AMARILLO, TEXAS -- Panhandle Safe Hayven Equine Rescue is turning to the community for help after a fire destroyed 75 bales of hay and a travel trailer.
The non-profit organization received a phone call Monday from RV Storage stating the hay caught fire and was destroyed, as well as the travel trailer parked beside it.
Equine Rescue Founder/President Terri Gammage said donations from the community are now critical for the animals. According to her, there is only enough hay left to feed the horses for about a month.
"We're also in the process of what we call our hay drive- our summer hay hunt to stock the hay that we'll have to have for the winter also," she said. "So, this really wasn't a good time."
The hay that burnt was donated to the organization last fall. Gammage pointed out the organization functions solely on the generosity of the community- everything is donated and volunteers are not paid.
"We only take what we can feed," Gammage stated. "The more donations we get, the more horses we can take."
Panhandle Safe Hayven Equine Rescue takes in abandoned and injured horses, gives them care and then finds them loving homes. Nutrition is vital to the animals, as their immune systems need to be strong in order to fight wounds and diseases. The non-profit has been in business for nearly ten years, and Gammage added she wants to continue her work no matter what kind of obstacles get in her way.
"Without us and other organizations like us, these horses would die either of starvation, in their pasture or in their pin, or hit the slaughter pipeline and go to Mexico."
Getting the horses out of harm's way is more than a job for Gammage- she thinks of it as a life's ambition.
"I do this because I love the horses, because this is a ministry that God has given for me to do," she said. "And my motto is 'If He provides I keep doing it. If it's His will, it's His bill.' As long as He keeps providing, I'll keep rescuing horses."
The organization can be contacted through its website or Facebook page. Anyone wanting to donate hay can call Terri directly at 806-681-5161.
"We like best coastal hay," Gammage added. "We can use prairie hay. We can use triticale, any of the grass hays. We feed either alfalfa cubes or alfalfa pellets."
The rescue also takes in donkeys and mules.
