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UHC: Operation Gelding Clinics taking place across the U.S.

WASHINGTON, DC – The Unwanted Horse Coalition’s (UHC) Operation Gelding program is off to a successful start. The program, which was launched in August 2010 with the help of seed money from the American Association of Equine Practitioners Foundation and the UHC, is designed to offer funding assistance to organizations, associations and events that wish to conduct a public gelding clinic under the name and guidelines of Operation Gelding. An organization that has completed an Operation Gelding clinic will receive funding of $50 per horse, $1,000 maximum, to aid in the costs associated with the clinic.

Numerous groups have contacted the UHC with interest in organizing an Operation Gelding clinic. Currently there are 14 Operation Gelding clinics on the schedule to be held across the country before the end of 2010, with locations including Colorado, Ohio, Texas, Georgia, and Kansas. With three Operation Gelding clinics already completed, the UHC and the AAEP have helped aid in the castration of approximately 30 horses.

Alison Lacarrubba, of the University of Missouri Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, organized an Operation Gelding clinic in which the University’s veterinary students were able to perform castrations while under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian. Through the Operation Gelding program, the students were able to castrate 11 horses to help further their education all while assisting horses and horse owners in need. “The clinic went great! From my perspective, it was a success on all fronts. We castrated 11 horses, the horse owners were happy, and the students were super excited to be able to participate,” said Lacarrubba of the Oct. 2 clinic.



On Oct. 4 an Operation Gelding clinic, held by Dr. Mark Korb and the Barnesville Animal Clinic of Barnesville, Georgia, was able to help geld 12 stallions. The clinic was so successful and well received that the organization has expressed interest in conducting another clinic in the spring. “I think we castrated several horses that probably would have never been castrated due to financial reasons,” said Korb.

Four Corners Equine Rescue of Aztec, NM, completed a successful Operation Gelding clinic on Oct. 16. Seven horses were castrated with the help of the program.



Dr. Douglas Corey, UHC president, said, “I am excited about the success of the UHC’s Operation Gelding program and that it is already so widely accepted and used. The UHC wanted to further its mission of educating the horse industry, and by creating action-oriented programs such as Operation Gelding, we can be more hands on within the community.”

For more information on Operation Gelding, how to conduct a clinic, or the schedule of Operation Gelding clinics, please contact Ericka Caslin, UHC director, at ecaslin@horsecouncil.org or 202-296-4031.