Doris Day, HSUS Open New Facility for Rescued Horses
Murchison, Tex. - The Doris Day Horse Rescue and Adoption Center opened at Cleveland Amory Black Beauty
Ranch last weekend with a parade of healthy, well-fed horses and their dedicated trainers. The successful recovery of each animal is due to the care and compassion of the Center's staff, made possible in part by a $250,000 grant from the Doris Day Animal Foundation.
"I'm thrilled the construction of the Center has been completed, and we are ready to help horses in neglected and abusive situations," Ms. Day said in a letter read at the opening ceremonies. "This fulfills a dream that my friend [writer and animal-rights activist] Cleveland Amory and I discussed many times in talking about how we could help horses."
The story began in 2009 when the Humane Society of the United States rescued nearly 200 emaciated and neglected horses from the 3-Strikes Mustang ranch near Alliance, Nebr. About half of these horses, victims of a failed rescue operation, were relocated to facilities scattered across the U.S. But with the help of Ms. Day's grant, nearly 100 mustangs found a new home at the Black Beauty Ranch.
Amory's legacy, the ranch is a facility where animals -- either abandoned, neglected, past their prime or simply displaced -- are rescued to live out their days under watchful care. The new Doris Day Horse Rescue and Adoption Center comprises 12 acres of the ranch and includes an education center, stables, a staging facility to care for animals caught in natural disasters, and a "horse playground" - open space where the horses live as the herd animals they naturally are.
Today, the original mustang rescues are joined by dozens more. The Center's trainers, using techniques pioneered by equine authority Pat Parelli, focus on a three-part mission: Rescue, Rehabilitate, Re-Home. Foundation of the Doris Day Horse Rescue and Adoption Center marks the first time horses will be available for adoption from Black Beauty Ranch.
The road to recovery for each horse begins with a comprehensive evaluation to identify health problems, nutritional needs, physical or medical limitations and personality. The team then designs a plan to get the horse back to health and ready for adoption.
"Knowing our rescues will be brought back to health in a safe and secure environment, and then placed for adoption with people who love horses and understand how to care for them, will be a tremendous plus for horse rescuers around the county," Ms. Day said.
Please consider a gift to help the horses that now call the Doris Day Horse Rescue and Adoption Center home. Click now to donate.
To see Doris Day's 1985 interview with Cleveland Amory and to get a glimpse of the Black Beauty Ranch, watch this video segment from "Doris Day's Best Friends":