SWFL horse farm needs your help to aid Sandy's animal victims
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Only Four In Your Corner's Colleen Hogan has the story tonight. Video by fox4now.com
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HENDRY COUNTY, Fla. - Some Southwest Floridians are coming to the rescue of animal victims of superstorm Sandy.
But before volunteers can take off, they need your help so they can help the animals.
Only Four In Your Corner's Colleen Hogan has more on the rescue and how you can help.
Imagine if a storm seperated you from one of your pets, how devastated you would be. A Hendry County horse rescue desperately wants to help reunite lost animals with their owners along the eastern seaboard and help repair pastures and fences.
But right now, they can't even afford the gas to leave Southwest Florida.
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Sanibel the horse lives in luxury, at the Florida Equine Rescue farm near Alva. But life wasn't always so good.
"She spent her entire life in a stall that was just wide enough for her to stand," Florida Equine Rescue founder Michael Walsh said.
Sweet Sanibel is one of about 40 horses getting a second chance here on the beautiful 80 acre farm.
"These animals have been abused, they've been neglected," Walsh said. "We give them something they've never had. They get love, they get attention, they get fed."
Once they're healthy, many of them get adopted. Currently about 15 horses are on their way out to their forever families.
Walsh and several volunteers want to hit the road as soon as possible to start helping Sandy's animal victims
"There are horses running loose, fences down, creeks flooded," he said. "Horses need rescuing. Sometimes they need rescuing from bad situations, sometimes they're just lost, running down highways."
Working with other rescues, the Florida Equine Rescue wants to help reunite lost animals with their owners, and repair broken fences and pastures. But right now, they don't have the gas money to leave Southwest Florida.
"(Storm victims) can't go looking, they're trying to rebuild their own own place. And now their animals are out somewhere. I cant imagine how heavily that weighs on them," he said.
Walsh has helped out with other disasters before and it's not just horses he's rescued.
"When you do this, you find cows and sometimes wildlife and dogs and cats," he said.
If you would like to donate, here are some links:
Contact: Michael Walsh, Florida Equine Rescue
6584 County Road 78, Denaud, FL.
863-612-0010
Colleen Hogan, reporter
chogan@jrn.com
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