2nd Annual Low-Cost Equine Gelding / Coggins / Vaccination Clinic held
Santa Rosa County Horse Assistance Council
And The
Unwanted Horse Coalition Operation Gelding Program
And The
ASPCA
held our 2nd Annual Low-Cost Equine Gelding / Coggins / Vaccination Clinic on Saturday, April 20 in Milton, FL. With the joint sponsorship of UHC, ASPCA, SRCHAC, Dr. David Henderson of Village Veterinarian, Inc, and the support of our generous equine community, a truly successful effort was made to reduce the number of unwanted horses and improve the wellness of horses in Northwest Florida. As a division of the American Horse Council, funding by UHC Operation Gelding clinics strive to address the problems associated with unwanted horses by castrating stallions to help prevent over-breeding. The ASPCA Equine Fund provides grants to U.S. nonprofit equine welfare organizations and other animal welfare organizations that care for horses, mules, donkeys and ponies in an effort to protect all equines, especially in this time of economic hardship for many horse owners nationwide. The ASPCA Equine Fund grants program awards financial help to equine organizations like SRCHAC.
The clinic was open to all horse owners living in Northwest Florida. Twenty-six horses were pre-registered and participated in the clinic beginning at 9am Saturday morning. In addition to the reduced cost castrations, grant funding from the ASPCA and reduced pricing by Dr. Henderson, low-cost Coggins testing and vaccinations were also offered to those horses that needed this veterinary service. Dave Danielson generously donated the use of his facility off Highway 90 in Milton where the clinic was held. It was a beautiful, sunny day and all went well with the surgeries for each of the horses. Dave’s facility was great and allowed each horse owner to come in with their horse trailers, unload their horses, keeping each animal calm and quiet with plenty of room to move around. A variety of breeds took advantage of this opportunity –including miniature horses, quarter horses, paints, Arabians, and Rocky Mountain horses.
SRCHAC board member and Education Committee Chairman, Vicki Burgans, did an outstanding job of taking applications, scheduling each owner with Dave Danielson coordinating with Dr. Henderson. Maureen Cleveland answers our SRCHAC ‘info hotline’ deserves a medal for her patient answering of the multitude of calls and questions she received. Dr. Henderson patiently answered each owner’s questions and dispensed his professional knowledge helping each participant become a more knowledgeable horse owner.
SRCHAC and the horses and horse owners of Northwest Florida are extremely grateful for their support and generosity for our Low-Cost Equine Wellness Grant.
SRCHAC will continue throughout the year to provide individual low-cost gelding, Coggins testing and vaccination opportunities to individual horse owners as long as our grant funding and donations allow. Another clinic will be scheduled for this fall. For more information and to apply for these low-cost services, you can visit our website www.srchac.org , see us on facebook at Santa Rosa County Horse Assistance Council, or call 850-304-7847.
