Stolen Horse International offers help

This article was first published by Thoroughbred Times

In an effort to provide aid to the people and organizations that are currently working to rescue horses in the areas devastated by the storm in Burke, Cleveland and Rutherford counties, Stolen Horse International, also known as NetPosse.com, is offering  flyers and a webpage, for disaster related missing horses and animals, on its website, www.netposse.com.

NetPosse.com is currently accepting reports for all misplaced animals in all areas affected by the storms. This is a FREE LISTING service for the storm-torn areas that need to discover the fate of their animals.

"The images seen and the stories we have heard have caused great concern for us. We would like to help the best we can. We invite anyone who is missing a horse to file a report with their animal's information on our site. “said Debi Metcalfe, Foundation President.

Metcalfe continues, "Although Stolen Horse International does not have a team to send to the areas of devastation we do have volunteers who work with those teams. We will be glad to assist rescues organizations and government agencies by giving the animals an established place online to be seen by the public. Reuniting owners separated from their horses is what we do best. In disaster situations we extend our services to all livestock animals and pets."

We are requesting that organizations and individuals rescuing horses, or those missing horses to utilize these services in order to reunite horses and owners as quickly and efficiently as possible and to notify us at by phone or email of victims that need our help, or to assist victims in filing a report on netposse.com as soon as possible. We are coordinating our efforts with the volunteers in the staging areas in hopes that no animal gets left behind.

With a website visited by tens of thousands of visitors each month and it webpages viewed close to 6 million times in 2011, Stolen Horse International, Inc./NetPosse.com is a key resource for all equestrians, providing valuable information to prevent horse theft, and assistance in recovering lost, stolen, or missing horses. Utilizing the speed of the internet, NetPosse can round up a modern day version of a posse within minutes of an online report being filed. A precursor to the familiar "Amber Alert" instant response system for missing children, a call-to-action goes out to a network of individuals, businesses, law enforcement and recovery specialists intent on returning lost horses or property. 

Stolen Horse International (aka, NetPosse.com, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization) began in 1998 by Debi and Harold Metcalfe, Shelby, NC, after the recovery of their stolen horse, Idaho. Sharing all of the procedures they had learned during their 51-week effort to find Idaho, it has become a valuable resource for thousands of horse owners. Contributions to it are tax-deductible as charitable contributions.