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Aspen rescue effort has saved 95 horsesASPEN, Colo. (AP)--Roaring Fork Valley residents have rallied to the aid of a new nonprofit created to save some specific horses from slaughter. Aspen Valley Horse Rescue has managed to save 95 horses from ranches in North Dakota and Alberta, Canada. "It's been more than I ever dreamt it to be,'' said Kathy Raife, who established the nonprofit in late September with Heidi Alles. The women started with the humble goal of saving any animal they could, even just one, from seven former "PMU ranches''--operations that once had contracts with a pharmaceutical company to provide pregnant mare urine for a drug used to treat menopausal women. The drug is falling out of favor, and contracts with the seven ranches were canceled. The ranchers cannot keep the horses, mostly mares and foals, so they were prepared to sell them to auction houses. Many of the horses were going to be slaughtered for food, Raife said. Word of mouth helped Aspen Valley Horse Rescue save 24 horses in the first two weeks. Broader publicity since Oct. 8 has allowed the nonprofit to save another 71 horses. The organizers' hard work began to pay off Oct. 17, when the first of the saved horses arrived at the 10-acre Missouri Heights property of Mary Bright, who has been instrumental in the rescue effort. Trailers brought in 24 weanlings, babies that had been taken from their mothers but weren't yet a year old. It was overwhelming for the organizers to see the horses arrive. "I cried my eyes out all day,'' Bright said. "It was more than inspiring.'' Alles said one horse that had been rescued had already been delivered to the Roaring Fork Valley, but to see 24 arrive at one time brought "a realization that this was really happening.'' Photographer Summers Moore captured images of the event and posted them online where they are for sale. Proceeds go to the rescue effort. The horses were transferred from a setting where they faced certain doom to a pasture with a stunning view of snowcapped Mount Sopris and the surrounding peaks. The next round of rescued horses, mostly Appaloosas, were scheduled to arrive from Alberta. Five ranches have volunteered to take some of the animals. Raife said the majority of the horses are being placed in adoptive homes. "As long as the horses get here, we think we can find them homes,'' she said. It costs a minimum of $1,000 to purchase each horse from the ranchers and transport them to the valley. Aspen Valley Horse Rescue needs help in a variety of ways: funds to buy the horses and transport them, adoptive homes, hay, and workers to help care for them until adoption. Donors can contribute a partial amount to adopt a horse and put up the funds necessary to save a specific horse.
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