Integrity ~ Why Horse Rescues Need Regulation

This past week Zuma’s Was called to help with Seven horses in need. An elderly couple in Walden Colorado cared for a small herd on their 300 acre ranch.  This winter the husband died leaving the herd for his wife to care for . After a long winter and an injury to the wife, it became time to re-home the herd to people that could manage the horses.

Mary Kissam- Rocky Mountain Horse Rescue contacted me about taking some of the horses, of course Zuma’s has no space but accepted two of the horses, that is what we do step in when horses need help. There were four yearlings, two draft horses and not sure what the other was. In fact I am no longer sure of much about this particular rescue  after the following trail of events. Mary Kissam stood by her word and had nothing to due with the actions of Nicole Webb.

A photo of the horses needing rescuing was sent to me  and I selected two yearlings, a paint and a Palomino, I was told another person would be picking the horses up and then bringing them to me. Day two of this nightmare I  this other person, Nicole Webb, that I would have to pay for the two horses and asked if I could  pay for fuel to go and get them. I thought this strange but agreed to pay for the paint and the Palomino yearlings and accept delivery.

Colorado would deliver a spring snow storm the next day, so the pick up of the horses from Walden move up and the delivery of the horses to Zuma’s vanished. Mary told me that I would need to go pick the horses up in Longmont,  I agreed to pick the horses up.

While making arrangements to re-feed theses horses,  Nicole told me that the horses were in poor shape, I asked Nicole what the Henneke score on the little guys was so that I would know how to begin the feeding process. Nicole then stated that she did not score rescue horses and then she questioned me as to whether or not Zuma’s could handle these horses.

Given that the horses were in poor shape I asked Nicole if the horses could stay with her for a week or so to gain some strength, Nicole said NO.I was told that she was not set up to keep them even, though I offered to cover the cost bring hay for them, they could not stay. So the very next day I receive an email from Nicole stating the horses were too sick to move and they would be at her place indefinitely. Seems strange that Nicol could not keep them at all one day then the very next day they are staying with her until further notice. Obviously Nicole had another agenda here and was creating a story to fit her agenda.

The story unravels more, I then receive an email stating that the paint that I rescued had already been adopted by Nicoles’ friend and it would be not coming to Zuma’s at all, but that I needed to pick up the two Palominos that very same day. It was now obvious that Nicole was a dishonest person with an agenda, and that she had lied to me to have things unfold her way. Needless to say I stepped away from this all together.

I surely hope those horses have good homes, for the stories I have heard of a “Rescue” that also breeds horses…… is  NOT a rescue at all. Anyone that breeds when there are so many horses needing homes is not a true rescue by any stretch.This is why we so badly need regulations for people calling themselves rescues.

This is why I am so glad to be in the process of becoming a nationally recognized horse rescue myself, and I hope that the IRS will strip all rescues that do not comply with the new national regulations of the 501C3 status.

This industry of rescues is full of people that have no boundary with what they do and it is high-time that the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaties and Executive Director Patty Finch take this industry by the horns and weeds out those that do not belong.

I have heard more horror stories of so called rescues hoarding horses and placing them in horrible conditions.Or Horse Rescues that take horses in for themselves and collection donations to care for them. Rescues that simply make money from selling horses, never following up on the horses they sell.

Horse Rescues are often times seedy  causing the industry  to look bad as a whole and making it hard on legitimate horse rescues out here doing the right thing by these poor horses.

Beware of any horse rescue that also breeds horses. Also do through background checks on the people you are dealing with, if you suspect foul play contact the Global Federation of Horse Rescue, Patty Finch.

Be the Voice the Horse does not have.