![Image of a Bear Valley Rescue horses in the wild [credit: Cyndi Elliott at Sightemotion]](https://www.vmcdn.ca/f/files/cochranetoday/2024/bear-valley-rescue/img_7631-109.jpg;w=960;h=640;bgcolor=000000)
This Saturday, Aug. 24, folks can come out and learn all about animal rescue and caretaking of the horses at the annual Bear Valley Rescue Open House.
From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. visitors can come out and meet the resident animals, as well as get to know the directors Kathy and Mike Bartley to learn all about their rescue operation for free.
“They get to walk around and see what we do, how we do our feedings, how we care for the animals and things like that,” said co-director and president Kathy Bartley.
The open house event will include various interactive attractions such as guided tours, a bake sale and BBQ, raffles, a 50/50 draw, door prizes, and live music.
Attendance of the open house is free, however donations are much appreciated and can be made at the Rescue during the event or through Bear Valley Rescue’s website. One hundred per cent of the donated proceeds will go directly towards supporting the animals.
“We have the open house to just get people to come out and see what we do, and give them more a chance to meet some of the animals, some of the horses,” said Bartley. “And we raise some money through donations and raffles and things like that at the open house as well.”
The Bear Valley Rescue was created in 2004, as the Bartley’s first became involved in horse rescue when they learned about pmu farms. The pmu industry started in the mid-1900's with the advent of hormone replacement therapy for women, when pregnant Mare Urine (pmu) farms bred mares in order to collect their urine during pregnancy.
“And of course that meant there were foals being born every year," Bartley said. "So there were lots of extra foals that were going to auction and subsequently, to slaughter.”
The foals resulting from this breeding were often merely a by-product, and were sent to auction in the fall so the mares, already re-bred, could return to the barns for urine collection. However, this is what led the Bartley’s to start attending auctions and rescuing horses.
A few years later, with a downturn in the pmu industry due to concerns about cancer in women taking pmu drugs, Bear Valley Rescue started buying pregnant pmu mares that were being culled, and their operation has continued growing ever since.
“Now as we're more well known, more people are contacting us asking if we’ll take their horses before they go to auction, so that's how we get a lot of them now, is through owner surrender,” said Bartey.
Since then, Bear Valley Rescue has grown and taken on a life of its own, now housing around 150 horses, along with other resident animals such as rabbits, chickens, pigs, goats, llamas and cows. It is these animals that folks will be able to visit and learn about when they attend the Bear Valley Rescue open house on Aug. 24.
If you’ve ever had an interest in horse rescue, or animal rescue of any kind, be sure to check out Bear Valley Rescue’s website at bearvalleyab.org to learn more about what they do, or to make a donation to help further support their animal rescue.
