The Homes for Horses Coalition is supported by Animal Welfare Institute, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and The Humane Society of the United States through the Jeannie Dodson Equine Protection Fund.

The Coalition is dedicated to ending horse slaughter and other forms of equine abuse, while promoting growth, collaboration, and professionalism in the equine rescue and protection community.  There is no cost for HHC membership.

Gracie

This group of professionals is working together to actively promote the welfare and protection of horses and other equines. By working to end horse slaughter and other forms of equine cruelty, provide care and homes to horses in need, advance the highest operating standards for equine rescue and retirement homes, and promote responsible horse ownership, the Homes for Horses Coalition is actively engaged in improving the lives of America’s equines.

Many of the coalition’s members operate equine care facilities while others are involved in government policy affecting horses and other equines. The coalition also partners with professionals in the field, including breeders, trainers, and veterinarians. The cumulative expertise of the group puts the Homes for Horses Coalition in a unique position to advocate for equines from a highly informed perspective that, most importantly, always puts the welfare of equines above commercial interests.

The Homes for Horses Coalition believes that:

• Every horse has intrinsic value and deserves humane treatment at all stages in life.
• The horse industry, including the equine veterinary medical profession, has an obligation to promote responsible horse breeding, ownership and care.
• Horse owners have a responsibility to provide high-quality, long-term care for their horses.
• All horses deserve a humane end to life and that horse slaughter is neither humane nor acceptable.

Pilots N Paws Pet Rescue Services

The Pilots N Paws web site is is intended to be a meeting place for those who rescue, shelter, or foster animals, and volunteer pilots and plane owners willing to assist with the transportation of animals. It is not the intent of Pilots N Paws to coordinate or arrange these valuable services, but to provide the environment in which those involved can come together in a common place and arrange or schedule rescue flights, overnight foster care or shelter and all other related activities.

Through the discussion board, those involved can exchange information about transports publicly so that they can set up an entire transport and share all information necessary to successfully accomplish the goal, and also allow others to volunteer their efforts if they see help is needed to save animals.

All participants are encouraged to check daily for various new listings on the discussion board for purposes of volunteering or assisting in an effort to save animals. The discussion board is also intended for participants to develop friendships and relationships and to get to know one another because we are all working for a common goal.

The only request for those participating is to be aware of the concerns of others. For that reason there are links to general information that is specific to pilots or those involved in the sheltering or rescue. Aviation is a wonderful alternative to ground transports, but those involved will have concerns not generally faced by ground transporters.

Canine Assistants: Service and Seizure Response Dogs

The service dogs at Canine Assistants (Milton, Georgia 30004) assist children and adults with physical disabilities or other special needs in a variety of ways. Some of the tasks the dogs perform include turning lights on and off, opening and closing doors, pulling wheelchairs, retrieving dropped objects, summoning help, and providing secure companionship. While all of these functions are vitally important in helping a person obtain greater freedom, perhaps the most impressive gift the dogs provide is social, rather than physical, in nature. The dogs eliminate feelings of fear, isolation, and loneliness felt by their companions. One Canine Assistants recipient made the value of this gift quite clear when asked by a reporter what she liked most about her service dog. Immediately, she responded, “My dog makes my wheelchair disappear.”

In addition to service dogs and companion dogs, Canine Assistants also trains and provides seizure response dogs for certain recipients. As with some of the service dogs, these dogs are adopted from various organizations and selectively screened for personality, temperament, and general health. Following general training, seizure response dogs are trained to perform one of the following behaviors, depending on the recipient’s need: remain next to the person during the course of a seizure, summon help in a controlled environment, or retrieve a phone prior to the seizure when indicated by the recipient. Certain dogs may even develop the ability to predict and react in advance to an oncoming seizure once they are placed with their recipient.

Service and seizure response dogs have a magical effect on their recipients. They assist with physical and emotional needs – enabling a person to achieve greater independence, confidence, and happiness overall.

95% of donations to Canine Assistants go directly to the training and placement of service and seizure response dogs with children and adults throughout the country.

Animal Care League

The mission of the Animal Care League (Oak Park, Illinois) is to:

Lucy (Animal ID 17566242)

• Protect animals from improper use, abuse, neglect, inhumane treatment and health hazards.
• Educate the public about responsible pet ownership.
• Shelter lost, abandoned and unwanted animals.
• Prevent the birth of unwanted animals.
• Reunite lost pets and their families.
• Adopt animals into loving and responsible homes.
• Lovingly caring for the pets who reside in the animal shelter.
• Assist low-income families with special spay/neuter/vaccination pricing.

Autism Service Dogs of America

The mission of Autism Service Dogs of America is to make a positive impact on the lives of children living with autism—and their families—by providing exceptionally well trained service dogs.

ASDA’s service dogs provide a physical and emotional anchor for children with autism. With their child tethered to a service dog, families feel they are newly freed to engage in activities as simple as going out to eat. When out in the community, a service dog can increase safety and make families feel secure. In many cases, the service dog accompanies the child to school, where its calming presence can minimize and often eliminate emotional outbursts, enabling the child to more fully participate in his or her school day. Transitioning among school day activities is eased and the service dog provides a focus through which the child can interact with other children. This helps increase the opportunity for the child to develop social and language skills.

Winging Cat Rescue

The Winging Cat Rescue (Griffin, Georgia) is an Internet-based organization that rescues abandoned cats and kittens from high-kill shelters. They are then fully vetted and available for adoption.

Polyanna

The rescue is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the state of Georgia.

Cow Cats Pet Adoption Center

Cow Cats Pet Adoption Center (Tempe Arizona 85284) provides free rescue and adoption listings to the public to help people find homes for cats, dogs, and other pets without using up valuable shelter resources.

Miller

This saves lives by reducing the demands on no-kill shelters, allowing them to focus even more of their energy on helping the animals that truly have no other option.

Dogs4Diabetics, Inc.

The mission of Dogs for Diabetics, Inc. (Concord, California 94520) includes the following three elements:

Image courtesy Dogs for Diabetics, Inc.

• Developing, promoting, and advocating standards of quality, performance, support, and disclosure for all medical assistance dog teams;
• Training, partnering, and supporting dogs and clients to reduce the risks associated with diabetes; and,
• Evaluating, researching, and monitoring dogs and clients to continuously improve processes and outcomes.

By advocating for high standards by medical assistance dog providers, high quality medical alert assistance dogs will become more accepted, respected, and available around the world.

The current lack of standards for medical alert assistance dogs raises significant risks to consumers, as well as to the industry as a whole. D4D believes that standards should be established to assure quality, define performance, confirm support, and provide disclosure as to the risks and rewards associated with these unique dogs. As a seminal provider of medical alert dogs, D4D is sharing these issues to move this part of the service dog industry forward in a constructive and positive way.

In carrying out this mission, D4D is transforming the lives of its clients and the daily management of their diabetes with the assistance of these wonderful medical alert assistance dogs.

D4D joins the diabetic community in hoping for a cure of this disease; however, D4D’s purpose is to support diabetics, 24 hours a day – 7 days a week, to improve their lives today.

The American Street Cat, Inc.

Inspired by the abundance of homeless cats wandering the streets of Brooklyn, New York, The American Street Cat, Inc. (aka TASC) was formed in January 2011 and is a New York State not-for-profit corporation. In March 2011, TASC was granted tax-exempt status and is a full fledged public charity.

Image courtesy The American Street Cat, Inc.

Entirely volunteer based, TASC is a grass roots organization that believes in transparency about who we are and what we do. There are no paid officers or volunteers. We’re just blue collar folks working for blue collar cats. All money raised via fund raising, donations, and adoption fees goes directly toward the cats’ expenses so that those living on the streets and in back yards may lead healthier and kitten-free lives.

SPCA Serving Erie County

The mission of the SPCA Serving Erie County (Tonawanda, New Yori 14150) is to create a caring and kind community that encourages fair and humane treatment of all creatures. Its knowledgeable, caring, and open-minded team of staff and volunteers achieves that mission through proactive efforts to address the current status of animals in the community, education of adults and children, rescue and sheltering of animals in need, and placement of animals into appropriate homes.

Bella (Animal ID #16148555)

The SPCA cares for approximately 15,000 animals each year through programs that include adoptions; admissions; animal rescues; animal emergency transports; stray lost and found services; animal cruelty investigations and seizures; care for wildlife, reptiles, exotics, and farm animals; and much more.