Project Spirit

Project Spirit. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. The recession has sure taken its toll in on a lot of different ways. Nadine Hoy and her husband Chuck run Project Spirit on their 25-acre property near Klamath Falls, Oregon. It's a shelter for abused, neglected, abandoned and starved horses. HOY: We got involved with the Humane Society and we would bring home the worst of the worst because most of the gals there were pretty much dog people so we would bring the horses here that were really in bad trouble and try and save them. Feed them, rehabilitate them, whatever. And then when the recession hit it went from 2 or 3 to close to a hundred. That is when the Hoy's had to make a decision. HOY: So we formed Project Spirit as a 501c3 so we could get some help and we just keep taking whatever we can save. We try not to turn anything away unless we just flat out don't have the money to do it. Some people just don't care. Other people have lost their jobs, they are trying to save their homes and to keep horses is about the last thing they can deal with She says even though everyone disliked slaughter houses at least it was a very quick way for an animal to be put down instead of slowly starving to death. Keeping a horse is not like a dog or cat. They take a good deal of time and money. HOY: It depends on the horse. When we take them in if they are just starving we have a lot of groceries we have to deal with, we always get them to the vet, we always have to have teeth work done, hoof work done and then when they are healthy, worming and vaccinations. A lot of arena time, a lot of loving. We encourage people to come and hug them and groom them and let them know we're not all bad. The financial commitment for Project Spirit can vary greatly again depending on the horse and the immediate needs so they are always looking for both donations and volunteers. And Hoy says that there are some important things people need to be reminded of. HOY: First of all stop breeding. Number one, don't. Number two if you have a horse you cannot afford to take care of that you are desperately trying to get rid of because of your financial problems, call us. Call Project Spirit, call the Humane Society, we will try to help. And if you just need to have feed for your horse we can try and help you with that too. There is help out there too if people want it but we are finding that a lot of people don't want it, they just throw them away and just walk away. If you want more information on Project Spirit visit their website at www.projectspirit.org. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network. http://www.projectspirit.org/