Day 1 & 2
6 years ago
Friday, July 9, 2010
I should talk about Kieran but I'm going to talk about horse rescue instead
...what the heck IS IT with certain rescue organizations finding "a home" for horses they're pulling out of the frying pan (and possibly tossing back in the fire, who knows?) but then raising money to "bail" these horses and send them to their new homes for free?
If these new homes can't afford $1000 or less (which is what the "bail" often runs) to rescue the horse up front, why are we supposed to feel comfortable that they can, you know, afford boarding and feeding. Or well-fitting tack. Or, God forbid, surprise vet bills? Not to mention all the routine vet stuff and farrier work and dental work, et cetera.
It just drives me nuts that these people are essentially getting a horse for free that they may not actually be able to afford. I know the argument generally is something to the effect that they have funds set aside for regular horse expenses, but the several hundred dollars or more up front would deplete it and then...well...they wouldn't be able to handle the routine stuff so well (at which point I want to say: well save up the amount you think you'll need and rescue one of these horses only AFTER you're able to do both). I can kind of see that (though I still don't like it).
I think I'd feel better with the whole situation if we had something more akin to Kiva. Someone wants to rescue a horse and gets approved as a home or whatever, they can't afford the purchase cost up front (or don't want to deplete their savings, and so on), a posting gets put up and people who want to help out can raise funds to "bail" the horse and send it to the new home. But those funds are actually a loan and the home is required to repay the loan within a specified time period. Those who lent the money can either get back what they put in or they can opt to roll that money over to someone else.
I really like that idea, actually. I think, with proper setup, it might help mitigate a lot of problems I've seen with people donating money and never seeing what happens to it. Plus making new homes responsible for ALL of the costs associated with getting the horse, not just getting one to show up on their doorstep for free.
If these new homes can't afford $1000 or less (which is what the "bail" often runs) to rescue the horse up front, why are we supposed to feel comfortable that they can, you know, afford boarding and feeding. Or well-fitting tack. Or, God forbid, surprise vet bills? Not to mention all the routine vet stuff and farrier work and dental work, et cetera.
It just drives me nuts that these people are essentially getting a horse for free that they may not actually be able to afford. I know the argument generally is something to the effect that they have funds set aside for regular horse expenses, but the several hundred dollars or more up front would deplete it and then...well...they wouldn't be able to handle the routine stuff so well (at which point I want to say: well save up the amount you think you'll need and rescue one of these horses only AFTER you're able to do both). I can kind of see that (though I still don't like it).
I think I'd feel better with the whole situation if we had something more akin to Kiva. Someone wants to rescue a horse and gets approved as a home or whatever, they can't afford the purchase cost up front (or don't want to deplete their savings, and so on), a posting gets put up and people who want to help out can raise funds to "bail" the horse and send it to the new home. But those funds are actually a loan and the home is required to repay the loan within a specified time period. Those who lent the money can either get back what they put in or they can opt to roll that money over to someone else.
I really like that idea, actually. I think, with proper setup, it might help mitigate a lot of problems I've seen with people donating money and never seeing what happens to it. Plus making new homes responsible for ALL of the costs associated with getting the horse, not just getting one to show up on their doorstep for free.
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