.E.R and the group is contacted about which horse they would next
like to sponsor. These funds will only be used to sponsor horses in
the feedlot if an adoptive home is not found prior to the scheduled
shipment. The board fee and vaccination fee will not be recycled.
Donations
Individuals may not be able to come up with the full purchase price
of the horse; however, donations are welcome to gather the funds to
sponsor the horse(s) and help care for rescued horses special needs.
If the individual wants to help save a horse from shipment, C.B.E.R
requests that these donations not be directed towards a specific
horse but will be captured at the time of shipment to pull horses
from shipment. If the donations are not marked for sponsorship, then
these donations may also be used to care for horses from the feedlot
including vet care, special dietary needs, farrier care, and
paneling to help separate and quarantine horses, medications, and
other special equine needs.
Placement Only Horses/Not a Candidate for C.B.E.R Foster Care –
C.B.E.R is provided with little to no history on the horses that
arrive at the feedlot. Therefore, this increases the risk to the
volunteers handling the horses and performing evaluations. It is
difficult to obtain a full evaluation of each horse including
ridability, disposition, age, conformation, soundness, temperament,
athleticism, and health. Therefore, those horses that are difficult
to catch for primary evaluation and display tendencies of horses
that have never been handled may be listed as “placement only”.
Because C.B.E.R has a limited amount of foster homes, we cannot risk
the safety of the foster care providers by placing difficult horses
that display aggressive behavior. Therefore, if an individual
chooses to sponsor a horse without adopting the horse, they must
arrange their own foster care and transportation for the horse.
C.B.E.R cannot be held responsible if a horse injures a person(s).
So, there you have it. To add to that list, they need supplies. .
.fly spray, buckets, feed, halters, ropes, etc.,. . .all that was
listed last month. Any amount of support you can give is very much
needed. These are large animals and their adoption fees, vet care,
and feed are a lot more than what we pet rescuers experience with
our dogs/cats.
This is all still pretty new to me, but in the last 3 weeks or so I
have been shocked at the quality of horses/ponies/mules that have
found themselves at the feedlot. There have been pregnant mares,
open mares, stallions, riding horses, companion horses, what I would
consider show horses, well-trained horses, and those that have been
turned out to pasture to produce offspring their whole lives. There
are lots of sound horses. . .nothing wrong with them. And, there are
unsound horses and older horses. Mothers, foals, and yearlings are
frequently found.
I really can’t find any good explanation as to why this is
happening. The meat buyers, I guess, just got the top auction bid
that day. Most of these horses are far from ready to end their
lives. . .and. . .regardless, no horse deserves to end life this
way.
Contact information for The Columbia Basin Equine Rescue: (509)
952-3866, (206) 396-9847, (509) 282-3331, (509) 308-0538. Mailing
Address: 20502, Ruppert Rd., Benton City, WA 99320. Website:
www.columbiabasinequinerescue.org.
Website:
www.PetFinder.com.
These horses aren’t going to find their way out of this situation
without your help. Waiting to think about it, you will loose the
opportunity and the horses will lose their lives. These horses have
no time. Those semi trucks come once a week to haul them off to
slaughter. Thinking that someone else will step up to help them, is
one of the great fallacies of the human mind. The call for help is
out. . .and the need is right now. What can I do to help?
I’m so glad you asked.
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