Do You Still Need More Proof?

Do You Still Need More Proof?

06 May 2017

cat proof.jpeg

 Okay, okay-I know-the cat photo is just an attention grabber-but it worked. You looked. 

Even when people's horses are missing, some of them want guarantees of success. We think that they want us to make sure that a miracle happens for them. Truth be told-we DO NOT hold our guarantees because there are too many variables. We'd love to be able to do that. We can't. We are very honest with every single person. 

However-that said, IF the owner comes to us IMMEDIATELY (as in within 24 hours) of the horse's disappearance), the chances of success are MUCH higher. Our volunteers shift into high gear sending out the social media posts, emails, media releases, and making contacts. If the OWNER also complies with the Terms of Service and starts distribution of the fliers in their area as fast and thickly as possible, recovery rates SOAR. 

Now then, you want examples of what that means-okay, here you go:

NR 0005229 Ears  This is a very recent case. While we may never know all the exact details, we do know that the owners got in touch with us right away. We put out all the social media posts, our ALERT emails, and the press releases. The owners did their part-they tackled the task of spreading the information around their area. Do you know that even before all the emails finished going out, we got notice that Ears had been located 40 miles away?  Somebody had seen the notices and, sure enough, there was Ears. 

NR 005126 Tigger  This horse disappeared out of his paddock in CA on 12-17-16 leaving a full feeder. That was totally unlike him. He just vanished into thin air. This part of the state is up against the Oregon state line and quite mountainous and rural. Again, the owner got in touch with us quickly and our volunteers did their work thoroughly. The owner did what he could in such a rural area. Nothing happened immediately, but we kept looking at the area auctions. Then after a snowfall on Jan 6, a neighbor noticed a horse on a hillside pasture matching Tigger's description. No horse was supposed to be there. It was-he was considerably fatter, had newly trimmed feet, and was nicely groomed. Only fresh horse tracks in the snow were his. 

NR 005047 Sugar & Legend  These two horses belonged to a little girl. Breaks your heart that somebody would steal horses belonging to children, but it happens. We were able to track these two down to the sales in TX-and found one (Sugar) still there. But Legend was still missing. Since we never give up and never forget, we kept going.  Just a little over a week later, we were able to reunite Legend with his little person.  It helps, of course, that her Mother was willing to do whatever it took to get the horses back for her daughter, but the NetPosse team wasn't going to stop looking for those horses either.  This is such a fun job!

NR 003765 Arabella  One of the favorite stories of the staff is Arabella's. Whoever took this gentle mare also took all of her tack-saddle, saddle pad, tie down (fell off in the mud and was found), bridle, and halter) on the night of January 6, 2016. Presumably, either the horse and all the tack was meant as a gift for somebody or they were just being incredibly greedy. Hard to say. The incident was clearly a theft. We worked hard along with the owner and the law enforcement on it. Lots of fliers were being put up around Texas. Then one night the owner got a call-a horse was tied to the front gate of the barn. It was Arabella-with all of the tack on her. 

Does our method work? Yes, it certainly can. It certainly has a better percentage rate than sitting around hoping. Law Enforcement resources are limited by budget and manpower. We have access to social media and we have the time and the manpower to monitor contacts across county and state lines. We also have contacts in the horse industry that they don't-and may never know. Probably the most important thing is-we speak 'horse owner'-and that is language that may never be heard in police academy's. Sometimes law enforcement officers may not know the difference between a chesnut and a sorrel-never mind a dapple from a whorl. Not their fault-most of the time they don't need to. We have experience with working with law enforcement officers throughout the country and overseas to assist them in searching for the missing, lost or stolen horse. 

Need to talk to us more about this? That's fine. Call us at 704-484-2165 or email at info@netposse.com

 

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!
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Katherine Smitherman

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