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Flooding in Virginia Beach devastates local horse rescue

Posted at 11:50 AM, Jul 26, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-26 15:38:43-04

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - After days of rain and flooding, a local non-profit says it may not recover.

Pungo Equine Rescue & Rehab is a 501c3 in Chesapeake that specializes in rescuing horses and rehabbing them back to health.

Owner Malinda Scott tells News 3 she's been rescuing horses for nearly two decades and pays for hay by offering summer horse rides in the waters of Back Bay in the Pungo area of Virginia Beach.

Scott says her clients are usually out-of-towners looking for a fun experience, but ongoing rain and rising flood waters made riding impossible.

According to Scott, she's had to refund nearly half the $12,000-14,000 she needs each to feed her horses each winter.

"Everything that we had booked...All the money has to be refunded," said Scott.

She doesn't know when she will be able to start offering rides again.

“There are horses here that I’m probably going to have to let go because I don’t have a way to properly care for them. This is major to us in what we do," she said.

Time is ticking too. Scott tells News 3 she typically loses a lot of business after Labor Day.

"I'm not sure how we're going to recover from it," she said.

Pungo Equine Rescue & Rehab accepts donations through their website and also raises money through AmazonSmile.