Purina and Unwanted Horse Coalition – A Home for Every Horse

Press Release

Purina and Unwanted Horse Coalition Help Find Adoptive Families for Rescue Horses with “A Home for Every Horse” Program
Purina Makes Feed Contribution and Asks Horse Owners, Retailers to Help

(ST. LOUIS, Mo. – May 1, 2012) – During the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, Purina Mills, LLC announced its pledge to donate $125,000 in feed to American Horse Council’s Unwanted Horse Coalition (UHC). The donation will support A Home for Every Horse, a program dedicated to finding homes for horses in need of adoption or fostering.

Purina’s goal is to donate a half ton of Purina® Strategy® horse feeds to 400 rescue shelters. Purina® Strategy® horse feeds are a high-performance feed that have provided more than one billion feedings to horses of all ages and lifestyles. A portion of every bag sold will help fuel the contribution, giving horse owners the opportunity to help.

A Home for Every Horse was initiated by Equine Network and gives rescue shelters an effective, online method to place horses with loving families interested in adoption or fostering. A Home for Every Horse works under the Unwanted Horse Coalition, an organization that promotes responsible equine ownership and awareness of the options, services and assistance available to guarantee horses receive care and humane support throughout their lives.

Through a broad alliance of 29 equine organizations, including the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP), American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA), Purina and others, a collective effort works to ensure everything possible is done so that no horse becomes unwanted.

“The UHC is so honored to be a part of A Home for Every Horse. With so many unwanted horses in our nation, we must really stress the importance of rescuing and adopting,” said Ericka Caslin, director with Unwanted Horse Coalition. “Not only are there so many talented and wonderful horses waiting for homes, but the adoption of a horse will free up a space for another horse to be rescued and saved.”

“Helping to find homes for horses in need is an ambitious undertaking, and we at Purina believe it’s critical for organizations across the equine industry to come together in a united effort to help address this growing issue,” said Dave Hoogmoed, president of Purina Mills. “With thousands of horses across the country in need of shelter and nutrition, we must increase education and awareness about horse ownership, care, and adoption. This mission is at the core of the Unwanted Horse Coalition and one that Purina® supports through the partnership of A Home For Every Horse.”

Purina® Retailers Help Local Rescue Organization

The plight of the rescue horse is one familiar to horse lovers. The burden of care often falls on rescue shelters that take in these horses. That’s why some Purina® dealers are realizing opportunities to make a difference in their own communities.

In spirit of A Home for Every Horse, three Purina® dealers in northern California united to support an area rescue organization, Sonoma Action for Equine Rescue (SAFER). Friendly Feed and Supply, Frizelle Enos Feeds and Rainbow Agriculture each donated a half ton of Purina® horse feed to SAFER for rescue horses in Sonoma County and the surrounding area. In addition, Purina matched the generous donations with an additional half ton of feed.

“SAFER has done so much for members of this community, and these partnerships allow us to create awareness and help solve some of the challenges that horses and horse owners face during tough economic times,” said Jim Mayfield, president of Rainbow Agriculture. “We’ve been a Purina® product dealer for close to thirty years and it means a lot to be associated with a brand that truly cares about the welfare of horses and horse owners.”

“This donation translates directly into how many horses we can afford to take in and help find homes for in the community. We’ve been working so hard that we haven’t had the opportunity to do much fundraising and we just hoped that if we did the work, the support would come,” said Kate Sullivan, president of SAFER. “Our foster shelters will see a lot more success stories because we’ll be able to provide a lot more feed assistance.”

Horse lovers interested in adopting an animal in need can visit www.ahomeforeveryhorse.com to search for available horses in their area. A Home for Every Horse is hosted and promoted by Equine.com, the industry’s largest website for buying and selling horses, with a network of more than 1.5 million horse owners.

For more information on the American Horse Council’s Unwanted Horse Coalition, visit www.unwantedhorsecoalition.org. And to learn more about the partnership between the Unwanted Horse Coalition and Purina® Horse Feed, visit www.feedyourstrategy.com.

About Land O’Lakes Purina Feed LLC
Land O’Lakes Purina Feed LLC (www.horse.purinamills.com) is a national organization serving producers and their families through 4,700 local cooperatives and independent dealerships throughout the United States. The company, in combination with its wholly owned subsidiary Purina Mills, LLC, is North America’s leading feed company, providing producers, cooperatives and dealers with an extensive line of animal feed, ingredients and services designed to help agricultural producers, dealers and cooperatives compete in the global marketplace.