ASPCA Awards $51,000 Grant to Copper Horse Crusade to Support their Efforts to Save Horses from Slaughter

NEW YORK, NY –The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) has awarded a $51,000 grant to Copper Horse Crusade (CHC) of Cambridge, Ohio to expand their efforts to rescue, retrain and rehome slaughter bound horses. CHC works to save some of the most at-risk horses at auctions by selecting the horses who are most likely to find good homes in a reasonable amount of time. With the ASPCA’s funding, CHC plans to hire a transitional trainer to assist with developing programs aimed at increasing the number of horses the group can save.

“Programs like those developed by Copper Horse Crusade are vital to the efforts to decrease risk for horses and help assure we can achieve good welfare for all equines,” said Dr. Emily Weiss, vice president of ASPCA Equine Welfare. “The ASPCA is excited to help Copper Horse Crusade expand their work to save some of the most at-risk horses, and we look forward to measuring the impact of their efforts to share this innovative approach with other equine organizations across the country.

"Copper Horse Crusade gratefully acknowledges a generous grant from the ASPCA to support our work in sustainably saving slaughter bound horses,” said Julie Cooper, owner and founder of Copper Horse Crusade. “We look forward to applying these funds to significantly build our capacity and increase our ability to aide horses in transition.”

Every year, horses across the country fall victim to cruelty or become homeless, and thousands of American horses are trucked across our borders to be slaughtered for human consumption. The majority of these horses are healthy, and could go on to lead long lives in loving homes.

The ASPCA Equine Welfare department is focused on ensuring horses have good welfare, which includes partnering with The Right Horse Initiative to develop innovative programs and support other organizations committed to improving the number of positive outcomes for horses in transition. The ASPCA’s annual Help a Horse Day contest, which kicks off on April 26, encourages equine shelters, rescues and sanctuaries to raise awareness about the year-round lifesaving work they do to find good homes for horses. Motivated by the results of ASPCA equine research suggesting there could be approximately 2.3 million adults in the U.S. with both the resources and desire to adopt a horse in need, this year’s contest is focused on finding those homes for at-risk horses.

For more information about the ASPCA‘s efforts to help horses, please visit www.aspca.org.