If you thought that horse thievery died along with the Old West and life on the frontier, you’re wrong. Debi Metcalfe and her group of dedicated volunteers work regularly with bereaved owners who face the ordeal of recovering a stolen horse. As the head of Stolen Horse International, Inc. (www.netposse.com), Metcalfe oversees and organizes her network of helpers and resources to get the word out when a horse goes missing. The unadvertised website has had over 12 million hits in the last year and averages over 70,000 unique visitors a month.
How did Metcalfe begin to ride down this path? When her husband Harold’s horse, Idaho, was stolen and then recovered after 51 weeks, Metcalfe vowed that no other victim would have to face such a traumatic experience alone. Today, at the nerve center of Stolen Horse International, Inc., Idaho Alerts, similar to Amber Alerts, are sent out by the thousands throughout the world when a horse is missing. Metcalfe sorts through hundreds of e-mails daily, many requesting information or telling their own stories of theft.
In the process of solving her own crime and compiling research, Metcalfe has become a recognized authority in her field. She has appeared on television and various radio programs, in newspaper and magazine articles, and addressed civic groups and horse expo audiences across the country. Through the efforts of Metcalfe and the NetPosse volunteers, many horses and their owners have been reunited.
“It is our hope that through education, which includes the Idaho Alert, we will help horse owners protect themselves, their horses and their tack. If the worst does happen and the right preventative measures have been followed, owners have a greater chance of finding their horses.” Metcalfe says.
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I think this is an informative article because horse thefts have increased. I hope you can help find Credit Card the last horse that was stolen from Sjouthern Arkansas University. There were five horses who were stolen that belong to members of the rodeo team. They did recover 4 but Credit Card is still missing. These people need the help of everyone in finding him Evidently 11/19/2011 is opening day for the hunters in Oklahoma and he is either tied to a tree like the others or is running loose.