Jo Deibel, Founder & Executive Director, Mother of 4, Wife, Horse Lover
Jo 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 home in Glenville, PA.
Jo learned about horse slaughter when adopting her first horse as adult. Outraged, she asked questions, learned all she could 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. In January of 2004. Angel Acres is now a GFAS accredited - 501(c) 3 non-profit horse rescue. What started on a shoe string budget has turned into a nationally recognized, multi-faceted horse welfare organization. Jo is a Homes For Horses Steering Committee member.
Angel Acres Horse Haven Rescue is dedicated to saving horses bound for slaughter for human consumption. Angel Acres also assists in cases of neglect and abuse but it exists to rescue thoroughbreds and 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 500 horses in neerly eight years.
Jo started Mattie's Legacy Fund - a fund designed to help horses and horse owners in these difficult financial times, she started the Angel Acres Anti Horse Slaughter Awareness Billboard Campaign (www.stopslaughteringus.com) and actively promotes the term "homeless horse" instead of the pro slaughter propaganda term "unwanted horse".
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. The list is long...
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.
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