Pet Blog | Dog Breeds | Dog Books | Pet Shop Pet Health | Pet Care | Pet Information

As much as the economy is challenging people who are trying to keep and care for their pets, the situation is even worse for horse-owners. Edie Lau of VIN New Service reports that:

Results of a survey released last week by the Unwanted Horse Coalition show that sales of unwanted horses by owners have doubled in the United States during the past year, while donations and euthanasia are up 50 percent.

The nation’s rescue and adoption facilities, many at or near capacity, are turning away an average of 38 percent of the horses brought to them, according to a summary of survey results.

Advocates for horse-slaughter say this makes the case even stronger for re-opening slaughter plants in the United States.  Worse than being transported and killed for food, they say, is being turned loose or being starved to death. Or being transported even farther to slaughter in Mexico, where even the most minimal of humane slaughter standards are routinely ignored. (Do not Google-search “horse slaughter” if you are not ready to hurl at the images, but Salon has a good article on the subject.)

People who are against horse-slaughter argue that horses aren’t livestock in the way that cows or pigs are, and that many horses have  lives that more closely resemble those of pets, with human love, handling and attention lavished on them until they become too old or injured to ride. That such animals deserve better than slaughter — they deserve euthanasia.

The pro-slaughter group counters that while that may well be true, slaughter is a necessary evil with no real alternatives. And that horses in the end aren’t pets, and only city people think so.

It’s not true that there are no alternatives to selling an unwanted  horse for slaughter.

The humane disposal of a horse won’t put a few coins in the owner’s pocket at the livestock auction when a kill buyer offers the top bid – it will in fact cost a horse-owner money. But I believe the horse’s special niche –  as much companion as livestock — means they deserve the consideration of a painless, fear-free death. (The VIN News Service story says the reported cost of equine euthanasia and disposal is less than $400. Yes, it’s a chunk of dough, but it needs to be counted into the cost of getting and keeping a horse.)

The HSUS has come out with a review of alternatives to sending horses to slaughter, a comprehensive state-by-state review of disposal laws and resources. Every horse-owner needs to be aware of these humane alternatives. It’s super work by the research team.

The Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act (H.R. 503/S. 727) is currently in the  House. Contact  your member of Congress and ask him or her to push for a kind end for the nation’s horses.

Hat tip to Fugly Horse of the Day for the link to the alternatives to slaughter. The Fugly blog makes the case on a near-daily basis that the long-term solution will require people to think before breeding. (And if you read Fugly long enough, you’ll start thinking the breeding she wants stopped is of idjits.)