Local animal rights advocates are banding together with some of
downtown Hollister’s finest clothiers for a benefit to help save
more than 400 horses and burros for a wildlife sanctuary.
Local animal rights advocates are banding together with some of downtown Hollister’s finest clothiers for a benefit to help save more than 400 horses and burros for a wildlife sanctuary.
The benefit, a spring fashion show titled “Hearts for the Horses,” will be held Saturday, March 15 at the Hollister Elks Lodge on Astro Drive next to the Hollister Airport. The benefit will feature clothing from nearly all of the downtown shops, including Drapoel, She’s, Boutique de Lingerie, Dick Bruhn’s and the Hollister Western Store.
Proceeds will help find a new home for the Dreamcatchers Horse Sanctuary, which has been the home for more than 400 wild and retired horses and burros that would otherwise be killed for commercial processing.
The benefit is the brainchild of Vivian Kennedy, president of All Creatures Great and Small Animal Rescue, Inc. Kennedy said Dreamcatchers is a great project that provides a much-needed service to animals that have nowhere else to go.
Dreamcatchers was established in 2001 by Barbara Clarke and Deb Elleworth to save a herd of rare Spanish-line mustangs. The women expanded the mission to include giving permanent sanctuary to previously adopted wild horses that were unable to adapt to domesticated life, while at the same time working toward keeping wild horses in the wild.
“My heart went out to them when I heard they were going to lose their land and I knew we had to do something,” Kennedy said.
Clarke once worked locally on behalf of animal safety until she learned about the horses at Dreamcatchers. To help finance Dreamcatchers, Clarke cashed in her retirement fund, Kennedy said.
“She has invested almost everything she has,” she said.
Clarke left a career in defense to work in the non-profit world of animal welfare for six years as a consultant, then as a director of Redwings, as well as a board member for the Association of Sanctuaries, Kennedy said.
Dreamcatchers’ wish list includes:
A gently used stock trailer, specially designed to transport wild horses and burros, which costs approximately $15,000.
Acreage to purchase or lease at least 250 acres where all 425 horses and burros can have a permanent home.
A software program, “Exceed,” designed specifically by Packard for non-profits.
A $30 donation to Dreamcatchers includes admission to the fashion show, luncheon and no-host bar, a raffle and a silent auction. Reservations are available for tables of eight.
Those who wish to help can make checks payable to Dreamcatchers and mail it to All Creatures Great and Small, P.O. Box 904, Hollister, CA 95024.
For more information, call All Creatures Great and Small at 636-7559.
