Champion woman seeks nonprofit status for horse rescue operation
CHAMPION — A woman in Champion is applying for nonprofit status so that she can expand her passion of caring for neglected horses, and she could also use your help.
Mary Snell operates Black River Ranch Rescue out of her farm. She’s rescued nearly 30 horses within the last two years.
The horses have come in for a variety of reasons. Hawk, one of the horses she’s trying to find a home for, exemplifies several of those. Mary obtained Hawk from another rescue operation.
“They ended up getting him due to the elderly man that owned him,” she said. “(He) ended up in a nursing home and they found Hawk running down the main road, eating out of other people’s barns. Obviously, he’s not skinny in any means — he’s well–fed — but he’s got some trust issues from not being taken care of.”
Hawk is one of four rescue horses Mary has right now. Last summer, she had 14.
She’s trying to make Black River Ranch Rescue a nonprofit organization, but that requires patience and money.
“You’ve got to file your paperwork,” Mary said. “It’s $500 to turn that in to even see if you can become a nonprofit, and then it takes about three months to find out if you’ve got (non–profit status) or not. If I was a nonprofit, I’d be able to build up more buildings and take in more (horses).”
Mary is trying to raise money to pay for food, veterinary care and transportation costs for the horses.
We have links to her Facebook page and her GoFundMe page on our website, abc10up.com .