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Thursday, October 25, 2007

Update: Firefighters Begin to Gain Ground - How You Can Help

Firefighters began to gain ground Wednesday on the wildfires raging throughout Southern California. Numerous small fires were fully contained by Wednesday evening, but several large fires were still burning out of control. And while some Southern Californians were allowed back into their neighborhoods, others were being given evacuation notices.

Thousands of horses have been evacuated from their home stables. Some were taken to the barns of family and friends, but thousands of others are currently living in large animal evacuation shelters, including about 2,000 at the Del Mar racetrack and fairgrounds, to where Olympians Steffen Peters and Guenter Seidel evacuated their horses. Several other shelters are in operation in San Diego County. These include Rohr Park in Chula Vista, Fiesta Island in Mission Bay Park, Gillespie Field in El Cajon and the Lakeside Rodeo Grounds.

Although all four of these facilities still have some room for additional horses, getting there is still a challenge as many roads are closed due to fire and poor visibility from smoke. Some horses are parked in shopping mall parking lots or any place their owners felt was safe. A secondary problem has now emerged. Many horse owners fled with their horses and didn’t have quite enough time or room in their trailers to gather up feed and hay. Hence, a call has been put out for donations of feed and hay, as well as money.

The U.S. Equestrian Federation announced Wednesday the creation of the USEF Equine Disaster Relief Fund and is now requesting contributions from individuals and organizations wishing to assist those in the Southern California area.

Money donated to the USEF Equine Disaster Relief Fund assists equines of any breed that find themselves victims of disasters, including but not restricted to hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, blizzards and fires. The money will be held by USEF in an account restricted for this purpose and disbursed only upon authorization of the USEF Chief Executive Officer.

“During situations like this, it’s imperative that we gather forces to assist in any way possible,” said USEF Chief Executive Officer John Long. “Thankfully, the weather forecasts are good. However, Southern California just experienced the largest evacuation of residents in our country’s history. Of course, that has had an impact on the countless horses that call that part of the state home. The Federation wants to do what it can to assist those horses and owners.”

Donations may be made online at www.usef.org by clicking on the following hyperlink – https://www.usef.org/_AUAIFrames/DisasterRelief/DisasterRelief.aspx. If you wish to contribute to the effort by check, please make it out to the USEF Equine Disaster Relief Fund and mail it to: The United States Equestrian Federation, 4047 Iron Works Parkway, Lexington, KY 40511.

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