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Midwest Horse Welfare Foundation, Inc. Presents: The Presage Project© ©MHWF, Inc. Hear our humble prayer, O God, for our friends the animals. Especially for animals who are suffering, for animals that are overworked, underfed, cruelly treated: for all wistful creatures in captivity that beat their wings against bars. For any that are hunted and lost or deserted or frightened or hungry, for all that must be put to death. We entreat for them all the mercy and pity, and for those who deal with them we ask a heart of compassion and gentle hands and kindly words. Make us, ourselves; to be true friends to animals and so share the blessings of the merciful. --Albert Schweitzer
Update: 3/23/2007 The Presage Project is still very much underway, although a bit in park at the moment. For MHWF, this is our busy time of year and extra time is hard to find. Along with that it has been brought to our attention that some of the counties here in Wisconsin have felt some pressure to get a humane officer with some horse knowledge on their payroll. This is great news for the individual counties as well as the Presage Project. So for now, we are waiting and watching to see which counties follow through with their plans got some qualified people in place. We will certainly update all of you on the progress with this and anything new to report. So don't lose faith, this could be a long haul, but well worth it in the end. In the meantime, if you are interested in becoming a Humane Officer or foster home in your county, send in your Presage Project application so that we know who you are and can reach you when the time is right. Thank you everyone!
MHWF, Inc.
What is the Presage Project? The Presage Project is the voice of Wisconsin's horse men and women working together to deal with horse neglect and abuse situations and to make the means available to each Wisconsin county to deal with horse related cases. There are still a lot of places in Wisconsin that do not have the money or personnel to deal with horse related neglect and abuse cases. The Presage Project in it's simplified form is the process of finding qualified people to go through Humane Officer training and to find qualified foster homes in each county for abused or neglected horses. MHWF will need the help and support of each and every horse person as well as a network of other horse related organizations and rescues to make it work. The final goal of the Presage Project is to have Humane Officers in place wherever they are needed as well as enough foster homes to house any horses coming out of bad situations. This project will need to build an extensive database of horse people and organizations willing to help and support our cause. It will take a lot of dedicated people willing to give their time and hard earned money. How was the idea of the Presage Project born? In working with MHWF, Inc. we receive a lot of calls from law enforcement and private citizens asking for help with neglect and abuse cases. There are few resources or places to turn to in Wisconsin when a horse is in a bad situation. In the summer of 2005 we received a phone call from the Clark County Sheriff's Department, asking for help with a neglect case. What we found when we went to the site with the authorities was appalling. Horses thrown into a swamp with no food or water, many of them with broken bones and open infections, none of which were being treated. We also found several dead horses laying in stagnant swamp water. This case was a big deal in this area and we learned a lot from it. We learned that a lot of Wisconsin's counties did not have a Humane Officer, and even fewer had a Humane Officer with horse knowledge. We also learned that with recent budget cuts and being understaffed, most counties had no way to deal with these situations. They did, however, want help and wanted the means to deal with them. We also found out that the people of Wisconsin wanted something done about this as well. They were sick of seeing obvious neglect cases go unchecked for years, sick of mom and pop horse rescues with questionable motives, and sick of having no way to deal with these situations. Upon going with the authorities to the site of the neglected horses in Clark county, we noticed a small yearling with a serious infection in his left rear leg. It appeared to be broken. We told the officer that if that horse did not get medical attention right away that it would be dead in a matter of days. That horse did not get medical attention and died 2 days later. We decided to give that poor yearling a name because he had never gotten the chance at a loving home or even a name. The name we chose was Presage. Presage means "a vision of future events". We decided that together with the people of this state we would be the voice for him and name this project Presage after the little yearling that didn't get the help he needed. Where do we start? The very first step is to find out what each county in Wisconsin has in place to deal with these kinds of cases. That means we have to call each of those counties and find out if they have a Humane Officer and if so, are they knowledgeable in horse care. Is there a Humane Officer at all? Does the county have a place to take seized horses when they need to? This step seems simple, but it is important. This first step is the foundation upon which the entire Presage Project will be built. Once this task is complete we can work through the state county by county, until the entire state has the ways, means, and personnel to deal with neglect and abuse relating to horses. How do the people of Wisconsin help? The people of Wisconsin and surrounding states are the key to this project. Without all of you this will not and can not work. We will need people who can give their time, people who can give their donations, people with the space to house seized horses, and good people to put their convictions on the line to help the counties deal with these situations. All are equally important and all will be needed in great supply. Reading this and passing it along to a friend, sending a couple dollars to help out, offering your property to a couple of horses who need help are all part of what we hope to receive in support of this project. How do I become a Humane Officer or a foster home? Obviously we will need the most qualified homes and people for both of these positions. In the next few days we will be putting applications on this site for anyone interested in being either a Humane Officer or a foster home in their county. MHWF will not and should not be the authority over foster homes or Humane Officers. Our involvement in this process is in helping find the most qualified people and creating a network of those people. We will help to generate donations to send individuals to Humane Officer training and will screen facilities to make sure they are suitable for special needs horses. We will also offer our support and access to people who can help each other. Together we can all work toward the same goal. *Foster Homes:
Application for Potential Foster Homes (Please note that this is not the application to adopt a horse from MHWF)
Your farm doesn't need to be the Taj Mahal. It needs to be safe and have room for a few extra visitors. People who foster horses are very special people. They don't always expect money and know that in most cases they will eventually have to say good bye to the animal they put so much time and effort into. They have to be able to trust that other people also know what they are doing and can trust that the authorities are doing the best they can. They know that sometimes things don't always go as well as planned. They also know that sometimes the unselfish thing to do is to end an animal's suffering. Foster homes have to follow the wishes of the court even when they disagree. Foster people do this not because they have to or for any other reason than it is what they believe and what is right. As much as a lot of people would like to think they want to foster animals, very few people can take on the suffering and heartbreak that often comes with it. *Humane Officers:
Application for Potential Humane Officers
So you think you have a hard job? Try going onto someone's property who does not want you there and tell them they aren't taking care of their horses. Try talking to someone who hates the fact that you are there to educate them without getting angry or talking down to them. Try going back to the same place time after time trying to get this same person to listen when you give them advice on horse care. Try doing these kinds of things without getting kicked off the property, beaten up, or even shot at. If you think it's just a matter of showing up, giving a speech to someone about their animals and then leaving, nothing could be farther from the truth. A Humane Officer has the job that nobody really wants once they try it out. The pay is either nonexistent or poor, the hours are unpredictable, and the people you have to deal with don't always cooperate or even want you around. The people who make it as Humane Officers have the same skills as most police officers and in many cases are police officers. They have to be able to control their anger. They have to be able to talk to people without talking down to them. They have to be able to build solid cases and not make rash decisions. They must be able to handle themselves in potentially volatile situations and must be professional and polite even when they don't feel like it. Rubbing someone the wrong way in most cases is the fastest way to make an ugly situation even uglier. Humane Officers understand this and no how to prevent it. It takes a very special person to do this kind of job. Separating what's personal and what's legal is often a very hard thing to do. If your thinking about becoming a Humane Officer take these things into consideration. Also take into consideration you will need to complete the state certification course in the fall in Madison, WI as well as pass the exam. This is a one week course. Once all that is complete you will still need to work with the county to either work with authorities or be appointed by the county. http://datcp.state.wi.us/ah/agriculture/animals/welfare/humane-officer/index.jsp How do I know where the Presage Project is in it's plans and how do I get involved? The answer is simple...right here. This page will continue to grow and we will add to it more and more as we progress. Updates will be listed here, when to donate and for what, who is put into what positions, where do we need people and or money. How are the individual counties coming along. All that information will be shared right here. In the next week or so we will start with our first county. We will take in applications for that county. Collect donations to send someone to Humane Officer training, find foster homes in that county, and share all that info with all of you. Once that county is ready we will move on to other counties. In most cases we will be working on several counties at the same time.
It's up to you and me.... all of us. Together we can make Wisconsin a place that horse people around the country look at and want to emulate. There comes a point in every rider's life when he wonders if it's all worth it. Then one look at the horse, and he realizes - it is. - Kelly Stewart
What is a volunteer?
According to The American Heritage Dictionary, a volunteer is “a person who performs or offers a service of his or her own free will.” Although this definition is completely and totally accurate, what this dictionary fails to mention is that a volunteer not only performs these services of free will, but regularly there is no monetary gain for these services. Volunteers must often times rely on spiritual and emotional rewards for giving of themselves so selflessly.
© Midwest Horse Welfare Foundation, Inc.