Quote:
Originally Posted by Waus
I had to study horse rescue groups to help my wife write a paper last year. I don't remember the specifics, but I remember coming away from it thinking there were a lot of nutjobs mixed in with the sane people trying to take care of wild horses.
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Yeah, horse enthusiasts on the whole are a pretty interesting group - they tend to be pretty opinionated about horse care.
Our group takes on abused and neglected horses that have been surrendered or seized, rehabs them and places them into long term care. The horses aren't sold, so they are surrendered back to us if the new carer can longer look after them. We do our best to weed out the crazies but as long as they have the capacity to keep horses safe, fed, and mentally well we can't really deny them.
The absolute most awful part of volunteering is the vitriol we face from the general public at times. We are a small band of volunteers, taking on damaged and sick animals (who will often require specialist care for the remainder of their lives) and we often have to make the call to put especially unwell horses down. Instead of directing anger towards the people giving these horses a more 'pleasant' end to their suffering, they should be more active in helping with large animal welfare education efforts and neglect prevention. But it's so much easier to be critical from your couch, unfortch.