Zoetis Donates Vaccines to ASPCA Help a Horse Home Contestants

NEW YORK–The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) has announced an exciting partnership with Zoetis US LLC to reduce the medical costs for the agencies participating in the annual Help a Horse Home^SM: ASPCA Equine Adoption Challenge. Zoetis will donate their new vaccine CORE EQ Innovator™ for every equine adopted during the two-month challenge period, up to 1,500 vaccines. 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.

“This exciting partnership is just one example of how the equine industry is stepping up to support adoption and help horses at risk,” said Dr. Emily Weiss, vice president of Equine Welfare for the ASPCA. “The Help a Horse Home Challenge^SM provides an effective way to reach the untapped equine adopters that our research suggests are out there, and we are grateful to Zoetis for their generous donation as it will assist equine organizations in their efforts to help save more horses’ lives.”

“As a proud member of the equine industry, at Zoetis we have an unwavering responsibility to help improve the wellbeing of every horse,” said Nathan Voris, DVM, MBA, associate director, Equine Technical Services with Zoetis. “This is why we are proud to provide core disease vaccinations for all horses who will find homes in this year’s ASPCA Help a Horse Home Adoption Challenge. When adopting a horse there are many things to consider, but one health requirement, no matter what your horse’s role will be or where you live, is annual vaccination against the core equine diseases.”

All horses face ongoing exposure to the core diseases – rabies, tetanus, West Nile, and Eastern and Western equine encephalomyelitis – which can have a fatal impact. Core EQ Innovator™ from Zoetis helps to protect horses against all core diseases in one injection.

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. 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. Participants are also invited to promote their equines on My Right Horse, a new listing site created by The Right Horse Initiative for equines in transition.  

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.