Horse Rescue Founder Jo Deibel Quits Job To Rescue Horses
Equestrian News Release

Jo Deibel was comfortable in life as a married mother of four running a restaurant in Baltimore. Then Jo quit her job and started rescuing horses fulltime from her new home in Glenville, PA.

Jo had learned from an acquaintance about a horse that had been saved from the slaughterhouse by a horse rescue group. Intrigued, she asked questions and began a personal investigation into a world of abuse few Americans know about. Life would never be the same again for Jo Deibel and family.

Jo Deibel organized Angel Acres Horse Haven Rescue, Inc. as a 501(c) 3 non-profit group and recruited the help of family and friends. She became active in the Humane Society and American Humane Association, and plunged fulltime into the horse rescue business, spending nearly every waking minute doing work involving horse rescues.

Angel Acres Horse Haven Rescue is dedicated to saving horses bound for slaughter for human consumption. The haven also assists in cases of neglect and abuse but it exists to rescue thoroughbreds and sometimes other breeds.

“We feel our cause is important because we rescue sane, young and healthy horses from the killer pens…we do this every single week,” explains Jo. “These are horses that are no longer fast enough to earn their keep, they are little Suzy’s pony she doesn’t want anymore because she has found boys, they are the Amish Draft who has been worked to the bone and now is being thrown away so the farmer can buy a younger model and do it all again.”

Deibel now spends her time traveling to a horse auction 60 miles away in Lancaster County, PA, which auctions horses from several racing tracks across the nation. She identifies horses purchased for the slaughterhouse and buys them from the killer buyer. The horses are then taken to Angel Acres to be quarantined, inspected and made healthy, and then placed for adoption. Jo Deibel has rescued and/or helped place nearly 100 horses in two years.

Among the horses she has rescued are: Cviano, the half brother to the Belmont Stakes winner; Trigger Happy Jill, taken by a “friend” and sent to the killer auction; and ISITEVER, a horse on the Triple Crown trail that ended up in a killer pen

Besides dealing with families and individuals wanting to adopt a horse, Deibel seeks financial support in the form of grants and donations used to add new buildings for shelter, stalls, storage and good horse safe fencing.

Deibel works constantly to educate the public about the horrors of horse slaughter. She encourages breeders and owners to be responsible with their horses once their racing careers are over. She rescues healthy, young thoroughbreds that could have a second career if given the chance. She keeps working until the horses rescued are adopted into loving forever homes. For more information visit: http://www.saveahorsenow.org .