ASPCA Announces Annual Help a Horse Home Equine Adoption Challenge to Find More Good Homes for Horses

NEW YORK–The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) has opened registration for its annual Help a Horse Home: ASPCA Equine Adoption Challenge. The nationwide competition for equine rescues, shelters, and sanctuaries is designed to increase adoptions of equines around the country. This year’s challenge has been expanded to include four divisions and multiple ways to win, including a grand prize and prizes for social media, totaling $150,000.

In 2018, equine organizations adopted out more than 1,000 horses during the two-month Help a Horse contest period, proving that there are more homes out there for horses in their care. To build on the success of the 2018 contest, the 2019 challenge has been reimagined and renamed – Help a Horse Home: The ASPCA Equine Adoption Challenge with $150,000 in grant funding available to equine rescues, shelters and sanctuaries who secure the biggest increase in adoptions compared to the previous year. Any U.S.-based 501(c)(3) organization or governmental agency capable of receiving grant funds and fulfilling an animal welfare or protection mission that adopts out horses or other equines is eligible to participate.

“The ASPCA is dedicated to supporting the many groups around the country working to help more horses find loving homes,” said Dr. Emily Weiss, vice president of Equine Welfare for the ASPCA. “The Help a Horse Home Challenge provides an effective way to reach the untapped equine adopters that our research suggests are out there, and we can’t wait to see what innovative and thoughtful ideas equine organizations come up with to help save more horses’ lives.”

The Help a Horse Home Challenge kicks off on April 26—a date chosen for its significance to the ASPCA’s long history of horse protection. In 1866, ASPCA founder Henry Bergh stopped a cart driver from beating his horse, resulting in the first successful arrest for horse mistreatment on April 26 of that year. Each year, the ASPCA hosts a national grant competition to elevate the work of equine rescues that help at-risk horses who’ve been abused, neglected or find themselves homeless.

Registration for the 2019 ASPCA Help a Horse Home Challenge closes on Thursday, April 4, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. EST. For more information about the ASPCA Help a Horse Home Challenge or to register to compete, please visit www.aspcapro.org/hahh.