Northern California horse sanctuary in desperate straits because of its name

RAVENDALE, CALIF. — It's been a summer of tough breaks on a remote ranch where Barbara Clarke had hoped hundreds of old and ailing horses could live out their final days amid sagebrush prairie and juniper forests.

Now, Clarke has almost run out of hay and money to buy more for the animals with tattered manes, sagging backs and yearning eyes that she had rescued.

Her predicament underlines the precarious finances of animal sanctuaries that live and die on the donations of others. Some of Clarke's animals were taken from sanctuaries that could no longer afford to care for them.

As a feed store owner familiar with the case put it, "Who is going to rescue the horses from the horse rescuers?"

It's a question that haunts Clarke, 60, a woman with short gray hair and a compact build, the lone manager of the 1,200-acre spread about 120 miles northwest of Reno and five miles east of the nearest electric power lines.

"There's no money coming in. Zero," she said. "I notified county animal control about the situation in case we have to decide which horses are adoptable and which ones are not."

Those that can't be adopted will be euthanized.

Clarke's nonprofit with an unwieldy name -- Dream Catcher/a.k.a. Equus Sanctuary -- was meant to be a secure last stand for 200 mustangs and domestic horses and some burros abandoned by their owners. For four years, Clarke's most pressing concerns had been hauling hay and rounding up strays.

Not anymore. A raid on an Antelope Valley horse sanctuary with a similar name and its recent closure by Los Angeles County animal control authorities has had a devastating effect on her operation.

"People think our place and the one in Antelope Valley are one and the same," said Clarke, making a high desert squint that comes with the territory. "It's a real mess. Distrust and anger are thick as mosquitoes."

Lassen County animal control authorities agreed. "I've gotten calls at my office from people confusing the two sanctuaries," said local animal control officer Judy Walesch. "I tell them I can guarantee that Barbara's sanctuary is a good one."

A review of the operation's financial records showed that its total monthly donations have dropped from roughly $10,000 to $500. Clarke has removed "a.k.a. Equus Sanctuary" from her title. She got $15,000 worth of hay on credit from a local feed store until its owners said, "No more, Barbara."