The DROP IN THE BUCKET Fund
Each Month, HORSE AND MAN has a Drop in the Bucket Fund for a specific equine charity. My theory is that sometimes it is easier to give anonymously in a very small amount than not give at all because one feels embarrassed to give just a little.
Well, many of us feel that way. But, if we put all the drops in one bucket, it makes a difference in some horse’s life. So, that is what this page is about. If you feel moved by our monthly Bucket Fund story but only have a few dollars to spare, we are happy to help it grow bigger. All donations are compiled into one larger donation to be gifted at the end of the month.
FEBRUARY BUCKET FUND:
MEET: THE “MANY”. 60 STARVING HORSES LIVING AMONG CARCASSES.
(PLEASE FORWARD!)
First you get angry. Then you get kinda sick. After that, you move into FIX IT mode.
Let’s help fix this horrible wrong.
Here’s the story… (There is a much longer version of this story here. FB here. But, I think I can make my point in just a few graphs for today…)
- Heartbreaking… gathering tattoos.
THE NIGHTMARE – 60 DESPERATE, STARVING HORSES AMONG THE CARCASSES.
On January 6th, Louisiana Horse Rescue Association received a call from the Sabine Parish Humane Society asking if they could help in the seizure of 60 horses from a failing (failed) TB farm in the town of Many.
What they found was much, much worse.
- 60 starving horses in deplorable conditions. This is just a baby…
Dozens of animal carcasses, several fresh grave mounds and many, many starving horses. Some were in manure filled stalls, some were in paddocks barely shuffling around, others out in large pastures standing among the dead. All were starving and in horrible condition.
- A poor, sick stud stuck in this horrible stall.
All 60 horses had to be caught, documented, doctored and hauled away to safe quarantines... 60 HORSES!
HEROES
Could you imagine walking onto that site? Could you imagine rolling up your sleeves and determining who, of all these horribly sick animals, deserved treatment first? Especially when all you would really want to do is strangle some negligent human…
Wow.
Well, they did it. LHRA, circled the wagons and dove right in. In a stroke of genius, LHRA called upon LSU Veterinary School to see if they had any extra hands available to help. They did. LSU sent out their Equine Response Team.
- Exhausted after treatment, this baby rests for a while…
Over three days, this team removed every last horse into temporary foster care. No easy feat. They tagged, documented, loaded, found quarantines for and doctored 60 sick, scared and unhandled horses.
Wow again. Dedication among adversity for sure.
But that was just the start of a very long journey for the rescuers and these poor horses…
Of the 60 horses that were pulled immediately, another 8 passed shortly thereafter.
- This was one of the better ones. This mare is alert.
- Another luckier mare. She is alert as well.
THE BABIES
Sadly, there were many foals, yearlings and two-year olds that were in desperate condition. Young horses don’t have the stamina to fight – especially when they have had a horrible start to life.
It was several of these young horses who failed to thrive after their rescue…
We can help these surviving young ones who are fighting…
- Administering to a filly
Foals lining up for attention. All stunted, bony, scrawny and failing to thrive.
LET’S DO THIS THING!
My hat is totally off to these folks for dropping everything, running up there, digging in and figuring out all the details to save the remaining horses…
LHRA now has 46 extra horses – all in need of medical care. It costs $450 EACH DAY to feed these horses. That doesn’t include medicines…
Let’s help them in honor of their bravery and for fighting the good fight. Let’s help them in honor of all those who died a horrible death before help arrived.
- Enough. Let’s help those that helped all of the surviving horses and who dignified those who didn’t make it…
Gawd. Let’s just help them. Period.
Bravo LHRA, Bravo.
PLEASE PASS THIS FORWARD!!
Progress. God I love progress. Given the time of year and the beautiful way Mother Nature shows off her colors, Autumn was the perfect name.
Still moving forward. Friday after Thanksgiving, Slowly moving past a constipation episode (36 hrs). Still milking and feeding every 3 hours. Autumn is exercised outside or in the aisle a couple of times each day. Bizzy is reliably giving 600-1100ml of milk at each feeding. We need to reintroduce small amounts of goats milk to get her back up to the 1500ml she needs. Still a fragile little girl. Lots of new movements and behaviors. Starting to have to push back on acting out but she is very smart and gets it immediately.
Autumn is home for 2 days at Hope For Horses. Bizzy is lactating like a champ but we are being forced by Autumns rapacious needs to supplement with goats milk. Bizzy produces 750-900 ml every 3 hrs. We now feed Autumn on the same schedule and she needs at least 250ml and soon 500 ml of goats milk to reach satisfaction. She is ready to roll when we take her for walks but the vet wants her limited until we see better strength in her legs. We are now totally engaged (instead of paying Pilchuck) and its a 24 hr job. If you are in the Seattle area and have animal nursing experience and would be able to milk and feed 3rd shift please let us know. Spooning with a baby horse is compensation.
Thanks to you all for helping to pay her ICU bill. You all share the credit for her survival. She was so sick, this proves it is possible for these premature, underweight, discarded foals to live and thrive. We will do everything we can to give her a life that reflects the love and care all of you have given her.
What a day. Started with a call from the Vet that Autumn had spiked a fever overnight and the Vet was worried that this was a trend up on her hidden infection. Since her gut is now working (Thanks to Bizzy the milk maid) and her joints look strong (no plate infection) so that left her umbilicus which is more outie than we would like. So talk moved to potential surgery sooner than later.
However by this afternoon her blood work had come back and was normal for the first time so the Vet has backed down and we are working toward having her come home tomorrow. Truth is we were not ready so the day was well spent.
Better news yet. One of the http://www.zenyatta.com posters wrote last night , saying she wants to volunteer. Made my day. I’m positive she has lots of horse experience. Will let everyone know that Autumn’s hospital bill needs more help. God bless.
Holy cow Doug!!! :D You are awesome!!!!!!!!
Little Autumn has been mentioned on Zenyatta;s diary, and several have donated. I love watching our donations grow each day as we join together to help Autumn…and Hope and…..
Thank you all!
Hi Dawn. It’s been a while since we’ve talked and I still don’t get your blog. Luckily, someone sent it to me and I saw Autumn’s story and had to comment and put out another challenge. I am donating $250.00 to the Bucket Fund and challenge anyone to match or beat me. In fact, as I’ve done before, I DOUBLE DOG DARE YOU. Reading her story made me think of what a magnificent mare her Mom was to accept all that was thrown at her and still hang on as long as she did to deliver this precious miracle for us to see. How can you not help???
Dawn’s blog and bucket fund subjects have touched me as no other have. I love her sense of humor, thoughful topics and educational ideas. The pictures are great, also. Thank you Dawn for what you do helping the equine world be a better place for the unfortunate.
[...] The DROP IN THE BUCKET Fund Categories Select Category Bucket Fund Stories (64) Handy Tips (127) Horse Stories (177) Humor (45) Interviews (9) Medical (25) Musings (50) Nutrition (10) People and Places (74) Ralph Neighder Equine Consumer Report (3) Saturday PhoBlog (88) Tack thoughts (18) The Red Horse Diaries (1) Things They Should Invent (6) Uncategorized (17) Western & Equine Artists (31) Wrigley Chronicles (1) /* 0 ) { location.href = "http://horseandman.com/?cat="+dropdown.optionsdropdown.selectedIndex.value; } } dropdown.onchange = onCatChange; /* ]]> */ EquiSpa OCT SPECIAL! Buy 2, get one FREE!! Shipping donated to the Bucket Fund! Click image!This really helped my older ponies fill out! Takes about 4 weeks to see results! Click image! [...]
I have sent this out to all my e mail friends and I hope that they will donate to this great cause… I suggest that all others send this site to all their e friends as well… I was going to include the address where people can send thier money….But have not found one… Several people have requested it…But I seen none posted… john
Donation made in memory of our girl Miss who we lost this year.
[...] –If you would like to donate to help bail, transport and feed these horses, please donate ANY AMOUNT to the Bucket Fund linked here. [...]
Thank you, for helping the rescuers save, feed, transport & rehab at-risk horses, with donations from the Bucket Fund!
I cried today when I read they had all been saved and are in their new homes. All the ones that need to be saved can’t be saved. But I was so moved that these babies were ALL saved. I know the mothers who weren’t saved are smiling now as they look down. And know their sacrifice was not in vain.
[...] watch the donation thermometer rise, click here. Lucy in the arms of her Foster mom… Some of the newly rescued foals temporarily housed at [...]
Unfortunately, the same breeder is this week dumping another 50 pair. How can we get him under arrest or in court so he will stop breeding for meat!
Last weeks group were all rescued with generous donations of thousands and astronomical efforts of many including supreme effort by Debra Hawk: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1621042469
We will soon use up all available resources and people willing and able to help!
This is crazy! I was thinking about Native Dancer all week!
I will be visiting Pay Pal now…
Why not force the issue of neglect instead of intent as far as Champ’s case is concerned. Bring out all the pictures taken when Champ was found. It is only a miracle he is alive now – thanks to Alaqua Animal Refuge. You should see him now – so full of spunk, healthy, and normal weight. It would be a terrible and hateful act to return him to the very man who let him starve.
I love horses I will do anything for them!!!
Ingrid.
Please, send me an address… as I do not like to pay pal way.
It looks like some of your readers have taken me up on my “Double Dog Dare” of donating $12 a month to the various causes. Way to go readers. Dawn supplied the veneu and the causes, now we must supply the means. There are other things going on that are branches of what Dawn reports on here in her blog. For instance, I just transferred 3 of the Christmas foals up to Monty Roberts’ Flag Is Up Farms for training. There was also a very pregnant mare and a mare and new foal transferred from the feedlots down to 2 rescues in southern California; the CA. Coastal Horse Rescue in Ojai, Ca. and the Xenophon Ranch in Morongo Valley. The story is available at my Facebook page Emergency Animal Rescue (Make sure it’s the one with the red logo with the horse, dog and cat). Well, I’m off to Paypal.
Love the Bucket Fund! I follow several rescues due to this site… including the intrepid LeRoy and the Junkyard Four… but my favorites (so far!) are the Nurse Mare Foalies. Thank you, horseandman for helping to encourage my renewed passions for equines! And, Happy Passover and Easter to all.
[...] to be thrown away. But there are people who rescue these fine foals. To learn all about the Bucket Fund and to donate towards the care of The Heartbreak Kids, please click on the [...]
[...] condition, 2 pregnant, all starved – yet owned by a hay broker! To learn all about the Bucket Fund and to donate towards the care of The Junkyard 4, please click on the photo (photo credit, Trish [...]
[...] The Drop In The Bucket Fund has only recently come to my attention, and I know far less about their efforts. Currently, they are trying to save some “junkyard” horses that were severely neglected by their owner. Their website is found here. [...]
Doug,
I met March’s “challenge” with a showing of the green for the Junkyard horses!
Thanks…
Karen Lee M Keefe
Rescues are so tough; we have rescued 3 horses and 2 donkeys in the past and they have forever homes here!! I’ll send what I can as I’m disabled..
Where can I mail my check! I suggest keep running Dougs suggestion,
make sure all readers read it. What A Great Idea Doug!
They are at BHFER. Beauty’s Haven Farm and Equine Rescue (http://www.beautysequinerescue.org/) recovering. Glory is in the foaling stall there…
Where are the Junkyard 4 living now?
I want to donate but I do not wish to use Paypal; are there other method that I can use?
Thanks and speedy healing to LeRoy the Wonder Pony! What will happen to him after he is rehabbed?
Everyone can do $12. It’s just $12. I can do it and I’m unemployed (and not by choice). Stupid pharmaceutical industry. I’m switching over to Green Energy Technology.
Is there an address I can send a check to? Thanks! I can do $12…
Way to go Karen. Now that’s a worthy Valentines gift.
I just got back from getting 5 pregnant mares from the Fallon feedlot (thanks to our Equine Angel) and delivered them to 4 sanctuaries in southern California. These places rock.
Happy Valentine’s day, LeRoy!
I met the challenge,
Thanks for all you do!
Wow! Good idea! ;)
May you inspire everyone!
You mentioned in your blog today (Friday, Feb.11, 2011) that you wished everyone who read your blog, all 200,000+ of us, would donate $1 a month to the Bucket Fund. What would happen if we all just did a years worth all at once? $2,400,000 is what would happen. So I put the challenge out to all readers of Horse And Man. $12 isn’t much. A bale of hay. 3 cups of foo foo coffee. But then do that EVERY month. $12 a month. It’s not much. 40 cents a day. And look what could happen. Imagine (John Lennon) what could happen. I’ll send in my $12 now. The challenge is on. I double-dog dare you.
please send me an address.. as I do not do anything will pay pal…thanks
Why does it have to stop at $500?
While reading the powerful article ‘There Is Something We Can Do’, it seemed the author had penned my every thought and feeling about the plight of our beloved wild mustangs and burros. Eerie, yes…but how wonderful to know there is another who sees, thinks and feels exactly as I do. Naturally, I clicked the ‘donate’ button then went to DreamCatcher WH&B Sanctuary site and read every page; what an amazing place! Couldn’t leave the site until I clicked their ‘donate’ button, too! I am so happy to have found Barbara and DreamCatcher WH&B Sanctuary!
Ya know what makes my head spin about people saying that mustangs don’t belong here?
Non-native monkey saying native herbivore doesn’t belong here. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
What happen to Honey Bandit is certainly what is wrong with what the BLM is doing.
I am hoping this sweet little one lives to be able to make his presence known. He could go a long way on saving his species.
So grateful Palomino took it upon herself to save him. Another true animal angel.
I made a donation in the memory of Passion such a sweet filly here for a short time BHFER is an amazing rescue and wish I had know about the bucket fund I would have cross posted all month..
I just tried to paypal for the first time to help with the horses. If it does not come through E Mail me and I will try to send again. Those poor babies who would not want to help them.
I ment in memory for Passion. I a little out of it today.
Ohhh. So very sorry. What a lovely gift. Thank you.
A donation was made in memory of Passion and in memory of my beloved dog Cindy who I to say goodbye to last night.
TO ALL, Please forgive my delay in writing to THANK EVERYONE for Iron Man’s Bucket Fund. Please know that ALL funds go directly to care for these babies and while BLM is helping us with Foal Lac for the BLM babies the others that come in like Iron Man rely on wonderful folks like all of you for helping with their expenses. Everybody has had their shots and are wormed and ALL are doing extremely well. Our little girls Ellie and Bella have very small belly button hernia’s (seem to be a few in the Calico herd) that will be having surgery in a week or so. These are not at all the extent of little Drew’s birth defect and hernia but please say little prayer. We have never lost one to this surgery so I expect all will go great and they will be up on their hoofers in no time. Again Thanks so much and this bucket fund is such a great idea for folks that want to help and be a part of saving and caring for the critter kids. It makes it so nice that anyone can contribute any amount that is comfortable for them and it sure helps the non-profit groups provide for care and little extras along the way. THANK YOU DAWN AND EVERYONE.
Hope you don’t mind. I linked to this in my blog.
http://hawksacres.blogspot.com/2010/06/rainy-monday.html