Gerda’s Equine Rescue
Gerda’s Equine Rescue (GER) is a Vermont-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to rescuing slaughter-bound horses. GER was founded in 2005 by experienced rescuer Gerda Silver along with her husband, and since then has been able to able to rescue, rehabilitate, and re-home over 1,000 horses.
Every day American horses are shipped across the borders to Mexico and Canada, their meat used for human consumption-a demise fraught with intense terror and abuse during transport. GER primarily rescues horses from auction, as they are the ones already in the slaughter pipeline and whose lives are in imminent danger. They work to save the ones they can, giving these majestic creatures back the chance to live out their lives.
This mission has become intensely personal for Gerda, who suffered a severe stroke soon after founding the rescue. Since having “gotten her body and life back,” she is now even more devoted to saving as many horses as possible, and giving them all their own “miracle of a second chance.”