Please help final week (after five very long months-and two YEARS before that by Roar and volunteers alone :( of rescue/rehab work to rehome this herd of successfully saved!! 36 horses on Palm Beach Roatan Island, Honduras.

These surviving 36 horses - with NO VOICE, in their lack of care or who owns them, have been taken care of as best as possible by the Roatán Operation Animal Rescue (ROAR), which is fully sponsored by volunteers. Their mission is to provide help to the animals of Roatán that lack access to care and other services.

Among the other organizations stepping in to help with volunteer time, equine, and vet med expertise and also funds are: 

-Gone Away Farm International, from Covington GA led by Dr. Jean Fowler DVM, retired professor from the University of Georgia. 

-Roatán Operation Animal Rescue (ROAR). 

This fundraiser has helped cover: 

1. Procure feed and other medical supplies needed for 35 (and now one young HEALTHY colt born in July- unexpectedly!) severe equine malnutrition cases for at least one month sustainability.

2. Travel for 5-6 interns from Roatán first two weeks of April. 

3. Room, board & transportation while there. 

4. Expenses for SENASA technicians to come to Roatán to do blood testing for equine communicable, zoonotic, and other diseases.

The graduate student interns who will be volunteering from Gone Away Farm International: 

A) MSc. Byron Pérez Bustillo, National University of Agriculture Grad, Catacamas, Honduras and his brother Arony Bustillo.

B) BSc. Daniel Onan Martínez, National University of Agriculture Grad, Catacamas, Honduras

C) M.A.E.E. Hugo A. Morán Chávez, Zamorano University, Honduras 

D) MSc. Jorge Octavio Solano, Zamorano University, Honduras 

E) Jonathan Rodriguez Gone Away Farm International

(Honduras/ United Kingdom)

F) Noe Chavarria , Farriery Hernandez / Gone Away Farm International/Honduras and his family (wife Blanca and their two sons).

The property (located in Palm Beach, Roatán) and horse herd’s (meant for tourists’ rides) owner was incarcerated last year! And the property was seized by the Honduran department for property seizures called OABI. OABI finally took custody and control of the proerty and horses back in May, but it took Jean and others involved over FOUR months to finally BUY the herd of 36 survivors at $250 each.

$5,000 is the Per month ROAR, GAFI and a few highly generous volunteers have spent on the cost to feed and rehab the surviving horses....taking them from minus 2 body condition to now mostly 5-6+ BC.

The horses also needed infectious disease (like EIA) testing by government agency SEANSA. The EIA testing (two times at $16000 and then two quarantine periods of 60 days each, plus paid labor/care (3-4 caretakers working 8 hrs /day). Their care (including access to water) had been so severely neglected, and 16 (including several foals) had already died. Five of the 40 horses that were there on April 1st when i arrived, tested positive for EIA and had to be euthanized and then the whole herd requarantined and tested again. Thankfully there were no more positives!!

The remaining 36 have been cared and fed by some neighbors and volunteers working with ROAR.This go fund me effort is to raise additional funds for travel and board volunteers and DVM degree holder interns to assist with their care and rehab, disease testing, and make sure there is enough feed and meds for at least one month going forward. 

Since two years ago when the owner of the horses (who used them for cruise ship trail rides) went to prison for bank fraud and the caretaker died of a heart attack the same week!, ROAR has spent $100k of their funds to keep these poor horses (including mares and foals) alive while OABI leased the property and horses to Mr Fernado Paz Barahone--who allowed 16 of the horses to die of starvation and then disease (EIA and other) while continuing to take money from people wanting to use the beach for tourism. These volunteers and interns haave been working with Oabi and local governmenet to now REHOME the horses-on Roatan and the mainland Honduras. And continue to help fundraising for ROAR.

Thank you for the time it took you to read this, and may God bless us all- creatures Great and small.

If you have any queries, feel free to contact: jean fowler at [email redacted] or text via whatsApp at :

+ 016788958869 or text/phone [phone redacted].

 Please find the GAFI: https://es-la.facebook.com/goneawayfarminternational/ & ROAR: https://roarescue.org/category/horses/