[Bluey]

Cowgirljenn, who are they?

"Habitat for Horses, INC.", Houston, TX.

I got a form mailing from them with this worrisome message plastered all over the front of the letter, above and around the address:

WE'RE OUT OF HAY...OUT OF MONEY..OUT OF TIME!
MUST HEAR FROM YOU IN 3 DAYS IF WE'RE TO KEEP OUR
HORSES SAFE. URGENT RETURN ENVELOPE ENCLOSED.
OPEN IMMEDIATELY.

I have never heard of them.

Sounds like a group that is getting in real trouble, that you will end up having to help place their horses thru your well run rescue.

[FalseImpression]

Strange, the only rescue I know by a similar name is Jerry Finch' Habitat for Horses http://habitatforhorses.org in Hitchcock, TX. This is a long standing and reputable rescue. Is another rescue trying to confuse people by using a very similar name?

[joiedevie99]

Strange, the only rescue I know by a similar name is Jerry Finch' Habitat for Horses http://habitatforhorses.org in Hitchcock, TX. This is a long standing and reputable rescue. Is another rescue trying to confuse people by using a very similar name?

I know this rescue as well, but don't know of another by the same name.

[Bluey]

Maybe the same.

Whoever they are, the sound to be in trouble, looking at their mailing, as already posted.
Doesn't sound very reputable when that is what they send out, I don't think.
3 days and out of feed for their horses if they don't get your donation?

[7arabians]

Odds are good that it really is the same Habitat For Horses that you have heard of. More and more rescues are paying professional fundraisers to handle the heavy lifting when it comes to raising money. Let's face it, if a rescue has many horses, they need to spend much of it on actual care, cleaning, etc. A market has opened up for 'professional fundraisers' to take the rescue's account and for a certain percentage, they solicit for them. Just look at many of the big names! Day's End, Gentle Giants, etc., all use professionals. As a result, misunderstandings occur and you receive a direct mailing of this type.
The bigger issue is that you will never realize that if you send money, 30-40% or more actually goes to the fundraiser, not the rescue! Look at some of the Form 990's of these rescues and you will see the true picture. It's a shame, but as this economy has deteriorated, rescues have moved to these tactics.

[Chief2]

I got that as well. It would take three to five days just for the check to clear from CT.

[Liberty]

I would not assume that mass mailing was from Habitat for Horses unless I confirmed it with them either by contacting them directly via their website (link has been posted previously in this thread) or via Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/Habitat.f...es.org?fref=ts

I saw no mention of such dire straits on their Facebook page.

JMO, but that plea sounds a bit too desperate and alarmist to be legitimate from anything other than a fly-by-night, unknown "rescue". I agree with False Impression (which is a rather appropriate screen name considering the topic here...LOL) that it sounds like someone trying to confuse folks.

Has anyone who has received this mailing looked into the mailing address in Houston where the donations are to be sent?

[Bluey]

I would not assume that mass mailing was from Habitat for Horses unless I confirmed it with them either by contacting them directly via their website (link has been posted previously in this thread) or via Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/Habitat.f...es.org?fref=ts

I saw no mention of such dire straits on their Facebook page.

JMO, but that plea sounds a bit too desperate and alarmist to be legitimate from anything other than a fly-by-night, unknown "rescue". I agree with False Impression (which is a rather appropriate screen name considering the topic here...LOL) that it sounds like someone trying to confuse folks.

Has anyone who has received this mailing looked into the mailing address in Houston where the donations are to be sent?

The letter starts with:

Urgent reply to...:
Jerry Finch, President
Habitat for Horses
P.O. Box 3767
Houston, TX 77253-3767

The return envelope has that same address, less the man's name.

Could be a spammer using their name, I would not know, that is why I asked.

[Fairfax]

Habitat for Horses is sponsored by HSUS. Doesn't mean they get any money from them but they are listed with each others websites.

Habitat also JUST stated that they can find hundreds of homes for well trained horses since "slaughter" is now outlawed

[Bluey]

Habitat for Horses is sponsored by HSUS. Doesn't mean they get any money from them but they are listed with each others websites.

Habitat also JUST stated that they can find hundreds of homes for well trained horses since "slaughter" is now outlawed

The Habitat for Horses in that area I found on the internet seems to be one of those that live by the old trite "save horses from slaughter!" mantra.

I wonder if they are another of those horse traders in rescue clothes, as several are, not real rescues helping animal control.

Sound fishier and fishier.
If they really are 3 days off not having food for whatever horses they have to care for, that does sound scary and desperate.

[betonbill]

Don't forget that they have a very active program where they help out with euthanasia costs to individuals.

Whatever you may happen to think about him, Jerry Finch (and yes, HSUS) were very active in rescuing/rehoming all of those horses in the Three Strikes debacle in Nebraska. Jerry's reports of flights over the property and seeing the piles and piles of dead horses was heartbreaking. That alone gets Jerry a few gold stars in the great scorecard in the sky. I also believe that HSUS took around 100 of the harder to place mustangs from Three Strikes to their very own Black Beauty Ranch preserve.

[Liberty]

The letter starts with:

Urgent reply to...:
Jerry Finch, President
Habitat for Horses
P.O. Box 3767
Houston, TX 77253-3767

The return envelope has that same address, less the man's name.

Could be a spammer using their name, I would not know, that is why I asked.

Habitat for Horse's mailing address on Facebook and their website is different:

P.O. Box 213
Hitchcock, Texas 77563

I say spammer/scammer on the mailing you received, and if I had received such a mailing, I would contact Habitat and let them know, including the mailing address that was on solicitation.

[sid]

I would also guess this was written by a professional fundraising company which is using scare tactics and stretching the truth to muster donations.

I hate it when they do that. I'm in the fundraising business myself, and stuff like this gives good fundraising a bad name.

[FalseImpression]

According to the FB page, it is the same place Inc or org.

I remember Jerry's flight over Three Strikes as well and all the work done there....

[ESG]

Habitat for Horse's mailing address on Facebook and their website is different:

P.O. Box 213
Hitchcock, Texas 77563

I say spammer/scammer on the mailing you received, and if I had received such a mailing, I would contact Habitat and let them know, including the mailing address that was on solicitation.

I'd say so, too. Contact Habitate and let them know that someone is sending out emergency donation request letters on their behalf. Bet they'll be surprised. Hitchcock (77563 zip) is down on the coast, whereas the one on the request letter is 77253 - near downtown, 47.5 miles away. Does give one pause.

[Bluey]

I'd say so, too. Contact Habitate and let them know that someone is sending out emergency donation request letters on their behalf. Bet they'll be surprised. Hitchcock (77563 zip) is down on the coast, whereas the one on the request letter is 77253 - near downtown, 47.5 miles away. Does give one pause.

I am more apt to contact the post office and have them confirm that the rescue doesn't has two PO boxes to their names and if that one is theirs or not, or only the man named in the letter's personal one, or whatever.

There is more going on than just a spammer, I am starting to think.
Why?
If they are in any way connected with HSUS, I don't trust them.
They already cut ethical corners just by that association.

Maybe the mailing address may be from whatever company they had used to send those letters?
Then, why do the donations go there?
Are they a collection agency for them also?

More questions, no answers.

[betonbill]

Perhaps you simply don't have to donate to them, Bluey. Just throw all of their present and future material directly into the round file. I'm not a huge fan of the butterfiy and roses school of rescue, but Habitat has done enough good things through the years to offset that.

Look up Three Strikes some time. That alone convinced me that there are far worse things in this world than slaughter. Jerry was a hero in that scenario.

[Liberty]

...More questions, no answers.

You could always just contact Habitat directly and ask for those answers to your questions, assuming you really want to know. Probably easier than contacting the USPS to ask them about PO boxes (a question they probably won't answer anyway due to privacy issues).

[Bluey]

You could always just contact Habitat directly and ask for those answers to your questions, assuming you really want to know. Probably easier than contacting the USPS to ask them about PO boxes (a question they probably won't answer anyway due to privacy issues).

Oh, I will try to do that, but also will make a report to the PO so they can have their inspectors check this out, since the addresses don't seem to match.
The PO doesn't take lightly those that misuse their service, if indeed that is happening.

[sid]

It is common practice for a special p.o. box and/or address be set up to accept donations to a fundraising appeal.

The letters are opened and the money is tabulated by a professional caging operation. This is done because typically a non-profit cannot afford to hire someone to open a lot of donation mail. Actually, it is more cost effective for the non-profit to use a professional "cager".