I'm Beside Myself About a Local Horse Rescue

[FancyASB]

Through two former volunteers at this horse rescue for over a year, I have found out some very disturbing information about the treatment of the rescued horses. The worst is if a horse has not been adopted in about 6 weeks it is euthanized or a horse bought at the auction goes straight to be euthanized, never sets foot at the rescue. Now I'm not talking about a horse that should be euthanized I'm talking about a horse with nothing wrong with it. It is a fact they raise thousands of dollars a month to go to the auction to purchase these horses for around $100 then get rid of them and pocket the money. Lately they raised $2,000 but only bought 4 horses, then the horses just disappear and are never listed for adoption. They are also only feeding once a day and the horses are all losing weight. We are all working together to accumulate facts, details, etc to propose for the "books" be audited and proof of where all the horses have gone. Last year they received $250,000 in donations but you would never know by the appearance of the rescue facilities and the condition of the horses. We don't have the "hard facts" yet but this just makes me sick. I have a list of 31 horses so far that have been euthanized, several were owner surrenders that could no longer afford to care for them, nothing wrong with them. Some owners paid $200 to the rescue to surrender the horse; to be taken care of and found a home not to be killed. Pure profit! Another rescue in the area closed and sent all the horses through an auction and most ended up with a kill buyer but another rescue paid to rescue them. Has anyone else had a rescue they know go bad? If so, what happened? This just makes me have nightmares!

[nightsong]

I think bringing 'fraud' charges would work very nicely. If you know the identities of donors (perhaps put out notices looking for/advising them) they would be VERRRRRRY unhappy. Any of the owners of owner-surrunders have been swindled, especially those who PAID. Sounds like newspaper fodder to ME.

[Crosswinds Rescue]

Sadly, Fancy, there have been a few of these in recent years -- one, no one really found out until the lady managing it died!

If you would like, email me offlist (amc@cwer . org - remove spaces) -- i can put you in touch with a lady who really put in a huge fight to get a rescue shut down and taken to court that was a scam artist. she may be able to provide you some advice and guidance.

These cases break the hearts of those of us who are trying so hard to do it right. It makes all rescues look bad, even though it is such a small portion of the whole #s out there. I can't imagine what CWER could do with that level of donation funds every year!!! What a heartbreaker. Thank you for caring and helping to dig, to do osmething about it. Please do be careful and keep yourself and your friends safe; con artists can be crafty and dangerous people....

PS: I would notify the IRS's 501c3 division as soon as you feel you have enough evidence to open their eyes. that's one step a lot of folks don't think of; the cons bolt without being convicted, and start over somewhere else. If the IRS has their SSNs etc listed as involved in a scam, they won't allow them to register a new org as a 501c3.

[whbar158]

As much as what some of what that rescue is doing is wrong, I think as a whole community we must not make it that rescues can not euthanize horses that are not suitable for adoption. Small animal rescues often do euthanize animals in a time frame if they don't get a home, and also if it seems the animal will not be suitable for adoption. Just to play devil's advocate here, what if some of those horses they have bought at auction have come home and been aggressive or have had problems that would make it hard to find a new home. There are many many horses out there that need homes. Now it sounds like this rescue is abusing this idea, and are cutting corners (like the feeding thing) so you have lost track of 31 horses that have been "rescued" but are not there? Do you know how many horses are at the rescue? could it be very over crowded? I would hate for rescues to feel bad for euthanizing horses that would not be good adoption candidates (whether physically or mentally) or to lose that option at all. Just something to think about, while it does sound like this rescue is a little shady, I would hate to jump the gun.

[caffeinated]

While this definitely sounds shady to me, at least horses are being euth'd, and not collected/hoarded, adopted to innapropriate people (ending up in worse situations), or shipped to slaughter which is a much harder way to go.

It comes down to what donors know about how this rescue functions, what their mission statement is, and the condition of the horses they do have.

You also have to be really careful about taking things former volunteers say too seriously without a calm investigation. Rescue, I'm finding out, is a world filled with drama and backbiting and more than a little Krazee. In what capacity did these folks volunteer? Were they on the board? Or were they once a weekers who cleaned pens? How much did they ACTUALLY know about board decisions or what was going on? It's entirely possible that their perception of the situation was only a small piece of things - that horses they thought were "fine" may have actually been ill or otherwise problematic. If they were not intimately involved in running things, it's entirely possible there's whole reams of information they didn't have.

It's also possible that a falling out with the people in charge has made them a little vindictive and they are spinning tales. It sounds ridiculous, but it happens.

So while it sounds to me like something odd is going on, for sure, you don't want to jump the gun either. Go visit the place, talk to the directors, ask for written policies, follow the money and the horses, and see where it leads. But if you're going to look into it, do it calmly and don't necessarily take the word of ex-volunteers as the gospel truth. It may be the truth as THEY saw it, but depending on what they did as volunteers, they may be missing big chunks of the whole story.

[Marli]

Through two former volunteers at this horse rescue for over a year, I have found out some very disturbing information about the treatment of the rescued horses. The worst is if a horse has not been adopted in about 6 weeks it is euthanized or a horse bought at the auction goes straight to be euthanized, never sets foot at the rescue. Now I'm not talking about a horse that should be euthanized I'm talking about a horse with nothing wrong with it. It is a fact they raise thousands of dollars a month to go to the auction to purchase these horses for around $100 then get rid of them and pocket the money. Lately they raised $2,000 but only bought 4 horses, then the horses just disappear and are never listed for adoption. They are also only feeding once a day and the horses are all losing weight. We are all working together to accumulate facts, details, etc to propose for the "books" be audited and proof of where all the horses have gone. Last year they received $250,000 in donations but you would never know by the appearance of the rescue facilities and the condition of the horses. We don't have the "hard facts" yet but this just makes me sick. I have a list of 31 horses so far that have been euthanized, several were owner surrenders that could no longer afford to care for them, nothing wrong with them. Some owners paid $200 to the rescue to surrender the horse; to be taken care of and found a home not to be killed. Pure profit! Another rescue in the area closed and sent all the horses through an auction and most ended up with a kill buyer but another rescue paid to rescue them. Has anyone else had a rescue they know go bad? If so, what happened? This just makes me have nightmares!

Your profile indicates that you're in California- is this the state where this is happening?

[cowgirljenn]

It sounds like the "rescue" has major issues - but you need to prioritize and realize that not everything you are talking about it illegal.

The worst is if a horse has not been adopted in about 6 weeks it is euthanized or a horse bought at the auction goes straight to be euthanized, never sets foot at the rescue.

First issue - is this rescue a 501c3? If your answer is yes, have you actually checked with the IRS to insure they are? Remember that nonprofit is actually a state designation - so a rescue can tell you they are a nonprofit and all that means is they're registered as such with their state. If they tell you they're a 501c3, tax-exempt or that donations are tax-deductible, then check with the IRS to insure that that's actually true.

If it isn't a 501c3 or a nonprofit, then you are dealing with an indiivdual who has decided to label himself/herself a rescue. And the way closing someone like that down can be different from closing down a 501c3.

Now, this is a sticky issue. You and I might not like healthy horses being euthanized. However, there's nothing illegal about euthanizing a horse. Also, unless you personally know the horses, you don't know if there are issues that are not readily obvious that may make euthanasia a valid option. If you looked over my list of euthanized horses, you would probably find some that would upset you on the surface. Because you weren't involved in the case.

Now, this does become a problem if a) the rescue is promising owners that the horse has a home for life, that they're going to rehome the horse, etc. In the rare instances, our donors sign a contract giving up all rights to the horse. The contract states that we'll take care of the horse to the best of our ability and make decisions in accordance with our policies, etc.

It is a fact they raise thousands of dollars a month to go to the auction to purchase these horses for around $100 then get rid of them and pocket the money.

How do you know they pocket the money? Again, if they're private individuals and not a 501c3, they COULD pocket the money. It isn't terribly ethical but it isn't illegal either.

They are also only feeding once a day and the horses are all losing weight.

This is actionable and illegal. If the horses are losing weight, this can become an animal cruelty case. I've helped law enforcement seize horses from more than one person claiming to be a rescue (one even had her 501c3 status). You would need documentation of the condition they arrived in and documentation of the condition they're in now. If the horses are in body condition scores of 1 - 2.5, you can likely get law enforcement involved withou initial photos - although the owners may claim the horses came in skinny and are being rehabbed and initial pictures can help dispute that.

We are all working together to accumulate facts, details, etc to propose for the "books" be audited and proof of where all the horses have gone.

You really can't make them get an audit. If they're private individuals who are telling people they're a nonprofit, then you might have a case with your state's attorney general. If they're a 501c3, then you can file a complaint with the IRS. Those two groups can come in and review the books.

If the group is a 501c3, you can actually demand to see the books and by IRS regulation, they have to show them to you. If they refuse, you can file a complaint with the IRS.

Last year they received $250,000 in donations but you would never know by the appearance of the rescue facilities and the condition of the horses.

Again, without seeing the books you don't know for sure that they received that much in donations. That's a lot for a small or average sized rescue to receive in a year. We don't receive half that amount in donations annual. Or even 1/3.

If the facility is owned by individuals and not by the organization, they shouldn't be putting donated dollars into improvements on the facility. Donated dollars should not be used to make improvements to privately owned facilities (i.e. someone's home).

I have a list of 31 horses so far that have been euthanized, several were owner surrenders that could no longer afford to care for them, nothing wrong with them. Some owners paid $200 to the rescue to surrender the horse; to be taken care of and found a home not to be killed. Pure profit!

There's not much profit there. Unless they euthanized the horses by shooting them in the head and did not feed them at all before being euthanized, they're still out money. Euthanizing a horse most places starts at $100-$150. And disposal of the body costs much more than that. (Unless they own their own backhoe and have plenty of land).

Additionally, while I may not like the idea of healthy horses being euthanized, the horses do belong to the rescue and they can euthanize if they like. If the former owners/donors were not promised that the horses would be rehomed or cared for until old age or injury took their lives, the rescue can euthanize.

We recently took in 18 horses from a seizure. The horses were underweight and one or two had minor health issues/injuries. We were so full that we did discuss euthanizing the horses because we had no room for them (especially the 10 stallions/colts). Fortunately, we found two other rescues who took some of the horses and we were able to manage the remaining 11. IF we had had to euthanize, I would have hated that decision. But it was better than the alternatives - leaving the horses where they were to starve to death or taking them in and not being able to care for them and having them suffer.

Has anyone else had a rescue they know go bad? If so, what happened? This just makes me have nightmares!

Several times. Seized 24 horses (found one dead, two more ended up dying) in 2003 from a woman claiming to be a rescue. She got a slap on the wrist and in 2008 we took another 11 from her (one died a day later) and found skeletal remains of others. And she's getting another slap on the wrist. She'll keep doing it because neglect laws have little teeth in Texas.

Some of the issues you've cited are problems - namely horses losing condition whlie in the rescue. Mismanagement of funds is an issue if it can be proven (no heresay). The euthanasia of horses is a sticky issue - it depends on what the rescue is promising donors.

[mvp]

The owners who surrender horses with a fee of $200 for their care are probably paying less than it would cost them to be euthanized and buried or cremated. If the rescue place was acting as a type of euthanasia shop, that's not a moral or legal problem in and of itself. If it was not advertising that to donors, that's a problem. But the people who thought they were buying their horses another chance at life for $200 were fooling themselves.

[FalseImpression]

Well I recall NorCal rescue doing that and receiving a lot of kudos for doing it. I never could understand it, but people seemed to think it was the right thing to do!

ETA: http://www.norcalequinerescue.com/clinics.php

I also know of a cyberfriend who had bailed a horse at auction and she had told them that if they could not adopt him out, she would haul him to her. They euth'd him w/o even getting in touch with her. She was also VERY upset!

[MVR]

Here is the IRS contact info if you feel the need to report this org.

Report an Abusive Transaction Involving an Exempt Organization

You may use Form 13909,http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f13909.pdf Tax-Exempt Organization Complaint (Referral) Form, to report an abusive transaction involving an exempt organization. To send a written complaint by mail, send to the following address:

IRS
EO Classification
MC 4910DAL
1100 Commerce Street
Dallas, TX 75242

In addition, the IRS Office of Tax Shelter Analysis maintains a hotline http://www.irs.gov/businesses/corpor...84,00.html#1#1 that can be used to provide information about abusive tax shelters.

[FancyASB]

Yes the rescue is in CA and designated non profit 501c3. One volunteer rode and evaluated the horses. One volunteer was the bookkeeper for a short time (she asked a lot questions), attended fund raisers and verified people for adoption. Both were at the rescue 3-4 days a week. I have been to the rescue several times and walked around and observed the horses. I raised questions at the time but none were ever addressed. Why were water tanks empty or filthy? Why were hooves unattended? Why were horses looking for food? Why were there no shelters? Why were the horses ribs showing when they had been at the rescue for quite some time? The list goes on. A farrier use to volunteer his time but hasn't been to the rescue in months. The horses that do come to the rescue are not quarantined, no vaccinations, no teeth work, no hoof work, they are just stuck out in the dirt fields. All stallions are euthanized no matter what age, condition, manners, etc. never gelded even though they provide a gelding clinic to outside people. One volunteer just sent me 12 more names of horses that were euthanized. We are talking about the last 18 months. They have a Vet that euthanizes the horses for a discount price and they are laid out by the Vet hospital for pick up. One volunteer took 4 foals home to rehab and then took them back to the rescue for adoption and they were all euthanized and she was never reimbursed for expenses incurred. She was told they would cover the costs because they didn't have any place suitable for the foals at the time. The horses are supposed to be listed on their website but only a hand full are ever listed including PetFinders. The only way you know a horse comes into the rescue is when it is talked about with pictures on the daily blog, then it just disappears. I know these volunteers personally and they are not out for revenge but trying to help the horses. Both say only a handful of horses were not adoptable, most just needed a little rehab. Most were very rideable and friendly with good manners; a lot of owner surrenders. Board of directors I do not know how often they visit the rescue, input, etc. If they raise all this money and do not provide any basic services to the horses where does all the money go??????

[LetsChat]

Additionally, while I may not like the idea of healthy horses being euthanized, the horses do belong to the rescue and they can euthanize if they like. If the former owners/donors were not promised that the horses would be rehomed or cared for until old age or injury took their lives, the rescue can euthanize.

I absolutely agree with you on many of the things you stated, the fact that euthanization being humane one of them. But this statement I quoted. I didn't think it was all that easy to euthanize a healthy horse, meaning, will a vet in good conscience come out and do that??? I guess times are getting tough but I just didn't think if Bozo stopped and pissed me off I could get the vet out with the injection to finish him. I thought there had to be a medical reason, maybe rescues are different but I don't argue that starvation, neglect, abuse, overuse and slaughter are a LOT worse than a shot to say good night.

[Equibrit]

In order to do something about this you will need PROOF and not expect people to believe your "GOSSIP".

[Chardavej]

Well I recall NorCal rescue doing that and receiving a lot of kudos for doing it. I never could understand it, but people seemed to think it was the right thing to do!

ETA: http://www.norcalequinerescue.com/clinics.php

I also know of a cyberfriend who had bailed a horse at auction and she had told them that if they could not adopt him out, she would haul him to her. They euth'd him w/o even getting in touch with her. She was also VERY upset!

I donated funds to that cause...it was basically for people who had a horse that was in bad physical shape and needed to be put down but the owners didn't have the funds to do so, so rather than the horses living a painful life they were offering free euthanasia for these people to put these horses down.

[cowgirljenn]

I absolutely agree with you on many of the things you stated, the fact that euthanization being humane one of them. But this statement I quoted. I didn't think it was all that easy to euthanize a healthy horse, meaning, will a vet in good conscience come out and do that??? I guess times are getting tough but I just didn't think if Bozo stopped and pissed me off I could get the vet out with the injection to finish him. I thought there had to be a medical reason, maybe rescues are different but I don't argue that starvation, neglect, abuse, overuse and slaughter are a LOT worse than a shot to say good night.

It depends on the vet - I think most won't euthanize a healthy horse. In fact, I had a 25+ year old guy here in body condition of 1.0 and was told by the new vet that he wouldn't euthanize unless something bad came up on his blood work because he doesn't euthanize horses "just because they are old". (The reason I asked about euthanasia was the combination of his body condition and his age).

There are probably some vets who do it - but you are right, probably not that many. (I didn't think about that when I wrote my note. Thanks for pointing that out!).

[MMorgan]

Through two former volunteers at this horse rescue for over a year, I have found out some very disturbing information about the treatment of the rescued horses. The worst is if a horse has not been adopted in about 6 weeks it is euthanized or a horse bought at the auction goes straight to be euthanized, never sets foot at the rescue. Now I'm not talking about a horse that should be euthanized I'm talking about a horse with nothing wrong with it. It is a fact they raise thousands of dollars a month to go to the auction to purchase these horses for around $100 then get rid of them and pocket the money. Lately they raised $2,000 but only bought 4 horses, then the horses just disappear and are never listed for adoption. They are also only feeding once a day and the horses are all losing weight. We are all working together to accumulate facts, details, etc to propose for the "books" be audited and proof of where all the horses have gone. Last year they received $250,000 in donations but you would never know by the appearance of the rescue facilities and the condition of the horses. We don't have the "hard facts" yet but this just makes me sick. I have a list of 31 horses so far that have been euthanized, several were owner surrenders that could no longer afford to care for them, nothing wrong with them. Some owners paid $200 to the rescue to surrender the horse; to be taken care of and found a home not to be killed. Pure profit! Another rescue in the area closed and sent all the horses through an auction and most ended up with a kill buyer but another rescue paid to rescue them. Has anyone else had a rescue they know go bad? If so, what happened? This just makes me have nightmares!

This might just be me, but I don't think posting this on a national bulletin board is the wisest thing to do at this point, since you say you are still in the stage of assembling hard evidence. That said, I do understand the need to get this off your chest.

[FancyASB]

I debated but I wanted input from people not associated with the rescue. Also there is a blog dedicated to the wrong doings of this rescue already, it gets VERY heated. I think the most disturbing euthanized horse is the one that a gentleman of the age of 83 donated to the rescue. He could no longer ride the horse, he had him since he was a baby. You could trail ride, camp, hunt whatever this horse was sound, mannered and a nice big stout horse, early teens. He thought instead of letting the horse just stand around someone would really enjoy him. This horse was never posted up for adoption on the website, they kept him for a little while then euthanized him. Now do you think the gentleman would have donated the horse if he thought he would be killed? I say killed because this horse was totally adoptable. This horse would still be alive if not for this rescue.

[Floridarider]

In order to do something about this you will need PROOF and not expect people to believe your "GOSSIP".

That's the hard part because too many people get caught up in the emotion and "think" the allegations to be facts.Sometimes one person has a gripe and the whole thing just snowballs. That is not necessarily so, and proving that the rescue is making "pure profit" is going to be difficult. IRS doesn't care if the money wasn't spent on euthanization of a particular horse. There are no steadfast rules about donations as long as they fall into the realm of their mission statement. I have no dog in this fight whatsoever, but just because they are showing $250,000 donations doesn't necessarily mean that they are doing anything inappropriate. It's more like the bottom line that is important and what expenses were incurred. Some of us may balk but salaries are permitted and legal too.
As far as reporting your suspicions to IRS, just imagine how many of these the IRS gets every day?

[Angela Freda]

IRS doesn't care if the money wasn't spent on euthanization of a particular horse. There are no steadfast rules about donations as long as they fall into the realm of their mission statement.

That is not completely true.
If I donate $50 to buy a yellow blanket with purple velvet trim for the rescue mini, that mini had better have that blanket, or I should have been notified that my money was being used for other options and offered a refund.

[MoJo]

That is not completely true.
If I donate $50 to buy a yellow blanket with purple velvet trim for the rescue mini, that mini had better have that blanket, or I should have been notified that my money was being used for other options and offered a refund.

What if the mini ended up with a purple blanket with yellow trim? What would you think then? Your brain would be thrown into a tizzy. Does not compute...does not compute...

I don't know about everypne else, but I sleep better at night knowing that Caped Crusaders like you are behind the scenes, fighting for liberty and justice for all!