USRider, national provider of roadside emergency assistance for horse owners, has long been involved in helping further the cause of improving large-animal emergency rescue training. Over the years, USRider’s Leg-Up Fund has contributed to the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine to support their large-animal rescue initiatives.
Project to help horses
USRider's latest donation is being used toward a rope and webbing testing project being undertaken by UF's College of Veterinary Medicine disaster response team, better known as VETS.
The VETS team is a core component of the statewide animal and agriculture disaster response team, SART. The team is composed of college staff and faculty with an interest in disaster response.
Across the state of Florida, the team trains veterinary students, practitioners in the state reserve corps, other SART partner agencies, mounted police units, and local fire departments in large-animal technical rescue. Funding for team equipment and training has primarily been provided by donations and grants.
“The VETS team is most appreciative of USRider’s most recent support of the team’s projects by its Leg-Up Fund. Through our rope and webbing testing project, we will develop a comprehensive body of knowledge to assist responders in more safely rescuing horses and other livestock,” said John Haven, UF veterinary college administrator.
“Since Florida is prone to an array of natural disasters, including hurricanes, tornadoes, tropical storms, floods and wildfires, we are extremely pleased to support the research aspect of UF’s mission to explore improved rescue techniques,” said Bill Riss, General Manager of USRider. “We believe the UF team has already made tremendous progress in Florida, and we encourage other horse owners and organizations to support their efforts as well.”
Through its Equestrian Motor Plan, USRider offers a nationwide, Member-based roadside assistance program designed especially for equestrians. Since its establishment in January 2002, the company has endeavored to raise awareness of the need for training in large-animal emergency rescue.
“USRider adopted large-animal rescue as our philanthropy when our organization was established in January 2002,” said Riss. "At that time, the issue was barely on the radar screen. We found that emergency responders, while trained experts in human rescue and extrication, had no training in large-animal rescue. Moreover, in many accidents and disasters, animals without life-threatening injuries were being injured further or even killed by the use of incorrect rescue techniques.”
For more information about the USRider Equestrian Motor Plan, call (800) 844-1409.