Tennessee nonprofit rescues nearly 400 animals in five years: 'There's a huge need for it'
LOUDON, Tenn. (WZTV) — In her wildest dreams, a California woman with a heart for animals never thought she’d run a nonprofit organization rescuing miniature horses and donkeys in a small Tennessee town.
But that’s what Angela Devine has done for almost five years.
Devine is the founder and director of East Tennessee Miniature Horse and Donkey Rescue. She started the nonprofit in 2016, just two years after buying land in Loudon, Tennessee for her riding horses.
“This property had little, tiny stalls in the barn and little, tiny run-in sheds and I thought to myself, ‘I should get some mini horses,’” Devine told FOX 17 News.
And that’s what she did—but the minis she acquired had been neglected. They had come from a cruelty case in East Tennessee.
“They were absolutely pitiful when I got them. So, I got them healthy and they’re still here. I absolutely fell in love with their personalities.”
Pretty soon, Devine started getting calls about animals in need of short or long-term homes.
“Whenever you have land, people will be like ‘Hey, I know where there’s two mini mules locked in a barn, would you want them?’ That’s kinda how it started. There’s a huge need for it.”
In 2016, her nonprofit had officially been born. Within the span of one year, Devine had taken in 89 mini horses and mules to be rehabilitated and rehomed. She did it entirely with the help from volunteers.
“We have zero paid staff. We don’t pay anything, they’re on my property, so there’s no overhead,” she said.
Most of the minis at the property are owner surrendered. If someone has a critical, life-changing event where they can no longer care for their animal, the rescue will step in to help.
Devine says she considers the property “full” at 35 animals. Four empty stalls are always preserved to take in cruelty cases from the state of Tennessee. Last year, she took in 87 miniatures and more than 20 animals from the state that had been saved from hoarding cases or found either abandoned or running at large.
“People get [mini horses] and they don’t have the means to take care of them,” Devine said of the hoarding cases. “And when we get them, they’re basically skin over bone. The ones we took in last year, some of them we’re still working with on training issues—and they’ve been here almost a year. They were almost completely feral.”
Not all mini horses and donkeys on Devine’s property are adoptable. Some suffer from social and medical issues like low mobility or blindness. That’s where the Sanctuary Program plays a major role.
“They’ll either stay in that program long-term, or it does get treated sometimes as a hospice where we’ll keep them through end-of-life type of thing.”
The nonprofit also organizes a “Hay Bank.” It’s a program for animal owners going through financial hardship. Devine says it gives owners room to breathe without having to decide whether to feed themselves or their animals.
“With the Hay Bank program, there’s an application process,” she said. “But we will help them feed their horses—doesn’t have to be minis—for a month or up to two months to give them a chance to get back on their feet.”
East Tennessee Miniature Horse and Rescue in Loudon serves a 250-mile radius. Devine says they’ll often get animals from Georgia, Kentucky, and North Carolina. The rescue also works with other properties across the state of Tennessee in case one or the other fills up, or if there’s a need for special medical care.
“When we take these little horses in, a lot of times, people don’t realize the type of care they need. They don’t realize ‘this is still a horse’ and they need a lot of care. Last year, we did chemo on one for the first time so there’s a lot of expenses on these little horses when they first walk in the door.”
When the rescue first started, Devine and her team would go to slaughter auctions to rescue miniatures that were taken to sale barns. Most of these horses were in desperate need of being saved—dwarf, small foals, very old, sick and frail were what the rescue aimed to take in and rehab.
Unfortunately, since the rescue stays full these days, they haven’t been able to create a special quarantine area for taking in auction horses.
Devine says miniature horses bought and sold from auction to auction are typically sick, isolated, and in desperate need of medical attention. She says most of them are never even administered vaccines in their lifetime.
To celebrate the nonfit’s 5th birthday in August, the rescue is raising money to build a “Quarantine Barn.” The barn will serve as a space for sick horses, donkeys, and mules that are at risk of infecting the other healthy animals. Devine says it’s just one more way they can make a difference and take in more animals.
Once the animals are healthy, trained, and easy to handle, Devine and her team of volunteers work on finding them forever homes.
But it comes at a price.
The average cost to take in one mini horse is approximately $225. That number can quickly jump into the thousands, depending on the horse’s condition and individual needs.
The rescue’s intake numbers since August 2016 currently stand at 388. There are about 30 animals at the rescue right now.
“By the time August comes around, we expected to have rescued 400 animals since we opened,” she said.
If you’d like to make a donation to East Tennessee Miniature Horse and Rescue, click here. More information can be found on their Facebook page and website.
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