INDUSTRY – Like everything else in these tough economic times, the Double B Equine Rescue needs help to keep going.
The numbers of people calling this large animal rescue facility who can no longer afford to feed their horses has grown. So much so, as many as five times a month, a call comes in asking to place a horse at the five-year-old facility. The rescue on West Mills Road is only one of four in Maine that is certified by the state’s Department of Animal Welfare to care for large animals.
Currently filled to its capacity at 12 horses, as the calls come in the donations are down as people try to meet their own budget demands.
“Last year was difficult and this year is real difficult,” said Linwood Green, a volunteer at the Double B. In addition to a general decrease in donations, last summer’s abundant rain didn’t help the hay crop any. Cutting was often put off and late, producing a nutrition-reduced bale. As a result, prices on premium hay, which horses require, cost more this winter.
Responding for the second year, a much-needed hay drive for the Double B is getting organized this week by the Giddy-Up & Go 4-H Horse Club. Anyone wanting to donate a bale or two the rescue effort can call club leader Janine Winn at 778-3856. Club members will be picking up the hay donations this week and, on Saturday, will be delivering the feed to the rescue.
“The kids are making phone calls and arranging for pick-ups,” Winn said. “We are asking people with horses, or other hay-loving animals, from around the area to donate two bales of hay to the rescued horses.” About a half dozen youths are involved in the project, she added.
The club’s goal is to raise at least 20 bales of hay, as many as they did last year.
The horse rescue facility needs a lot of hay to keep going.
“We’re down really low,” Green said. “Any hay is a huge help.” The calls looking for homes for horses keep coming in and when they do, the volunteers like Green who help Double B owner Brenda DuBois, begin the search to find places for all of them.
“We’ve been able to place quite a few horses. They’re good horses that haven’t been abused that are being offered,” Green said. Even some of the horses that have suffered abuse then rehabilitated at the horse rescue have found homes.
“We had a totally blind horse and we were able to find a home for her,” he said. Quite a number of horses arrive under weight and “we nurse them back to good shape.” A mini horse, less than a year old, was under weight and had been kept with standard horses that abused the little horse arrived here this winter.
“He wouldn’t have made it through the rest of the winter,” Green said without the tender loving care its received. “We’ve been putting the hay to him and he’s doing well now.”
DuBois works full time at the Barclays call center in Wilton to help pay for the bills and relies on volunteers to keep the rescue running while she’s at work.
“She suckered me into shoveling horse manure,” Green said with a laugh. “Brenda loves animals and refused to close it.”
Last year the 4-H club received donations of 21 hay bales and one 1,000-pound round bale for the Double B.
“We really felt that we were helping out and were happy with the outcome last year,” said the club’s president, Aiden Shankland. “We hope to do as well this year, maybe even better.”
The club is also accepting and picking up cash donations. Please call as soon as possible. “If you donate something, we would really appreciate it, so would the horses,” Winn said.
To donate, call Winn at 778-3856. To find out more about the Double B rescue effort, go to mainehorserescue.com or call them at 778-6479. The facility is located at 997 West Mills Road (Rt. 148) in Industry.
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Misty greets visitors at the Double B Equine Rescue in Industry. At top, another horse, Charity, got the help she needed at the rescue facility. |
