The United States Trotting Association has offered assistance to multiple animal welfare groups caring for horses displaced in the recent hurricane and flooding in east Texas.

The USTA’s Support Our Standardbreds (SOS) program has, since 2011, provided financial help to animal welfare groups or agencies caring for registered Standardbreds subject to criminal neglect or abandonment.

There are nearly 100 USTA members in Texas, many of them in east Texas, where flooding has caused massive damage and separated thousands of horse owners from their animals. SOS funds can help cover costs of their care until they can be reunited with owners. Additionally, freeze brands or tattoos should help identify the horse and expedite return to their owners; USTA staff will assist in that process.

“Most of our membership is a long way from Texas, but we want to support Standardbreds and their owners, wherever they are,” said USTA Executive Vice President Mike Tanner. “By extending assistance through the SOS program, we can help care for Standardbreds who may be sick or injured as a result of the flood and we’ll also help identify them and get them reunited with their owners. In emergencies such as these, very few animals have any kind of traceable ID, but our horses will be the exception.”

(USTA)