Reputable charities to donate to or volunteer
Trusting Charities
In todayâs society it is difficult to trust charities for donations. You rightfully want to know where your money is going as well as feel confident that your donation helped the party advertised by the charity. When it comes to donating for the welfare of animals and
recovering equine, the same concerns are presented. Donating to the right charity is crucial to making sure your money is put to good use in order to help recovering horses.
Best Equine Charities
Humane Society of the United States
While the Humane Society may be most well known for their care in smaller animals such as dogs and cats, they also rescue and rehabilitate horses. In addition to rescuing horses who are surrendered by the owner, lost or abandoned, and even seized by law enforcement, the Humane Society actively opposes equine slaughter.
The Humane Society has a primary focus that prevents horses from going to slaughter. While horse slaughter in the United States is illegal, it is not illegal to purchase a horse in the United States, then transport them to a bordering country such as Canada or Mexico. This is a common practice for horse slaughter businesses in Canada and Mexico, because they can get affordable horses in the U.S, then bring them back across the border where horse slaughter is legal.
The Humane Society has created a system they call The Buyout Program. This system involves a group of volunteers attending horse auctions in order to intervene with the slaughter pipeline of sales. By purchasing the horses bound for slaughter, The Humane Society saves countless horses and provides a positive outlook for their health, welfare, and quality of life.
Thoroughbred Charities of America
It is no secret that American Thoroughbred horses have had it tough in life. The average race horse starts running their first races around the age of 2 and can continue racing until they are either 3 years old, or around 8 years old. The time they are allowed to race is dependent on their success in the first and second year of racing. Unaltered racehorses with good statistics from their first two years racing may be retired around the age of 3 or 4 in order to avoid injury and foal or sire the next generation of their bloodline.
What happens when a 2 year old gelding (altered male) doesnât do good in his races? The owner canât afford to put him in races if he wonât win a purse at the end of it, so more often than not, they end up in an auction yard headed down the slaughter pipeline.
Thoroughbred Charities of Americaâs mission is to save these retired jumping and race horses from their potential downfall after their careers end. This charity offers large grants to non-profit organizations who rescue, rehabilitate, and house retired Thoroughbred horses. They also invest heavily on organizations who specialize in Equine Assisted Therapy programs.
Equus Foundation
From the little state of Connecticut, the Equus Foundation offers a large heart for horses that have been abused. By searching and rescuing abused horses around the United States they have created a better future for affected horses by using them in their programs offered at the facility. These programs include: equestrian events, summer and winter festivals, and even an annual adoption day.
The Equus Foundation has also created a network for individual non-profit horse rescues around the United States. This network, the Equine Welfare Network, offers a select set of perks if accepted into the network as an official 501(c)3 non-profit. Along with a Equus Foundation Guardian Seal of Transparency, the non-profit accepted into the network also has the ability to become a mentor, member, or guardian through the Equus Foundation.
Not only does the Equus Foundation rescue horses from abusive environments but they actively fight against it. Equus Foundation prides themselves in showing up to equestrian events and competitions, such as jumping and racing, to analyze and ensure that none of the horses in competition are being treated unfairly or being abused.
SPANA
A charity that started when the founders visited South Africa and saw an extremely malnourished donkey pulling a cart. Today, SPANA helps mules, horses, and donkeys that are being used as work animals in 28 different countries including the United States. While other organizations focus on finding and rescuing equines, this one operates slightly differently.
SPANA has implemented a total of 55 veterinarian facilities where equines were struggling to be kept alive due to parasites, malnutrition, and other health issues that can become expensive to treat. These 55 veterinarian facilities help provide free care to these equines in order to improve their lives, as well as the people in the areas where these work animals are relied on daily for transportation.
World Horse Welfare
What originally started as a British organization to improve the lives of owned horses has now developed into a global business. The World Horse Welfare organization has increased their original focus of owned horses quality of life and added the focus of rehoming and rehabilitating previously abused horses.
According to the American Society for the Protection of Cruelty of Animals (ASPCA) an average of 100,000 horses are abused and neglected every year in the United States. The World Horse Welfare organization has an average rehoming success stories of 356 a year, which is almost one rehome a day for a year.
With overwhelming positive reviews online and a constant rescue presence at slaughter sales, the World Horse Welfare has made a large impact in all 17 countries they have expanded to. Along with rescue and rehome, the organization helps to improve the human-horse connection through a series of clinics and events. Their organization also includes research facilities and offers grants for other horse rescues.
How You Can Help
All of these organizations are reputable in their promise to help horses, not only in the United States, but around the world as well. Their public outreach to intervene with theslaughter pipeline is admirable and their outlook in improving equine quality of life is actively making a difference in the lives of thousands of horses world wide. Donating to one of these organizations is one way to help the cause. Volunteering is an additional way to help these organizations, such as the Humane Society, who is always looking for volunteers.
