It All Started With the Theft of a Horse Named Idaho

Keeping horses safe
Keeping horses safe

Newsdate: Tue September 26, 2017, 12:15 pm
Location: SHELBY, North Carolina

Founded by Harold and Debi Metcalfe, Stolen Horse International is celebrating its 20th anniversary as a leader in equine identification and all things associated with missing and stolen horses in the equine industry.

Another recovered stolen horse

Another recovered stolen horse

Stolen Horse International is celebrating its 20th anniversary as a leader in equine identification and all things associated with missing and stolen horses in the equine industry.
© 2017 by Stolen Horse Intl.

Stolen Horse International, Inc. ™, also known as NetPosse, has grown tremendously over two decades of helping people find their missing or stolen horses! Founded on September 26, 1997, the organization has evolved from one couple’s search for their own missing horse to a volunteer donation-based organization that has helped thousands of people reunite with their missing or stolen horses.

The 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization has a large network of equine organizations, volunteers and horse owners joined together to educate the horse industry about the problem of missing and stolen horses, disaster situations and much more.

NetPosse also provides information for horse owners and organizations regarding long-term responsibilities for equine protection, as well as focusing on bringing horses home™. Lear more about NetPosse on the website, https://netposse.com/about.asp

The NetPosse network can round up support for a victim after a report is filed on www.netposse.com. An alert and call to action goes out to a network of organizations, individuals, businesses, law enforcement, multiple social media formats, the NetPosse News newsletter and recovery specialists bent on returning a missing horse.

“I cannot believe it has been 20 years since our horse Idaho was stolen,” says Debi. “We never planned on doing all the things we are doing today. We’ve introduced new features to our Victim’s Services and Educational Outreach Programs, welcomed many horses home, and updated our national NetPosse Identification Program, an all equine ID registry as well as adding a free national disaster database for all animals lost and found during disasters.

Today the NetPosse website, www.netposse.com is number one in all of the search engines for stolen and missing horses. There are over 5,000 horses in the current database and the organization has serviced thousands more behind the scenes.

Catherine Girard, interviewed its founder, Debi Metcalfe, of Shelby, North Carolina, some of her core volunteers and the people they serve to reflect on how the organization has grown over the past two decades.

The three part series tells us where it is now, and the changes NetPosse now needs to make in order to continue helping the people and horses it was created to serve.

We hope you enjoy the interviews and share them with your followers and news outlets. The first can be found at https://netposse.com/newsviewer.asp?id=3809 . Don't forget to Like our page on Facebook, Stolen Horse International, Inc., aka NetPosse.com and invite your followers to do the same. There can never be enough eyes and fingers on keyboards when disaster strikes in our horse community.

About the Author

Flossie Sellers

Author picture

As an animal lover since childhood, Flossie was delighted when Mark, the CEO and developer of EquiMed asked her to join his team of contributors.

She enrolled in My Horse University at Michigan State and completed a number of courses in everything related to horse health, nutrition, diseases and conditions, medications, hoof and dental care, barn safety, and first aid.

Staying up-to-date on the latest developments in horse care and equine health is now a habit, and she enjoys sharing a wealth of information with horse owners everywhere.

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