American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals awards $290,000 in grants to aftercare programs

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals will award grants totaling $290,000 to Thoroughbred aftercare programs through the ASPCA’s Million Dollar Rescuing Racers Initiative.

The grants are to help recipients rescue and rehabilitate former racehorses in an effort to save those horses from the slaughter pipeline. Grants range from $5,000 to $35,000.

The 14 Thoroughbred aftercare groups joining the initiative this year are CANTER, which has affiliates in seven states; the Equine Encore Foundation in Arizona; the Exceller Fund and the Kentucky Equine Humane Center in Kentucky; Finger Lakes Thoroughbred Adoption Program in New York; Tranquility Farm in California; Illinois Equine Humane Center; MidAtlantic Horse Rescue in Maryland; New Vocations, which has numerous affiliates around the country; Oklahoma Thoroughbred Retirement Program; ReRun in New Jersey and New York; Southern California Thoroughbred Rescue; and Training Racehorses off the Track in California.

“Too often, Thoroughbreds end up at livestock auctions – or, worse, are sent to slaughter – when their racing days are over,” Jacque Schultz, senior director of the ASPCA’s Equine Fund said. “There has been some emphasis on increasing the industry’s commitment to aftercare for retired racers lately, but the sad truth is these nonprofits are still constantly struggling to find the funding to save more horses. We are thrilled to provide this opportunity to help those organizations working to transition ex-racers out of the racing stable and into someone’s show barn or farm paddock.”