ASPCA Awards $100,000 to ‘Help a Horse Day’ Contest Winners

NEW YORK—The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) today revealed the eleven winners of the third annual ASPCA Help a Horse Day contest, a nationwide grant competition for equine rescues and sanctuaries to raise awareness about the year-round work they do to save and care for at-risk horses. The grand prize winner received a $25,000 grant, while ten runners-up were awarded grants of $10,000 or $5,000 to support their ongoing efforts to protect horses. The winning groups include:

$25,000 Grand Prize Winner:

• Equine Voices Rescue & Sanctuary, Green Valley, Ariz.

$10,000 Prize Winners:

• All About Equine Animal Rescue, El Dorado Hills, Calif.
• Begin Again Horse Rescue, Honeoye, N.Y.
• California Coastal Horse Rescue, Oak View, Calif.
• Hidden Acres Thoroughbred Rescue, Cocoa, Fla.
• The Pegasus Project, Ben Wheeler, TX

$5,000 Prize Winners:

• Blue Rose Ranch, Springfield, Colo.
• Freedom Hill Horse Rescue, Owings, Md.
• HiCaliber Horse Rescue, Valley Center, Calif.
• Horse Protection League, Arvada, Colo.
• Horses of Tir Na Nog, San Diego, Calif.

“In honor of the ASPCA’s 150th anniversary this year, we expanded our Help a Horse Day celebration to recognize even more groups for their incredible work engaging their communities and spreading the word about how to protect horses,” said Jacque Schultz, senior director of the ASPCA Equine Fund. “We were overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response and thrilled to welcome twice as many participants to the contest this year. There are so many deserving equine rescues and sanctuaries, and we are pleased to help them provide vital services to at-risk horses around the country.”

Adding to the excitement surrounding this year’s contest was “2 Broke Girls” actress and horse advocate Beth Behrs, who teamed up with the ASPCA to help spread the word about the everyday heroes who work tirelessly to care for and rehabilitate horses like her own adopted horse, Belle.

More than 33,000 community members came out to support the 187 groups holding celebrations across the country in April, and winners were selected based on the creativity of their events, as well as their success engaging their local communities. This year’s events included movie screenings, book signings, family fairs and spring festivals, and even a mini horse wedding. The groups reported record fundraising efforts through these events, with several raising $50,000 or more to assist their rescue work.

Horses have been central to the ASPCA mission since the organization’s founding 150 years ago. The ASPCA’s efforts to further equine protection include supporting equine welfare through legislation, public advocacy, professional development, horse rescue, and targeted grants. Most recently the ASPCA launched a broad “Adopt a Horse” public service campaign featuring Beth Behrs and her rescue horse Belle, to encourage potential horse owners to pledge to make adoption their first option. The campaign highlights the many benefits of adopting a horse from one of the nation’s hundreds of equine rescue groups. It also aims to connect the many horses in need of permanent homes with the 2.3 million Americans who, according to a recent survey, say they have adequate space, resources, and strong interest in adopting a horse.

On April 10, the ASPCA launched a months-long celebration of its 150th anniversary with ASPCA 150: Come To Their Rescue – a national campaign honoring the ASPCA’s 150 years of animal rescue by inspiring public acts of compassion that will help save and protect dogs, cats, horses and farm animals from cruelty. For 150 days, the ASPCA is encouraging animal lovers to visit ASPCA.org/150days and pledge at least 15 minutes of their time to helping animals in need, toward an ultimate goal of 150,000 acts of compassion through September 7, 2016.

For more information about ASPCA Help a Horse Day, please visit http://www.aspca.org/helpahorse.