There is a happy end in sight for the 11 abandoned horses found in early September near Molalla, OR. At a public auction on September 10, six of the horses were purchased by good families. At the request of the Oregon Department of Agriculture, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) purchased the five horses who did not receive bids from prospective owners. The HSUS will house all five horses at its Duchess Sanctuary, a 1,120-acre horse sanctuary and rescue facility in Douglas County, OR, where they will be rehabilitated. Once the horses regain their health, they will be placed up for adoption.

The HSUS is also offering a reward up to $2,500 for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for abandoning these horses. The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office is investigating. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call (503) 723-4949.

“The horses are very skinny and quite skittish after all they have been through, but we expect them to recover quickly and that they will make great companions for some lucky families in the very near future,” said Scott Beckstead, Director of Operations for the Duchess Sanctuary. “The Humane Society of the United States is extremely grateful to the Oregon Department of Agriculture for asking us to help these horses and to the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office for taking this case seriously.”

The HSUS’ Duchess Sanctuary is made possible thanks to a $3.5-million donation from the Roberts Foundation, the Ark Watch Foundation and its founder Celine Myers. Named in honor of the first horse owned by Celine Myers' family and after Black Beauty's mother in Anna Sewell's famous story, the Duchess Sanctuary is a sister facility to the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch located in Murchison, TX, a 1,300-acre ranch operated by the HSUS and the Fund for Animals.