Racehorse adoption

Listen to this radio story (MP3 download) or read below.

Radio interview source: Laurie Lane, president and adoption coordinator, ReRun

It breaks my heart to see horses tossed aside that were once highly regarded, elegant animals. Racehorses coming off the track are often injured and thin. This can be a one-way ticket to the local livestock auction. However, thousands of retiring standardbreds and thoroughbreds are being placed in qualified homes through adoption efforts, giving them a purpose and place to go after life on the racetrack.

Laurie Lane is the president of an equine adoption agency called ReRun. Racetracks contact them when there is a horse available. If there is room, the agency will take it in and start an assessment process.

"If the horse has any injuries and needs time to rehabilitate, we rehabilitate them," Lane says. "We always give them four weeks before we offer them up for adoption. We get a good grip on their personality, their injuries, what we think they'd be good or not for. We test them with kids, dogs, cats, men and women. And once we get a good handle after that four weeks, then they're officially available for adoption."