Rescue Stories
SAFE’s history is filled with incredible stories. Our horses truly are unforgettable.
Fall City Forty: the Full Story
We’ve had to stay pretty quiet about the situation with the Fall City Forty for two reasons. One, because we were being threatened with legal action for our involvement in this rescue mission; and two, because we were holding out hope that we would be allowed to…
Rescue Outside the Box
Most of the rescue work that SAFE does is fairly straightforward. A horse, facing neglect or abuse, is taken in, rehabilitated and retrained, then we find it a new home. The circumstances of neglect may vary, but the basic storyline is the same. In 2018, we found…
Aurora and Belle: an Unexpected Happy Ending
In journalism school, they say “don’t bury the lead,” so I’ll come right out with it: Aurora and Belle are being adopted together to a Thoroughbred sanctuary in northern California. They will live the rest of their lives, together, with nothing expected of them but to…
A Rescue Partnership: Saving Sienna and Koko
SAFE does the majority of its work in the public eye, sharing our stories, photos, videos, and updates with our supporters via our website and social media. But there are some rescue efforts that are done in private through our Community Outreach Program. Through this…
Rest in Peace: Craspedia (2007–2015)
It took just a moment to fall in love with him, but it will take a lifetime to forget him. We met Craspedia in a field, a tall handsome fellow with a kind eye who stood calmly and quietly while we said hello to him. His owner had contacted us a few days before,…
Rest in Peace, Rose City Special (1997–2015)
We never truly know how much time we’ll have with the ones we love. We give our hearts to our animals, knowing that chances are good that we’ll end up outliving them and having to face saying goodbye. It’s a risk that most animal lovers are willing to take, grief…
Boone and Ivy: Unforgettable Horses
There is a reason that we celebrate the small victories and fairytale endings here at SAFE: keeping our focus on the positive aspects of the work we do gives us the strength and energy to keep doing that work. Because in between the amazing transformations and the…
Justice for Bud and Brandy
Yesterday in King County Superior Court, a jury returned a guilty verdict on two counts of felony animal cruelty against the woman who starved and neglected Bud and Brandy. Here is their story. The call came late on a Sunday afternoon in February…two elderly horses,…
Oscar: A Perfect Gelding…A Perfect Gentleman
Oscar came to SAFE as a stallion, one of 16 horses seized from a breeding operation by Pierce County Animal Control in Dec 2011. Oscar had been starved and badly neglected. As a breeding stallion, he’d lived a life of isolation and was aggressive and “studdish”…
Goodbye Dexter
This will not be an easy post to write. I’ve already made four or five attempts to get started, writing tired cliches…like “Letting a horse go is never easy” or “We know we can’t save them all” …and then hitting the delete key. Staring at an empty page. And…
