6 Myths About Our Stolen Horse International Rescue

6 Myths About Our Stolen Horse International Rescue

01 March 2017

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We all know about equine rescues and how they help horses in need. When you think of an equine rescue a picture is drawn in our minds of malnourished horses brought to a loving rescue to be rehabilitated to a beautiful healthy horse. In recent years we have seen even more horses being saved at feedlots and auction facilities hours before they are to be shipped to Canada or Mexico to be slaughter.

Some of these rescues are 501(c)(3) nonprofits and some are personal nonprofits. You may be surprised to find out that we are the first, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit rescue.

Since most people do not understand the vital services we provide to the horse industry, we want to help you understand.

Myth 1: All rescues are alike

Are all rescues created equal? Can you still be an equine rescue and not pull horses from hoarding situations or horse auctions? The answer is yes.

Few people know that Stolen Horse International, Inc™, also known as NetPosse, is a certified Internal Revenue Service 501(c)(3) RESCUE, a horse of a different color so to speak.

This means that we have qualified for the following:

  • To not pay taxes on the money raised by our organization
  • Your donations may be tax-deductible
  • We must have a board of directors

Myth 2: We get everything free, therefore we do not need support

Although we do have some great supporters who help us out each year with discounts and donated items, we pay our bills just like every business pays their bills.

Just like any business we have the following professional task:

  • Public relations
  • Writing articles
  • Social media marketing
  • Email correspondence

If you have any of these skills and would like to volunteer your time, we have a volunteer job for you.

Here are a few of our expenses that we have every year”

  • Victim’s Services Program: $5600
  • Educational Outreach Project: $5313
  • Insurance: $400
  • Dues and subscriptions: $1909
  • Professional fees: $874
  • Total operations: $7587

Myth 3: We don’t need money because we have grants and government assistance

Don’t we wish that was true. As you can see, running a nonprofit organization is not free. Raising the money to keep this rescue afloat each year is a daily task and one that weighs on our minds heavily each week.

Stolen Horse International is a square peg trying to fit in a round hole in the rescue industry. We often do not qualify for the simplest rescue grants because the guidelines do not cover our type of rescue.

Without funds there will be no Stolen Horse International. It is that simple. We depend on the public to help us help others with your donations and gifts in kind. Without you, there is no us.

Myth 4: All rescues pay salaries

Although some rescues do have a paid staff, we are not one of them. We do not pay salaries to anyone. This is still and entirely run by volunteers who donated hours of their time each week.

We do our best to answer emails and phone calls but we do not work 24 hours a day. With the influx of Facebook private messages and comments communication is becoming even harder to keep up with on a daily basis.

Myth 5: Every horse is a stolen horse in our NetPosse Alerts

No, that is not true. Unlike the many post you see in social media, Craigslist etc, claiming a horse is stolen, we look at each case individually and through the eyes of the law. If a horse is reported as a theft:

  • There must be an active criminal case with local law enforcement
  • The owner has to report all details to our organization through our website
  • A small fee that is used to help fund the Victim’s Services Program must be paid

Myth 6: We only handle stolen horse cases

False. We handle missing horses, “poof gone”, runaways, lost and found, searching for horses and civil theft cases. Again, each case is treated individually by our Reports Coordinator. We will even take a lost farm animal that is owned by a horse owner occasionally.

You can find a searchable database with thousands of horses on our website under REPORTS.

We also have an extensive NetPosse Educational Outreach Program (NEOP) under our SERVICES tab on the website which includes

  • National horse auction listings
  • Theft and recovery tips
  • Printable PDF resources
  • Equine Identification information
  • NetPosse Equine ID Program (NIP) Registry

In addition to our online resources we also do public outreach programs at horse expos, events and clubs.

Steve Jobs said, "The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones that

Did you know:

  • Stolen Horse International is the first organization to support missing horse victims
  • The first to start an ID program and sell a microchip kit online directly to the horse owner in our NetPosse Store
  • The first to have an ALL ID registry that includes every type of equine identification and more
  • The first to bring horses’ home using the NetPosse Alert, the horse industry “Amber” alert.

If you have some time on your hands to volunteer, or can donate money or gifts for our NetPosse (thrift) Store, I hope you will consider our rescue. It really does take a village to keep Stolen Horse International, Inc. here for the victims who need us.

Never underestimate the power of one.

Stolen Horse International provides news and other resources for free on this website. As a charitable organization we survive on the kindness of people like you. Please consider donating to help fund the organization or purchasing a NetPosse ID for your horse, dog or cat to help protect your beloved animals!
Donate  Buy NetPosse ID
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Debi Metcalfe

Founder | debi@netposse.com

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Contact Info.

PO Box 1341, Shelby, NC 28151

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