Continental Horse Rescue

[Lady La La]

Does anyone know much about this rescue, or do you donate?
I've become more and more worried about the way in which this rescue is dealing with their horses over in Cairo. It seems as though rescue horses have are being resold back into the work force, only to turn up again a few months down the line on deaths door once more?
I'm genuinely very, very worried about the things I have seen and heard about this rescue, and so I'm hoping someone may be able to shed some more light?
I have asked them sincerer and genuine questions on their FB page, only to have all comments removed, along with various pictures of the horses.
I'm really quite worried, and unsure as to how what they are doing over there can be regulated?

Does anyone have any information, good or bad, about this operation?
I realise Hho may not be the place for these questions, but since I can get no answers from anyone at CHR, Im unsure as to what I should be doing really

 

[galaxy]

No, but a frind of ine comments on their page which led me to curiosity so I looked and was also quite concerned about what I read....

(sorry, that wasn't very helpful was it?!)

 

[DGeventing]

After I saw a photo of a stallion and a mare in the same stable decided to back well away, and ignore every thread talking about how amazing they or 'prince fluffy kareem' are (ot, am I the only one that the name sickens, so saccharine)

 

[Lady La La]

PFK do great work, regardless of the name. The work they carry out speaks for itself IMO.

I'm hugely concerned about the goings on at CHR, but I have no idea how to go about addressing these concerns when everything I ask on their page is swiftly removed.

I'm not trying to create a witch hunt, or point any fingers, I just want to know why these things are happening at CHR, and what can be done to stop it, if thats required

 

[DGeventing]

PFK do great work, regardless of the name. The work they carry out speaks for itself IMO.

They really do (making my self look at their page now, regardless of the fact the name is for some reason like nails of a blackboard to me!). Just goes to further disprove CHR's excuses on why their horses continue to look so poor after prolonged 'treatment'.

 

[Millyard Rejects]

any rescue selling animals to people with no money to care for or no knowledge to care for a horse is a bit dodgy?
Selling horses that are rehabbed to go get starved or abused and returned is not what id call a good rescue?
Any rescue worth their salt- whatever country has policies in place to protect the ongoing welfare of their charges.

 

[Lady La La]

I don't understand where all the donations are going, because it certainly doesn't look like it's bei g spent on the horses.
Things looked great at the begining, the horses started improving, the donations flooded in...
Then it seems the horses are back out working, and poor as hell. The newer rescues no longer seem to be improving and whenever a genuine question is asked, it is removed.

It's all very worrying.

 

[The Original Kao]

I seen myself evidence of 2 horses 'rescued' (I use that term loosely) by Continental Horse rescue that have been sold back into work and they're in bad shape Please be very careful where you donate.
Not a huge fan of PFK either, seen them riding some of the rescues out into the desert for hacks and I felt they were still far too emaciated to be ridden at all but at least it seems the money donated to them does actually go to helping the most needy horses/donkeys/camels out in Cairo.

 

[SonnysHumanSlave]

I know the lady that "rescued" Sheba.
She bought her and paid a monthly fee for her keep.

Seems the 2 people running CRR, have split ways, one was a scammer, one cared. The Scammer is still running things from the UK. With her husband "running" things over there.

The 2 horses that have brought this into question are Rocky and Clio, yet still they are denying that the pictures of the horses at EACH are the same, although Rocky's marking are more identifiable then Clios, you can see these are the same, and EACH has confirmed they are the horses. People are now panicing... where are the other rescues??

Where has the money gone?

Foreigners should never donate to these sort of things, as it just ends up being money grabbing.

very Sad indeed, especially for the people how gave so so much, she gave not only money, but time, and gifts.

 

[Lady La La]

From what I can see, their horses look like s**t. Long standing rescues STILL no better than the day they arrived.
What really concerns me is that every time a genuine question is asked, or a concern is raised on their facebook page, it is deleted. They refuse to answer anything they do not want to, and so how will we ever get answers?

People are still donating, one woman donated a lot of money for the purchase & vet care for one horse, that seems to have been sold back to work

 

[Dobiegirl]

As a follower of CHR Ive also been dismayed after reading about the former rescues ending back on the street looking worse than when they were rescued.

If anyone is interested to find out more look on the ESAF page on all comments and see the photos of one poor horse in particular, its truly shocking. How anyone can run a rescue from Wales is beyond me and say everything in Egypt is fine.

 

[joeanne]

PFK are quite frankly amazing!
What they have achieved with some of the cases that come through the door is nothing short of miraculous.
The same cannot be said for CHR.....

 

[Lady La La]

PFK are quite frankly amazing!
What they have achieved with some of the cases that come through the door is nothing short of miraculous.

Couldn't agree with you more.

The same cannot be said for CHR.....

Sadly it seems not. Is there anything that can be done? ...other than hoping people stop donating once they have all of the facts

 

[Dobiegirl]

PFK is a wonderful rescue and the work of ESAF and the Cairo Farriers is nothing short of amazing

.

 

[Chestnuttymare]

That's the first time I have heard of CHR, how do you know that the horses ended up being sold back into work? I have been following PFK and they seem to be doing wonderful things and doing regular updates, the work with the farrier was amazing. what has made people so suspicious of the other crowd? How many 'rescues' do they have?

 

[Lady La La]

. what has made people so suspicious of the other crowd?

The fact that they sold the horses that public donations were paying for, back out into the work force. PFK were the ones that spotted CHR's horse, Rocky, back in work and looking half dead. It transpires that Rocky and another horse were sold by CHR, clearly with no regard for who's hands these horses were going back into. And all the time accepting donations for Rocky's care.

One poor lady paid a lot of money for CHR to 'rescue' and administer vet car to one horse, who, yep, you guessed it.... sold back out to work again.

It seems as though the person running CHR currently resides in Wales, and her husband is the one out in Egypt, running things on his own. He is apparently the one responsible for administering all care to the horses, including medical care, farriery and all stable management. This in itself worries me, as how can one person be responsible for so many horses? Especially horses in as much need as some of these are.

CHR have modified the settings on their fb page, so that only they can write posts on the page. Any comments they do not like, or do not wish to answer are promptly deleted, and members banned.
See for yourself https://www.facebook.com/pages/Continental-horse-rescue/354534017891430
Those do not seem like the actions of a charity that ha nothing to hide

I'm all for supporting these kind of charities, and regularly donate money and items to PFK, Cairo Farier et al, but something isn't right here, and it seems that as this charity doesn't operate in the UK, very little can be done in terms of investigating what the hell actually is going on.
CHR seem to be relying on that

 

[Dobiegirl]

Lady LaLa I agree its all very strange and would just urge people to check out the CHR page on fb themselves and ask questions. To see horses rescued and then after a few months go back to what they were doing before and looking like they are at deaths door is heartbreaking.

 

[The Original Kao]

this recently posted on their FB page:

Continental horse rescue
3 hours ago
From today continental horse rescue will no longer be in operation, this sad turn of events has come about following some supposide animal lovers contacting the owner of the hotel where our riding stables is sited to say we abuse and neglect our horses ..although our hotel knows this is far from the truth as they see our horses daily it still caused problems as with all complaints they have to be investigated so Mohamed has spent the last couple of days in meetings with the hotel management..in egypt it is hard to get a contract inside a hotel for riding establishments and so so easy to loose it from a complaint, so for the people/person who did this if you really cared about animal welfare why would you jeopardise the future of all the rescue horses as our riding stables is what funds the rescues??!!..luckily for us the hotel management saw these complaints for just what they were a malious act ,some animal rights extremists are just that extreme!not really caring about the animals just have too much time on their hands to cause problems..
we have put our lives into this rescue by selling our family home in cairo to purchase the land and build stables to run the rescue centre and to be put under fire the way we have and to have our business put underthreat has made our decision not to be in the public eye any longer so much easier, for those who have supported us from the beginning and to new supporters we want to thank you so much your support has meant alot to us and to the horses, if any supporters have any questions pls feel free to email me.claire.dunk@yahoo.co.uk
thank you again claire & mohamed

 

[Lady La La]

this recently posted on their FB page:

Continental horse rescue
3 hours ago
From today continental horse rescue will no longer be in operation, this sad turn of events has come about following some supposide animal lovers contacting the owner of the hotel where our riding stables is sited to say we abuse and neglect our horses ..although our hotel knows this is far from the truth as they see our horses daily it still caused problems as with all complaints they have to be investigated so Mohamed has spent the last couple of days in meetings with the hotel management..in egypt it is hard to get a contract inside a hotel for riding establishments and so so easy to loose it from a complaint, so for the people/person who did this if you really cared about animal welfare why would you jeopardise the future of all the rescue horses as our riding stables is what funds the rescues??!!..luckily for us the hotel management saw these complaints for just what they were a malious act ,some animal rights extremists are just that extreme!not really caring about the animals just have too much time on their hands to cause problems..
we have put our lives into this rescue by selling our family home in cairo to purchase the land and build stables to run the rescue centre and to be put under fire the way we have and to have our business put underthreat has made our decision not to be in the public eye any longer so much easier, for those who have supported us from the beginning and to new supporters we want to thank you so much your support has meant alot to us and to the horses, if any supporters have any questions pls feel free to email me.claire.dunk@yahoo.co.uk
thank you again claire & mohamed

Yeah, except they have gone back on that now, and it seems they will be continuing as a rescue, but behind closed doors, by making their group on facebook closed and only allowing people that don't ask any difficult questions to have any kind of an update on their horses.
They are still refusing to put any kind of photographic proof up that their horses are alive and well, and still completely deny that Rocky was sold to work, despite the fact that PFK have taken pictures of him themselves.

 

[Dobiegirl]

What a shambles, how can they conduct a rescue from a closed group, So many posts are being deleted that anyone stumbling across it would think people are deliberately posting just to cause trouble.

I certainly wouldnt join any closed group as above where people are not allowed to ask questions but would seek out PFK,ESAF or Cairo Farriers where you get regular updates and see where your money is going.

 

[Lady La La]

but would seek out PFK,ESAF or Cairo Farriers where you get regular updates and see where your money is going.

This. It really shouldn't be too much to ask from a registered charity, either.

 

[ContinentalRescue]

Hi Ladies,

I haven't had a chance to read through all the comments yet, but I think I'm seeing some familiar arguments. I'm Suz, by the way, the former admin of CHR when it was still running under the CRR page. There are a few things I would like to clear up.

First, the reason I split from CRR was because of the questionable practices, and the attempts being pushed on me to pay for horses that were not rescues, and the colossal commitment that it was which ended up being thrown back in my face. My decision to 'leave' the rescue was not well received, and a 'witch hunt' was set in motion by Claire - now running the rescue, claiming I had stolen donated items and money. I have read many of the messages she sent myself, and the woman who adopted Sheba was told that her sponsorship money was never received. It didn't take much for me to prove that any donations I got were duly handed over - because when you have done nothing wrong it takes little to clear your name.

Second, our horses started to pick up quickly in the beginning of the year, until the move to the "rescue land." I arranged for the Kiwi Care Team to come and visit our horses, and later arranged for ESAF (an Egyptian charity) to treat our horses teeth. The problem is that the land was so far away, and the stable boy / groom that was employed there knew eff all about horses. When I went out to the land with one of our supporters from the UK, it was to find the rescues tethered so tightly they couldn't reach their feed bins, and had zero water around them. I took to it myself a week later to fix stable doors at the land so the horses would not require tethering for a multitude of reasons (this is after Claire left). The horses had been kept standing for so long and obviously not fed properly, that they had all lost dramatic amounts of weight, and the muscle atrophy was shocking. The boy was fired, doors were fixed, and horses given free rein. I then set about ordering in sugarbeet to provide with their feed, along with chaff (which later ran out, and the horses were left without anything but sugarbeet for almost 2 weeks - which Claire blamed on me despite saying I have nothing to do with the feeding of the horses, and my role was soley PR). I would have taken care of it myself, but for this two week period was on holiday in the UK, and there was nothing I could do from there until my return, when I immediately ordered a ton of clover. Claire apparently had sent money over while I was in the UK for clover - but again I cannot verify if that ever arrived. To make matters worse, the boys that I had instructed specifically on how to make the sugarbeet had done it all wrong. Rather than leaving it soak for 2 hours, the beet was being left in drums (enough to feed for three days) and soaked. There was mold on top, and the smell was overpowering. I had to have three bins thrown away - and the excuse was it was a new type of feed they weren't sure on how to feed.

Rocky and Cindy (not Cleo) were sent with a third horse that Claire had adopted from ESMA to Cairo while I was in the UK. Rocky and Cindy had previously had an adoptive home lined up which was apparently vetted, but the horses were returned to us because the guy wasn't able to 'work them on the beach to make any money.' I decided against posting this to the page, as Claire said the man was only trying to sort out his stable, and he would eventually take the horses back. When I was asked to use donations for Kiwi and Sheba and Chili to feed also Rocky, Cindy, Rambo (yearling) and the third horse, I told Claire it should be her responsibility to provide the funding for them - as they were adopted already and thus should not be a strain on the limited donations coming in. She never sent money over for them, of course I was forced to pay to feed them all, as I couldn't let them starve. I told Claire's hubby that he needed to sort the home out for them - and while I was away they were packed off to Cairo.

Originally people were being told they were sent to their friend in Cairo. However, Rocky was spotted on ESAF's page where he was grossly emaciated, and allegedly being worked. For a solid week CHR denied that this was Rocky, and banned and deleted anyone from the page that asked questions. ESAF's vets told the story about how they found out is was in fact Rocky, and a public smear campaign was launched to say that it was one animal charity that was out to ruin CHR's reputation (PFK for those that are familiar). PFK actually took Rocky in for one night, treated him, and were forced to surrender him when the owner came threatening them in their stables.

Now, apparently Rocky and Cindy have been moved back to Hurghada, but no evidence of this has been forthcoming. I have tried to offer to go and take pictures of them, but my offers have gone ignored. Now, Claire is on about closing the CHR page because of all the problems created by animal 'extremists.'

I feel that the donators have the ultimate right to question where their finances are going, and this is what I always strove for on the CRR page. No question went unanswered, even if it didn't shed the most positive light on us. Now, CHR is digging itself a deeper hole, and what started out as a great initiative has ended up ... well the page speaks for itself.

I wanted to share this here, as I feel that people deserve to have their questions answered. I can only hope that the future for the remaining rescues will stay positive.

 

[Dobiegirl]

OMG its worse than I thought, those poor horses, Suz when you were involved with the charity we saw the horses improve and regular updates, since then it has gone down hill and any photos put on their site now show the horses back to square one.

 

[Lady La La]

OMG its worse than I thought, those poor horses, Suz when you were involved with the charity we saw the horses improve and regular updates, since then it has gone down hill and any photos put on their site now show the horses back to square one.

I would agree with this. Initially, the horses seemed to be improving and the updates and pictures on the site were offered freely on a regular basis.
Despite being asked over and over again, CHR are refusing to reveal any recent pictures of the horses. God only knows where they are, and how they are doing

The husband running CHR from Egypt has recently added pictures elsewhere of the new work horses he has bough for himself, all seen to be wearing the fluffy nosebands donated to CHR for the rescue horses.
How is it that he can upload a picture of his most recent purchase, but not of a single one of his rescues?
Something really needs to be done before this gets any worse

 

[Dobiegirl]

First of all thank you Suz for taking the time and trouble coming on here and explaining what is going on.

Lady La La that is horrendous that her husband is posting pictures of his work horses on another site and with the rescues nosebands, what a blatent disregard this so called rescue have for all the people who have donated.

 

[Dobiegirl]

Cant believe she has shut down the site, too many people asking searching questions and she has pulled the plug, dosnt sound like a normal rescue to me.

 

[Millyard Rejects]

thanks Suz for telling your side of the sad goings on.
Do you know who or what organisation CHR are registered with? As it would be enough to investigate any wrong doings financial or otherwise.
Cant get my head around buying horses too use in a riding school to fund rescues if they are then asking for donations? And none have adequate food,carer or welfare conditions taken care of? It sounds like a massive farce and a con

 

[Dobiegirl]

MR when pressed to answer her charity status she said her reg no was 311 which sound like an Egyptian council no to me and when pressed further she claimed it was all done in Egypt with a lawyer.

 

[Tai.Ni.Po.Ni]

Sorry I've just started reading this, is Suzy saying PFK was CHR or are they 2 totally different charities?

 

[Lady La La]

Sorry I've just started reading this, is Suzy saying PFK was CHR or are they 2 totally different charities?

Completely different, and words apart in terms of how they treat their animals.