ASPCA Press Release – Colorado Horse Rescue PDF Version
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 2021
Media Contact: Kelsey Hammon, 970-457-7270 / khammon@prairiemountainmedia.com
Colorado Horse Rescue Receives $75,000 Grant from ASPCA to Support Disaster Preparedness and Response Efforts for Equine
Funding will assist with expenses incurred during Colorado Wildfire relief efforts and enhance future disaster response capabilities
Longmont, Colorado — Colorado Horse Rescue (CHR) has been awarded a $75,000 grant from the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) to support disaster response efforts, including expenses associated with assisting equines impacted by the Colorado wildfires this fall. The grant will help CHR fund essential lifesaving services by growing disaster preparedness and response capabilities. Expanded services include capacity building efforts to boost emergency evacuation operations, greater transportation equipment, and increased equine education and training offerings within CHR, Boulder County, and greater Colorado community, which are proving to be crucial resources while recovering from the recent disasters. Specifically, the grant will provide a three horse trailer that can navigate through tight mountain town roads along with a truck to pull it, vital professional trainers, and funding for disaster preparedness education within the Colorado horse community, allowing CHR to assist even more equines impacted by disasters in the future.
“As part of our response to the extreme wildfires in 2020, Colorado Horse Rescue is devoted to building our emergency response resources to better support the Colorado horse community,” said Katherine Gregory, Executive Director of Colorado Horse Rescue. “This $75,000 grant from the ASPCA directly funds these efforts and allows us to provide expanded disaster response and transportation for horses in need of emergency evacuation, as well as increase our educational opportunities about safe equine evacuation for the community.” “Colorado Horse Rescue continues to make great strides in improving equine welfare in Colorado,” said Dr. Emily Weiss, Vice President of ASPCA Equine Welfare. “The ASPCA is proud to partner with Colorado Horse Rescue through The Right Horse Initiative, and we are pleased to support the enhancement of their emergency response capabilities so they can further assist the horses in their community moving forward.”
When CHR was forced to evacuate the herd in 2020 due to the threat of the CalWood fire, we were able to do so with the support of our community who loaned multiple trailers in order to evacuate our 60-horse herd. We are incredibly grateful for the generosity of our equine community; however, this kind of support is not sustainable nor reliable in the face of a disaster. The funding from this grant will allow CHR to purchase an additional horse trailer with a new truck to pull it, specifically one that is able to offer emergency support for evacuations in smaller mountain towns. This expanded equipment will also enable CHR to independently evacuate our herd safely and swiftly in the future, as well as expand our capacity to support community equine evacuation. This grant will enable CHR to further partner with local Animal Control. By growing this partnership between CHR trainers and Animal Control officers, our community’s search and rescue capacity for horses will expand, benefiting the public for future disasters.
This fall, we saw first-hand how these disasters affect our Colorado horse community. Specifically, we took in a horse named Star whose family was displaced by the Cameron Peak wildfire that tore through her home. Thankfully, we were able to provide a safe landing for Star and she is now recovering from the trauma of the fire in a caring foster home. Thanks to the ASPCA, this grant will allow us to be an even greater resource for disaster response and preparedness for more horses and their owners, just like Star and her family.
For more information about Colorado Horse Rescue please visit www.chr.org.
About Colorado Horse Rescue
We are Colorado Horse Rescue and we are building a better future for horses. As a 501(c)(3) impact organization operating in Colorado since 1986, we work to continuously reimagine what’s possible and create a reality where safe solutions exist for every horse. Our mission is to save the disadvantaged horse… one human, one horse, one home at a time.
In 2001, CHR moved to its current 50-acre property in Longmont, CO which is owned outright. In 2011, CHR was accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries. In 2018, we achieved one of our greatest accomplishments when the Right Horse Initiative identified CHR as an official Right Horse partner. The Right Horse, now a program of the ASPCA, is dedicated to massively increasing the number of successful horse adoptions in the United States. CHR also maintains a Gold GuideStar rating and is honored for the fourth year in a row with a Top-Rated Award from Great Nonprofits.
