Community Supports Horse Rescue Group; Three Kids Help Raise Funds
July 31, 2008
A local horse rescue group’s financial situation has improved, partially thanks to three children that took it upon themselves to raise money for the group.
After an article on NorthEscambia.com and a report on a Mobile television station, donations began to arrive for Panhandle Equine Rescue, a non-profit horse rescue group located in the Molino area.
PER has received several donations from the community totaling about $3,000, including $231.31 from three Pace kids.
Hannah Richards, 11, Emily Richards, 8, and Michael Abendan, 10, of Pace learned of PER’s plight and hit a neighborhood street with a bucket and a sign that read “Help Save the Abused Horse Shelter”. Over six days for up to two and a half hours per day, the three took a stand for PER. Emily, Hannah and Michael (L-R) are pictured above with rescued horse Jasmine.
“It made me feel really, really bad about the horses,” Hannah told NorthEscambia.com. “I asked my friend, and we help up our sign to help.”
While Hannah and her sister Emily do not have a horse at their home in the Woodbine Springs area, their grandfather does have horses that they ride.
“I love horses, and I just wanted to do something to help the abused horses,” she said.
After spending three years helping horses in Escambia County, Panhandle Equine rescue turned to the community for help about two weeks ago. PER has investigated cases involving 466 horses and rescued 54 horses since 2005.
Along with their ordinary operation expenses, PER is facing huge medical bills for a horse named Raven. In less than 10 days, her medical bills have hit $1,200, and she will spending 30 days on an expensive medication.
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Raven and her colt Racer were rescued April 11 from Highway 168 near Century. The horses were reported to be running freely around the area on at least two occasions, and they were not being properly fed, according to PER. Their owner voluntarily surrendered them to PER. The photos above left shows their living conditions in January, and the photo on the right shows Raven in early December. Click the photos to enlarge (some readers may find the enlarged photos disturbing).
The following was submitted by Diane Lowery, president of PER:
Panhandle Equine Rescue is in desperate need of donations to help pay the vet bills on a rescued Arabian mare.
Raven, along with her colt, Racer, were rescued in April. Both were adopted out, but Raven was returned to us because of her health issues.
Since July 8th, her expenses have added up to almost $1,200.00. She had to be admitted into the vet clinic again for the second time Thursday night due to regular bouts of colic. She has been diagnosed with “Grade 2 Ulcers” and experiences pain on a daily basis.
She has been started on an oral paste that must be given daily. One tube costs $33.00. She must receive this medicine for 28 days.
Panhandle Equine Rescue has a total of 17 horses in foster care and very little in donations has been coming in. We’re planning some fund raisers to try to compensate for our losses, but it may be too late.
We are really frustrated at this point, because we know that our services are needed in this county. We rely solely on donations. We do not receive county or state funding, nor have we received any federal grants. In 2005, three of us were approved by a judge to do equine investigations in Escambia County and since then, we have worked 111 cases involving 466 horses. We have rescued 54 horses.
In addition, we are in great need of foster homes. We are at full capacity and cannot take in any more rescues until we have more space and can raise the funds to support them.
If anyone would like to sponsor Raven to help get her through this horrible ordeal in her life, we would appreciate it.
A monthly sponsor receives a picture and a quarterly update or you can be a one time sponsor. To read about her rescue, go to www.panhandleequinerescue.org
Donations can be sent to PER, P.O. Box 777, Cantonment, FL 32533
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