Gentle Giants Draft Horse Rescue

Location
Mt. Airy, Maryland
Type of Organization
Animal Welfare
Rescue and Education
Services Provided
Anti-Cruelty and Animal Rescue
Spay and Neuter Clinics
Education and Advocacy
Their Work

Established in 2005, Gentle Giants Draft Horse Rescue was formed to facilitate the rescue of Draft and Draft Cross horses from slaughter, abuse, and neglect.

Slaughter is a highly profitable market and most of the public is unaware that buyers for the slaughterhouses frequent public auctions to purchase their horses. Gentle Giants makes it their goal to attend the same public auctions in order to outbid the meat buyer in order to provide these beautiful and often overworked animals with loving homes and the treatment and veterinary care they so deserve.

The organization is also devoted to raising public awareness through the use of brochures, pamphlets, and public presentations on the topics of horse slaughter and cruelty, the responsibilities of horse ownership, the over-population and over-breeding of horses, and how over-breeding contributes to the horse slaughter industry.  Gentle Giants houses over sixty head of draft horses, and has placed over 550 draft-breed horses into adoptive homes since they began.

A Shelter Support Grant from SPCAI will enable them to purchase some much needed equipment, such as, a horse sized sling and an ambulatory lift that would allow them to lift downed horses into a standing position for rescue, transport, and treatment.  These supplies would give them the ability to treat horses of all breeds, not just draft horses, and would also give Gentle Giants the opportunity to collaborate with other local humane agencies and equine veterinarians.