The Equine Welfare Data Collective (EWDC) is proud to announce the release of its September 2019 Report. The inaugural report contains an assessment of data from 2017 and the first half of 2018 of at-risk and transitioning equines and the organizations assisting them.

The EWDC analyzed responses from 253 nonprofit, 501(c)(3), and municipal organizations across the United States and Puerto Rico. These respondents represent 27.59% of the total population of nonprofit, 501(c)(3), and municipal organizations identified within the United States and Puerto Rico that take legal custody of at-risk equines and those in transition.

The data analysis is reported on a national and regional level. Respondents varied widely, from small capacity organizations capable of caring for fewer than 10 equines at any one time, to larger organizations with capacity for over 100 equines.

Organizations most commonly obtained custody of at-risk and transitioning equines through owner surrenders or assisting law enforcement seizures. Adoptions represented 79.95% of all reported outcomes for the first half of 2018.

Presently, it is out of the scope of the EWDC survey to make national projections based on the sample size. However, it is promising to note that the respondents, representing one quarter of all welfare organizations, reported a total capacity of over 13,000 equines at any one time.

The EWDC hopes to continue to measure progress and identify trends through continued data collection and reporting. The data analysis was audited by Prospect Analytics (San Francisco, CA) and the report was peer reviewed by Dr. Monique Udell, Associate Professor at Oregon State University.

“This data report is a steppingstone to understanding the demographics of at-risk equines and those in transition, the needs of the organizations taking custody of them, and the opportunities for growth within the community,” said Julie Broadway, President of the American Horse Council.

The EWDC is a collaborative effort to accumulate, analyze, and report data to enhance services for transitioning and at-risk equines. The Collective was created by the United Horse Coalition (UHC), a program of the American Horse Council (AHC), with funding partners being The Right Horse Initiative (TRH), The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), and the American Association of Equine Practitioners Foundation (AAEPF).

Participation in the EWDC is free, and all data collected is aggregated so no individual organization is identified. Organizations that contribute data are the first to receive the results and are given an EWDC badge for their website to publicly demonstrate their commitment to the mission. Granting organizations such as the UHC, TRH, AAEPF, and the ASPCA look for an organization’s contribution to the EWDC as part of their funding considerations for certain grants.

The EWDC hopes that all rescues, shelters, and sanctuaries will assist in the effort to collect this much-needed data.

To view the report free of charge, or to contribute data for the current collection period, please visit the EWDC website at www.unitedhorsecoalition.org/ewdc/ or contact Emily Stearns, EWDC program manager at [email protected].

About The Right Horse

The Right Horse Initiative is a collective of industry professionals and equine welfare advocates working together to improve the lives of horses in transition through a dialogue of kindness and respect. Through collaboration with over 60 industry and adoption partners, The Right Horse is able to innovate new and better adoption standards and practices. Together, the goal is to shatter the stigma and reframe the conversation around equine adoption in order to massively increase horse adoption in the United States. To learn more, visit www.therighthorse.org.