SRF to ID horses

The Standardbred Retirement Foundation (SRF) has announced that it will begin marking all horses entering its adoption program with a freezebrand. Using liquid nitrogen and a cold branding iron, it takes less than a minute to apply a freezebrand. A freezebrand on every SRF horse is another precaution to avoid the possibility of slaughter.

Livestock auctions and slaughterhouses will be made aware of the tattoo with the intent being that the SRF will be notified and have the opportunity to reclaim their horse should one find itself in that dangerous situation.

“The bottom line is that there is no place like home. SRF works tirelessly to ensure every horse is carefully placed in a safe home, but there is no guarantee. Should someone feel inclined to breach our contract and break the law and a horse shows up at a livestock auction or a sale for slaughter, we will have another safety net in place. Our rigorous screening of adopters, strict adoption contract and ongoing, lifetime follow-up program is still not an ironclad guarantee,” said Gen Sullivan of the SRF

“Unfortunately, not all organizations follow a horse for life; some give up ownership to the adopter after a period of time. It is our experience over 17 years that the commitment to a horse for its life is the exception - not the norm. Adopters have lifestyle changes, kids grow up and go off to school. The fact is that most horses have several homes in their lives. We encourage similar organizations to join in the identification program once it is in place."

Grants are being sought in order to set up a registry so other organizations can use what should become a universal freezebrand for easier identification of horses who have had been through an adoption process. Our freezebrand will have a universal symbol with SRF’s initials and possibly a number to identify each horse. With the new tattoo system used by the USTA the individual horse numbers may not be necessary. The identification program should be in place by the beginning of the year.

For more information about the Standardbred Retirement Foundation, visit the website at www.adoptahorse.org.

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