Unwanted Horse Summit April 19, 2005 – Washington, DC

Background
The attached list of organizations and officials were invited to attend a one day workshop for the purpose of determining if agreement could be reached regarding addressing the issue of unwanted horses in the United States. Those invited to the Summit were acknowledged to have differing strongly held views about many aspects of the unwanted horse issue. However, it was felt that since all participants have in common a genuine concern for the health and welfare of horses, there would be great value in trying to reach agreement on specific, constructive, achievable and doable action steps that could be implemented toward a cooperative effort to begin addressing the issue of unwanted horses.

The Summit was preceded with a standing room only two-hour educational session on the plight of the unwanted horse that was open to all American Horse Council meeting attendees. The invitation-only Summit was then convened as an intensive 6.5-hour workshop designed and conducted by a professional facilitator from outside the industry.

Purpose of the Summit
The Summit was organized to bring key stakeholders together to start a dialogue on the plight of the unwanted horse in North America for the purpose of developing consensus on the most effective way to work together to improve the quality of life for tens of thousands of unwanted horses and to reduce their number. Because the Summit was designed as a working session, the size of the group was limited to approximately 30 people. The Summit invitation list was drawn up with every effort to assure representation of a broad range of views, sometimes opposing views, among breed groups, sport and discipline organizations, rescue and retirement facilities, veterinary associations and welfare groups. A list of the attendees is noted at the end of this report