Horse Rescue Registry Created in Arizona

The Equine Rescue Registry was created last year as a partnership between the Arizona Department of Agriculture and horse rescue organizations which are certified by the state. Rescue centers meeting horse care and business practices standards can be included in an online registry where people who can no longer care for their horses can find help.

To be admitted into the registry, horse rescue centers must comply with operational guidelines established by the American Association of Equine Practitioners. They must also have a letter of recommendation written by a licensed and working veterinarian, and pay an annual fee.

“We had a lot of fly-by-night organizations that would raise money, not take care of the horses, and then disappear. We wanted to put an end to that,” said Jean Anderson, director of communications for the Arizona Horse Council. (Source: TheHorse.com)

The forming of the registry to help horses was provoked by a growing number of abandoned horses in the state. From 2008-2009 their Dept. of Agriculture documented 1,254 phone calls about stray horses. After picking up 400 horses, the state was left with 300 to care for, but could not do all that was necessary on their own, so some horse rescue centers became involved. The rise in abandoned horses is believed to be due to the economic downturn, but the state Animal Services Division has also had budget cuts so there is hope the partnership between non-profit rescue centers and the state will prove effective.

The Arizona Equine Rescue Organization is the first to apply to the new registry and has already responded to a situation involving an elderly man and 100 horses he could not care for on his own. The non-profit pays for one-time medical expenses and food, but is also functioning on a limited budget.

“The equestrian community came together when it saw a need for certification of rescues. Now, people can be sure that if they ever need to leave their horse, they can easily find a safe place for it,” said Dr. John Hunt, Associate Director of Animal Services at the Department of Agriculture. (Source: Arizona Horse Council)

Image Credit: François Marchal

Read more: Pets, arizona, horses

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Kat H.

4:00PM PDT on Apr 13, 2012

Awesome!!

send a green star

Lydia P.

6:44AM PDT on Apr 8, 2012

Great news. We need to go after the pharmaceutical companies that make hormones from pregnant mares. These babies all end up at slaughter. I wouldn't be surprised if they were somehow involved behind the scenes in the push for horse slaughter to continue. Everything is always about the money. They've sold their souls for it.

m S.

5:12PM PDT on Apr 1, 2012

If this rescue is on the up and up ,that's great. I worry what portion go to slaughter. Why isn't anyone looking at the horse racing industry that continually breeds mares resulting in hundreds of thousands of horses born EVERY YEAR in this country? There aren't enough homes for them and they end up starving,neglected and slaughtered!!!

Patricia M.

11:54PM PDT on Mar 29, 2012

Better yet to STOP ALL HORSE SLAUGHTER & STOP HORSE RESCUES FROM SENDING HORSES TO THE KILLER BUYER AUCTIONS!!!!!

Muriel S.

12:21PM PST on Feb 15, 2012

Interesting. Thank you.

Rosie L.

9:43AM PST on Feb 15, 2012

thanks!

paula e.

1:02AM PST on Feb 15, 2012

Horses need all the help they can get. Hopefully this will keep the number of horses brutally slaughtered down.