CLARENCE, N.Y. — Everybody has heard of dog rescue and cat rescue organizations, but what about a horse rescue?
There's one locally here in Clarence. Some of the horses there were set to be put to sleep, others were abused, but thanks to Phoenix Rising Equine Rescue, these horses are now in stable condition.
Get it? Stable condition.
The founder, Karla Deacon, spoke with 2 On Your Side and brought Harley, one of their rescues, with her.
"[Harley] was a racehorse. And then he went through a series of auctions and then you made it to the end of the line," Deacon said. "And he was going to be shipped to slaughter and we stopped it probably about five minutes before the shipment. And now he is living here."
Deacon explained that the Phoenix Rising stables aren't just full of former thoroughbreds though. They get horses from all different kinds of backgrounds. They have injured horses and horses people can't care for anymore for various reasons.
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the horse rescue hard. It forced them to cancel two of their biggest fundraising events of the year, with a third still scheduled to take place in October.
"With the virus we have had to cancel two of our major fundraisers for the year," Deacon said. "That usually gets us on good footing, so we are having a shortfall on funds right now. We are hoping that our October event will be able to be held."
Those who are interested in helping the local non-profit can still do so even though no formal fundraisers are happening anytime soon. There's a donate button on their website, helpsavehorses.org. The majority of the money that's donated is used on supplies like food to keep the horses happy and healthy.
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