A REGISTERED charity on the Beara Peninsula which provides a valuable outreach service to owners of horses, donkeys and ponies in the area to help them manage the welfare needs of their animals is urgently seeking volunteers to offer foster homes in the area.

Norah De Barra, who is the co-ordinator at Beara Equine Support explained that on an ongoing basis the charity regularly requires foster homes for for a variety of reasons.

 “Sometimes, we have situations where sadly the owner has died or becomes very will or has experienced a sudden change in circumstances. In other cases, we are assisting animals that may have illness or long term health issues so there would be a rehabilitative aspect to the foster care.”

The charity currently has a small list of foster homes who help them out, either providing care on a temporary basis for a few weeks, or some are able to take on an animal for a few months.  

Norah says the charity is extremely grateful to their current foster care providers. 

“Foster homes make a valuable contribution to the welfare of the animals and allows us to build a profile of the animals needs which helps us to match them to a long term suitable home.”  

As there can be instances where due to a sudden change in circumstances foster homes can be required at short notice, to ensure they will be in a position to continue to help animals needing assistance  Beara Equine Support are seeking to increase their list of homes for horses, ponies and donkeys.

Norah said that ideally those looking to help out should have some experience of handling equines, have sufficient grazing and have a suitable shelter which animals can easily access during inclement weather. Foster carers should also live within easy radius of the Beara Peninsula. 

Beara Equine Support was founded in 2018, when Norah began caring for a rescue donkey, which had extremely overgrown hooves. 

When she discovered that people in the local community had difficulty in getting a farrier for their animals she acted as a go-between for the farrier and donkey owners in Beara, and soon provided the same service for with an equine dentist.  

Beara Equine Support now has a number of volunteers who are able to give support to owners, who need help in handling their animal when the farrier or dentist calls. 

The group also help with veterinary care and can help with dietary needs by purchasing special feed and food supplements for owners. 

The group are dependent on good-will and donations to help them with their work, says Norah.  

Some recent cases they have been able to help include a donkey named Mabel whose owner passed away and Beara Equine support were able to provide foster care until a forever home was found for Mabel.

Another donkey, Mary, suffered with chronic hoof problems, her owner was unable to cope and Mary is now in long term foster care where she has made some significant improvements. 

Norah stresses that Beara Equine Support do not police welfare cases, and the group are not a sanctuary. 

“We are not authorised welfare officers, the role of our group is to support and help owners. As a group we are unable to take in animals ourselves, as we don’t have the funds or the premises,  but we will ensure any abandoned animals are helped, and we partner with other larger organisations to secure long-term homes.”

Fundraising is of course integral to this worthwhile charity and without it Norah and her team would not be able to provide such a worthwhile service. 

Their most recent raffle event in August raised over €1,000 which they said really helped after a lot of expenditure over the past few months on rugs, dentistry, veterinary bills, farrier and feed for the equines. 

Anyone who is interested in providing foster care can find further information on Beara Equine Support at www.equinesupport.org or contact them at [email protected]