Drought may force overcrowded horse rescues to close

FORT WORTH— The lingering effects of our extended drought season are hitting the horse industry in north Texas hard.

Rescue groups already struggling to feed the horses they have, are getting slammed with dozens more abandoned horses every month.

They say, without donations, they won’t be able to continue.

“Folks that have been here all their lives say they’ve never seen it this bad. There just is no pasture left anywhere. If you got 200 miles north, south, east, or west of [Fort Worth], there’s just no pasture for the animals to eat,” said Sandy Grambort, the Equine and Livestock Program Coordinator at the Humane Society of North Texas(HSNT).

Thanks to the record-setting drought of 2011, Texas ranchers will still be feeling the heat through the winter, and for years to come.

“Most of the hay that we used to feed the animals this summer is hay that we were holding for the winter,” said Cindy Wesch from Wish Equine Sanctuary of Texas (WEST). Read More…