EDMOND, Okla. — When Ken Friend learned a job transfer meant moving his family to California from the small farm they’d been living on in rural Oklahoma, he knew he’d have to find new homes for his animals. In addition to the four dogs Friend had adopted over the 14 years he and his wife lived in Tecumseh, they also had four horses who enjoyed free rein on 80 acres (32 hectares) of Oklahoma pasture. “That horse was my buddy,” Friend said. “I rode him for years, and I just couldn’t see giving him to anybody.”After months of searching with no luck, Friend turned to a new equine rescue facility operated by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The nonprofit agency says the pilot program is the first of its kind in the U.S. that will accept any horse, no matter its condition.

Source: New York Times January 12, 2020 14:48 UTC