It has been a whirlwind since we received the call about the 45 horses that were offered to us as a last chance before they would be sold at auction for slaughter. They were not yet in the slaughter pipeline and were not at a feedlot. If you missed their story, click here.
In order to responsibly rescue and care for these horses we had to raise enough money not only to purchase them, but for their medical care, feed, sheltering, training, and everything else. We were not able to release a whole lot of information about them because we didn’t want to jeopardize their rescue in any way. Some people were skeptical that it was a scam, just a lie that we made up for fundraising. Some groups on social media even started bashing us. These 45 horses don’t care that some people don’t believe they exist, they know they are real and they know they are now in a good place. We are so thankful for the outpouring of support from everyone who donated to keep these horses safe.
They arrived safely this afternoon. The trucking company said they would deliver them and they would turn over ownership of them once they were paid for them and they were unloaded. Some of our rescue team waited alongside the road for the truck and got the first look at them and took some video and pictures. Their hearts sank when they saw it was a double decker trailer. It is legal to haul horses in double decker in Tennessee. We definitely do not condone hauling horses in double deckers but these horses were hauled in a double decker, and the two options were either to our shelter or to a slaughter auction. Either way they would be hauled in a double decker. We were not given the option to go pick them up.
We had a great team waiting at the shelter for their arrival. Our vet tech, two trainers, a farrier, a photographer, one of our Adoption Partners, along with all the other staff and volunteers. Everyone was so excited to see the horses unloading off of the trailer. Everyone was relieved to see that none of the horses were injured in the trailer ride, sometimes being short really helps, all of the horses are relatively small.
One by one the horses came off of the trailer. It was an amazing sight to see a semi trailer (what is called a slaughter truck in the rescue industry) unloading horses at our safe shelter instead of unloading at a slaughter auction. After the horses unloaded they ran through our pasture with pure joy. Some of them started laying down and rolling, it was good to see they were relaxed and feeling comfortable.
We noticed three horses right away that are in extremely critical condition. One is completely blind and has a pretty bad old injury on its chest. Two others have painful old leg injuries that will not get better. We put them in a small pen, and were delighted that we were able to put halters on them and lead them each into stalls. We’re hoping that a lot more of them are halter trained, but at this point we are just wanting them to settle in and relax. There are stallions and gelding operations will be happening soon. We were told that these horses were from Georgia, and a person had them as a personal back yard breeding project until they got to the point they could not longer take care of them.
The next step for these horses will be to go through our intake process, receive their vaccinations, microchipping, deworming, farrier care, gelding operations and more. After they are cleared by our veterinarian for adoption, they will be available. After their intake is done they will be available for other 501(c)(3) animal welfare organizations as shelter transfers, and we will give a $250 assistance for each horse. They are really beautiful horses and we are hoping that the horse rescue community will open their hearts and homes to them.
Thank you all again so much for your support, we couldn’t have done this amazing rescue mission without you!
Watch a video of their rescue, click here.
