Colorado Horse Rescue develops app to streamline help with animals during evacuations
Evacuating from a wildfire — or any natural disaster — can be chaotic and frightening, especially for people with livestock. That's why a Colorado nonprofit has developed an app to streamline the process, hoping to save human and animal lives along the way.
"What we're trying to do is get the right number of people with the right skills in the right places so these horses can be evacuated safely," said Katherine Gregory, CEO of Colorado Horse Rescue in Longmont.
In collaboration with Initial Capacity, a Boulder-based software consultancy, CHR came up with "Horse Alert." Think of it like a ride share app, but one that connects equipped drivers with trailers to people in need of help evacuating horses in an emergency.
"If I need help with my horses and I submit a request, it alerts the closest 25 drivers," Gregory explained.
Often, people will post their cry for help on social media and Coloradans will reply in droves to lend a hand. However, Gregory says those good intentions can lead to bad backups.
"So many people jump in their trucks and trailers … and maybe there's 20 horses that need help but there's enough trailers lined up to help 70 horses," she described to CBS News Colorado's Kelly Werthmann. "It blocks first responders; it blocks other evacuees."
Gregory said Horse Alert is a solution that allows for safer and smoother evacuations — for humans and horses.
"People can be deployed where they need to be in a smart way," she said.
The idea came from CHR's chaotic evacuation in October 2020.
"We had to evacuate during the Calwood Fire and we had to move 70 horses at one time," Gregory said.
And when the Marshal Fire tore through Boulder County a little more than a year later, numerous people with horses were trying to get to safety.
"We felt trapped and helpless," said Diana Rothman, who fled the flames in Superior. "We have 12 horses. We needed a certain type of trailer… and some had to walk out because they were too big to get into the smaller trailers."
Rothman believes Horse Alert will make a big difference in future emergencies.
"Now you have some peace of mind and can go on the website and say oh my horse is on here, somebody is going to come," she said.
Horse Alert went live just a couple of weeks ago and it's already taking off, Gregory said. It's her hope more people will sign up to help in a crisis.
"Over 550 horses have been registered and we have 37 drivers right now," she said. "We're not going behind fire lines, there are amazing government officials trained to do that and they risk their lives… That's not what we're asking anyone to do or trying to do or be in their way whatsoever. We are trying to get horses to safety before it's too late."
To sign up, or simply learn more about Horse Alert, visit www.horsealert.org.
