Cruelty Reporting Policy Changes

Since June of 1999, HHT has operated on a minimal annual budget. We have investigated over 550 cases, and placed 173 horses into our program. Our 2005 budget of $25,000 barely covers our medical, equine care, and other daily expenses. HHT has NO paid employees at this time. The need for a full-time Executive Director/Field Agent is a must for HHT to perform the grueling task at hand. The high demands of investigations within the state have made it difficult for our five agents to check on all complaints quickly.

Until such a time that we are able to have a paid staff employee, we will be changing the way we handle complaints of cruelty and/or neglect from the general public. We can't do it alone, and need your financial support to allow us to continue to speak for those that cannot speak for themselves. A pat on the back, and compliments for our work, are great to have, but they don't pay the ever-mounting bills.

Please complete the following steps before turning in a complaint, of equine cruelty and/or neglect, for HHT to investigate.

A printable Horse Haven Complaint Form can be obtained by clicking HERE.

INFORMATION NEEDED FOR A COMPLAINT JOURNAL:

1. Address of where animals are located, or exact directions from a major intersection.
   
2. Name of owners, if known. If possible, their phone number would also be helpful.
   
3. Nature of complaint: Is there water? Shelter? Food? Medical concerns? Physical abuse?
   
4. Contact the Humane Society in this county, if there is one available. Be sure to keep a journal of the date, time, and person's name that you spoke with. What did they say? If they say they will handle it, be sure to call back and check on their progress.
   --------------------If you do not receive help, continue to step 5.--------------------
   
5. Contact your local Sheriff's Department. Be sure to keep a journal of the date, time, and person's name that you spoke with. What did they say? If they say they will handle it, be sure to call back and check on their progress.
   --------------------If you do not receive help, continue to step 7.--------------------Contact your County Agricultural Extension Agent. You can locate your
6. County Agricultural Extension Agent by visiting the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture. Be sure to keep a journal of the date, time, and person's name that you spoke with. What did they say? If they say they will handle it, be sure to call back and check on their progress.
   --------------------If you do not receive help, continue to step 6.--------------------
7. Contact a local Large Animal Veterinarian. Be sure to keep a journal of the date, time, and person's name that you spoke with. What did they say?

Now, if you have received no satisfaction on your complaint, please contact Horse Haven of Tennessee.

Be sure to inform the avenues you have already tried that HHT is here to help investigate complaints and give advice. We also offer to the counties (at no cost to them) transport, care and housing for the animals if they need to be removed.

By you doing our preliminary leg-work on a case, we are able to free up our agents to handle the immediate problems at hand. This will also show you the dead-ends that we face on a daily basis. Hopefully, you will then be more in-tune to support our efforts for new laws and enforcement in Tennessee.

We can't do it alone. It will take everyone, willing to take a stand, to achieve our final goal of beating-out backyard abuse against these noble creatures, who have served us so well, since the beginning of time.

Horse Haven of Tennessee is chartered with the State of Tennessee as a non-profit humane organization.
We have a 501(c)(3) tax exempt status. Your donation is tax deductible.