Three years ago, Peg Keyser attended a workshop presented by West Coast-based RedRover Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to supporting the needs of humans and companion animals in crisis. Keyser, who is the advancement director for the Maine State Society for the Protection of Animals, was particularly inspired by the work RedRover does to support those fleeing domestic violence in finding a safe haven for their companion animals. At the end of the workshop, Keyser asked the question: “What about horses?”

Keyser recognized the potential for the MSSPA, an equine rescue in Windham, Maine, to address a unique and potentially unfulfilled need. The non-profit is one of just a handful of shelters in the region set up to take in equines on an emergency basis, and her question prompted the start of a unique collaboration among RedRover, Seattle-based Greater Good Charities, and Safe Voices, a shelter for victims of domestic violence located in the Lewiston-Auburn area of Maine. In what may be a first-of-its-kind partnership, Safe Voices will notify the MSSPA about clients who may be in need of their services; in turn, the MSSPA will provide temporary sanctuary to horses owned by survivors.

“We are not aware of a formal program like this—which is not to say it isn’t happening, formally or informally—but when I asked the question, RedRover was all in,” Keyser said. “Rover has done work with domestic violence shelters and animal shelters in all 50 states, but they had never worked with horses. They were really excited about this prospect.”

The groundbreaking partnership is just one of the new opportunities made possible by the success of the MSSPA’s “A Safe Place to Land” capital campaign, which is funding the construction of a new intake center on the organization’s 124-acre property. Not only will the new build allow the organization to quarantine as many as 25 horses at once, one paddock will be equipped with privacy screening, ensuring its resident is not easily visible to the general public, and a new electronic gate will restrict after-hours access to the property. Construction began this month, and the organization expects to be ready to receive horses as soon as early 2026.

Although the MSSPA has no hard data to support the level of need for this type of service in the state, officials know the need is there. Last year the organization took in a horse surrendered by the mother of a domestic abuse victim who had been murdered by her partner.

“We don’t know yet how many horses will come, but this felt like a wonderful aspect of our work that we could expand to, a community that we don’t—at the moment—have a relationship with,” Keyser said.

A Growing Need

Creating unique and collaborative solutions to meet the needs of horses at risk is nothing new for the MSSPA, which for over 150 years has offered shelter, rehabilitation and rehoming opportunities to equines in need. In another likely first-of-its-kind partnership, today the MSSPA primarily focuses its work on providing vital care to every equine seized by or surrendered to state law enforcement—a service it provides without receiving a dime in state funding. On average, its facility is home to 30 to 40 equines in various stages of recovery from neglect, abuse or simple bad luck.

The infrastructure expansion couldn’t be happening at a better time for the organization. For years, the MSSPA’s staff and volunteers relied on two existing barns and a network of run-in sheds, paddocks and pastures. All new intakes must be quarantined for a minimum of 28 days (longer if they develop symptoms of contagious disease) and are brought up to date on vaccinations, blood work and other basic health screenings before being introduced to the main herd. 

But in the past five years, the organization has seen a steady increase in the frequency of seizures, with a concomitant rise in the average number of animals taken at once. The MSSPA has even been called upon to assist organizations from other states. This spring, it received six Friesians taken from a farm in Vermont, and officials anticipate that similar situations will continue to arise in the future.

“As the economy becomes more challenging, as we head into winter and people are wondering if they can feed all their animals—we pay attention to all of that, because that’s when we start to see more frequent seizures,” Keyser said. “By the time they are seized, these horses are extremely medically challenged. They are never in good shape. The need to get them safe, comfortable, and minimally moved is at the utmost.”

In 2021, the limitations of the MSSPA’s existing facility were brought sharply into focus when it accepted the largest single intake in its history—20 severely compromised animals seized by state law enforcement. Staff were forced to get creative to accommodate the new animals’ immediate needs, while still keeping the rest of their equine residents safe. It was in managing these animals’ quarantine and recovery that the need for a dedicated, purpose-designed intake center came into focus.

“Our average seizure used to be one to three horses, and now it is easy to get five, eight, even 10 horses at once,” she continued. “The plan is to be ready, because the call could come in.”

In 2022, the MSSPA received a grant from IDEXX that helped to fund planning the new eight-stall intake center, dedicated paddocks and pastures with run-in shelters, all designed with biosecurity in mind.

“This will make it so much more efficient, and will contain the intake and quarantine work of receiving these animals, for the safety of the incoming horses, for the safety of staff, and for the safety of the resident herd,” Keyser said.

Building Community To Build Connection

Several years ago, the McCulloch family stopped by the MSSPA for a visit, and they were inspired by the work they saw being done there. As a child, family patriarch and Maine native Dave McCulloch attended Standardbred races with his father; he always wondered what happened to the horses when they were done with their racing careers. Thanks to the state’s active Standardbred racing community, the MSSPA is almost always home to a few ex-racers who found themselves in need of care upon retirement. After visiting the farm, McCulloch knew he wanted to help.

In April, the family made a lead matching gift to the “A Safe Place to Land” campaign, contributing $500,000 to the project’s $1.5 million total cost. The new structure will be named the McCulloch Family Barn in their honor.

“That was the memory he had in his heart when he was considering this,” Keyser said. “When that gift came through, I was bowled over by that kind of generosity. The process has been so magical, and a good reminder that you never know what a visitor to the farm who leaves feeling moved will do.”

As the MSSPA staff looks forward to the completion of the new intake center later this year, they know it represents a fresh start and hope for the horses it will soon serve.

“We want them to walk off the trailer, and into this barn, and just let them begin to heal—and that’s what’s going to happen,” Keyser said.