All Vegas Horses

Early in 2012, a small group of concerned horse lovers began to work with local Animal Control officials to coordinate foster care for horses and donkeys surrendered by their owners or seized by officers in cases of extreme neglect or abuse.  The mission of All Vegas Horses (and the LEAN=Local Equine Assistance Network program) is to provide temporary sanctuary and rehabilitation for these un-owned horses, and then to adopt them to pre-screened, appropriate new homes.

Our foremost concern is for the horses that are brought into the County holding pens through either owner-surrender or Animal Control seizure.  Only one facility is available to keep livestock for all three neighboring cities, plus any strays which are found loose and therefore belong to the Nevada Department of Agriculture.  There is no adoption program in place for these animals (as exists for small animals) and funds are tight for feed and care, so ultimately they may be sent to a “broker” for disposal.

This typically means that if they are not healthy and desirable horses, they end up in auction and can be purchased by meat buyers for shipment to slaughter in Canada or Mexico.  Unlike dogs and cats in County shelters, there is no cost-effective euthanasia for livestock.  Horses can end up purchased as predator meat, sold for slaughter, used in illegal circuses or tripping rodeos, and much worse.  Because these particular horses are un-owned, they have no advocates who might find them a better life.

L..E.A.N./All Vegas Horses seeks to provide immediate sanctuary for these animals through our network of established and pre-inspected foster homes.  We use a network of volunteers to help locally foster and rehome our horses, as opposed to having a physical ranch sanctuary.  In this way, no one facility or individual is overburdened and many people are able to participate in saving each animal. We’ve found that horses placed foster care do very well – the barn members share in feeding, bathing, brushing, fussing and helping to comfort these wounded souls.  These horses are recovering remarkably well and many are networked to adoption by those helping tend to them.

We also participate in educational events throughout the community to propagate responsible horse ownership.  Two sterilization clinics have been conducted through our organization to help reduce the number of unwanted horses from random breeding.  We’ve started a community Hay Bank to help struggling owners to be able to keep their animals during short term financial hardships.  Our new network program, The HahNah Project, also assists other owners needing to rehome their horses.    Although we focus on the immediate needs of the horses in our care, our larger purpose is to reduce those numbers overall through education and intervention.