Protecting Your Horses

I just read a disturbing article about an alarming number of horse thefts in Oklahoma. Not something that needs to be shared with this group, but the article listed a very interesting resource:

Stolen Horses International

This is a non-profit that aids in the recovery of stolen horses. Although their website is a little difficult to navigate, they have a lot of interesting things:

1. Idaho Alerts (the horse world's version of an Amber Alert)


2. Tips on keeping your horse safe


3. Assistance in locating your stolen horse

Reading the article reminded me of something I read after Hurricane Katrina. That article stated that a large number of the displaced, deceased, or missing horses in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina were indeed micro chipped, but the owner information never made it into the national registry. So those microchips could only trace as far as the veterinary clinic that bought that chip with that number. Lesson: if you have your horse micro chipped, be sure to complete ALL of the paperwork for registration. If you buy a horse with a microchip, be sure the NATIONAL REGISTRY info gets updated.

You can find additional information on Equine Disaster Preparation on the AAEP website.

Just check it out sometime. Oh yes, and keep your fingers crossed that even though you bookmarked the NetPosse site, on your Internet program, you NEVER have to use it!