The May Day horses: How you can help these forgotten animals

UPDATE: May Day horses

After the Ron and Don Show aired their story on the May Day horses Wednesday, listeners raced to donate. Nearly $11,000 was raised. The initial funding goal was $6,000.

Save a Forgotten Equine is still accepting donations that will go to help a range of horses in need. The charity is still seeking people to adopt the abandoned horses. Details below.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

Donate to help the May Day horses here

The clock is ticking for a herd of horses abandoned on a Western Washington property. They have less than one month to find new homes or they could be euthanized.

Bonnie Hammond is the director of Save a Forgotten Equine (SAFE) in Redmond. She is calling his herd the “May Day horses,” because SAFE has to find homes for them by May 1.

“What I was told was that there was a large group of horses that were on a property that had been sold,” Hammond said. “And the owner of the horses was being evicted. There was a great deal of trouble with that situation. So the sheriff’s department and the animal control department knew they would have to move the horses and find places for them. At the time when they contacted SAFE, we already knew that we were full and didn’t really have the ability to take on many, if any, of these horses.”

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Police are looking into the person who abandoned the horses. Bonnie says they’re lucky the man who purchased the property in Western Washington is giving the horses until May 1. While he knew there were more than 20 horses on the property, the didn’t expect the previous owner to leave without them.

“They’ve trashed the whole thing,” Hammond said of the neglected horses. “It’s muddy. There’s broken fences … they have been somewhat starved. They are now getting regular food. But a herd of horses that includes stallions — the horse do a lot of fighting and picking on each other. They also have superficial injuries from getting cut on broken boards and broken glass. They are in really rough shape.”

Help the May Day horses

SAFE is doing what they can to help these forgotten animals by raising money for vet care and interviewing potential adopters.

There is a way you can help the May Day horses. SAFE is raising money to help any adopters who do take that leap of faith. A crowdfunding site has been started to collect donations. You can donate here. Extra funds will help other horses under SAFE’s care.

The May Day horses will need a little extra care due to their circumstances.

“We don’t know what kind of horses they are going to be once they recover,” Hammond said. “These are not beginner-friendly horses. These are horses that are going to need some investment of time.”

For information on how to adopt any of the horses, send an email to mayday@safehorses.org.