GALLATIN, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Sumner County horse rescue that has been saving animals for more than a decade secured a permanent home Tuesday after receiving a $200,000 anonymous donation.
Volunteer Equine Advocates had used a 14.5-acre property in Gallatin for free since 2013. Thanks to a life-changing gift from a Tennessee donor, the rescue purchased the farm. The group plans major upgrades to double the number of horses it can help and will launch a fundraising campaign to cover the costs.
"We are so blessed now that not only did we get the farm, we are now able to purchase the farm, which ensures the lifelong commitment of VEA," Board President Brenda Lees said. "We can continue on long after a lot of us are gone — VEA will still be here."
Since starting in 2003, VEA has helped more than 1,800 equines. Initially, the rescue relied on foster farms scattered across the region.
"We always said if we could just get our own facility, it would be so much easier to schedule a farrier day, to schedule a vet day, to have all the horses in one place so that we can have volunteers come and take care of the animals," Lees said. "And here we are."
Jennifer Carpenter, a real estate paralegal by day, is one of the volunteers who spends her Tuesday afternoons helping feed and care for the animals.
"I honestly thought that I was coming here to help the horses, and it turns out that they have helped me so much more," Carpenter said. "They are incredible. They give back so much more than I could ever give to them."
The rescue primarily works with law enforcement to rehabilitate horses and find them forever homes.
"We work primarily with law enforcement on neglect and abandonment starvation cases, and we bring them back here to VEA. We rehabilitate them, we get them healthy, and we find them their forever home," Lees said.
The extra space could soon be necessary as state lawmakers consider HB 2263, the Aggravated Livestock Cruelty bill. The proposal — currently making its way through the statehouse — would make it a felony if a farm animal dies from starvation.
"We're elated," Carpenter said. "That means that we can do so much more for the horses, and you know, not only for the current horses, but for the horses that are in our future."
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