07/16/2025
Hello to our BRER supporters, followers and visitors,
Because some of you may have read a recent accusatory post, partially concerning BRER, on Maine Horse Enthusiasts page, we’d like to review with you our mission statement and where our horses come from. We also encourage you to visit our website for a more complete picture of who we are: www.bagaduceriverequinerescue.weebly.com. BRER is also a member of Candid, a platform for us to provide transparency in all we do, from financial records to the programs we provide.
Bagaduce River Equine Rescue's mission is to provide food, shelter, farrier and veterinary care to horses and donkeys in need and find safe, knowledgeable homes after rehabilitation. For those horses that are unable to find forever homes, we offer sanctuary for the remainder of their lives.
The equine at BRER fall into two categories:
1. looking for their perfect forever home – (we never give up ownership of our re homed horses)
2. sanctuary – those that will live forever at BRER – these animals have conditions that make
rehoming them difficult, whether that is physical or emotional trauma, these horses will do best staying with their herd for the remainder of their lives
Today our herd of 10 is made up of 5 horses, 2 ponies, 1 mini and 2 donkeys
Because we are relatively small in stabling and acreage, this number is almost our limit.
Our rescued equines come from various sources:
Owner surrender – When an owner can not, for whatever reason, continue to care for their animal. These usually come with the best history information. In some situations, BRER will work with the owner to overcome short term difficulties (hay bank, emergency vet expenses, etc). We also offer safety net programs to help owners with castration and humane euthanasia. When we are at capacity at our barn, we will try to work with the owners to find homes on their own. We try to educate on the importance of vetting new homes to help ensure success, although there is no guarantee.
State Seizures – We work with the State of maine humane agent as well as local ACO;s – BRER is a State of Maine licensed equine rescue.
Meat Dealers, Sale lots and Kill Pens – Although this is one category that raises much discussion, many of our horses do come from this avenue. We understand the ramifications of providing money to those that are in the business of buying and selling horses, however, many of the most needy equine fall into this category. Our belief is that these horses have very little chance of surviving the slaughter pipeline and if we can intercept that journey before they reach the kill pen, they will have a better chance of survival and will experience less pain, fear and trauma. We try hard to find the most at risk animals, those that will eventually find themselves on a truck to Mexico or Canada.
Auctions – We rarely attend auctions, although we have at times in the past. Most often we are notified by an individual of a horse in desperate need of a soft landing and we do our best to help that animal out of the pipeline.
Amish Animals – Amish auctions and private farm sales – We, at this time, are not able to approach the Amish to purchase horses. They are brought to us thru dealers who notify us of availability. Plow / wood draft horses and buggy horses that have worked hard their entire lives, too broken to work anymore, they are sold for price per pound.
Every equine rescue, across the nation, has their own unique mission statement, beliefs, practices and by laws. It is our hope that instead of judging and attacking those rescues that do not follow our exact beliefs, we can work together and do the best we can, where we are, with the resources we have at this moment. Rescue is a brutal, sometimes seemingly impossible mission, but together, we can change the lives of one horse at at time.
Tommy came to BRER in 2018 from a kill pen in Texas. He is a sanctuary resident that will spend the rest of his life on the hill at BRER
