Verry Offensive

[Katiean]

I was looking through ads on the internet and there was an ad that read " ________ horse rescue will be holding a euthansia clinic on __________ for owners that for economic reasons or what ever reason can no longer keep their horse. The fee is $25" Is this really a solution? I was appauled. Any thoughts?

 

[Sandee]

It's sad that things got to this point but it's a better alternative than turning them loose to starve which I have read about.

 

[Keri]

Its better than leaving them for bear bait in the mountains or letting them starve somewhere else.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

heartbreaking tho it is it is far better to but them down humanely than to let them starve and suffer. JMO

 

[Irish Hills Farm]

Yes this is what it has come to. It's much better than people just turning their horses loose to become as another person posted bear bait, or even coyote or wolf bait. It's even much better than the horse being turned loose and running onto a main road causing an accident and possibly killing a person.

I think it was a huge mistake to get rid of slaughter houses in this country. If a person was down on their luck and needed to sell their horse they could at least try and sell it to a good home at the auction. If the horse did end up with a killer at least they got some money to put food on the table for their family or pay a bill. Now what do they have? $25 fee to have their horse put down.

 

[Hosscrazy]

Here's the link to the discussion we recently had on this issue:

http://www.miniaturehorsetalk.com/index.php?showtopic=100324

My personal opinion? While sad, it's the most humane alternative we can offer in many circumstances.

Liz R.

 

[Laura]

Yes, it really is that bad for many people. It can cost more to house and feed a horse for a month (sometimes far less) than it can cost to go buy a new one at an auction. With the cost of everything sky high, for many people it's coming down to a horse you can't sell in the current economy with no "base slaughter price" and caring for it... or caring for your family

 

[bingo]

I do not find it offensive at all. Many people simply can not or will not pay the 500+ dollars to do what is right.

It is sad death is always sad but sometimes it really is the best alternative given that rescues are full and having a hard time caring for what they already have.

The only plus side to this is that it will be done humanely and the horses will not have to be scared and suffer on a long trailer ride and die a much worse death without a caring person in sight.

 

[Lucky-C-Acres-Minis]

I think it was a huge mistake to get rid of slaughter houses in this country.

I'm going to have to agree with Sheryl on this one, I'm one who believes slaughter is a necessary evil to help keep the horse industry "in check".. Since the closing horses have lost their "base price", you can't look at any classified/newspaper etc. and not find at least a handful of "free horse" ads..

I'd much rather have seen new and better enforced regulations on horse slaughter and hauling to slaughter houses where they face a quick death, than what I'm seeing now, horses slowly and painfully suffering and dieing due to starvation..

Right now the $25 euthanasia clinic is one of the best alternatives I've heard other than opening up the slaughter houses again.. And as sad as it sounds, I hope people take advantage of the clinic and do best for those horses, end their suffering..

 

[RobinRTrueJoy]

I checked out the site from the other thread. Honestly I cried.

BUT.... there are many that are having a tough time putting food on their own table and sudden;t find that they can't feed their old horse. There are a lot of reasons that this is needed. I Know that it is very expensive to euthanise a horse and many can not even afford to do that. Better this than setting them loose to fend for themselves and starve to death or suffer other horrible deaths. Things are tight for me, but there are many others much worse off than me.

The USA has very few slaughter houses left, for many reasons, one being the public outcry against it,which at least were regulated in the ways horses were slaughtered. Even then they were horrible. I don't want to even think about how it is done, unregulated in Mexico and other countries.

I for one, if I couldn't afford to feed mine or find them a home that can care for them, feel that euthanasia is a kindness for the horse and me. I would cry myself to sleep every night knowing I had to do it, but I would also know that they were not suffering horribly somewhere and then slaughtered.

For the poor family that needs a horse euthanised this may be a God send.

Robin

 

[tagalong]

I did not find that ad - or that rescue's solution - offensive at all. When horses were selling for as low as $15 at the last local horse auction - and high price was about $800... winter is coming on... and many cannot afford to feed that old guy out in the back field, I actually applaud that rescue for finding a humane way to help...

 

[shalamara minis]

I have a very old horse (large horse) out in our field whose health is poor. If one of these clinics came up here I would take her. If she goes down in the field, I can not just dig a hole and put her in, that against the law where I'm at. My tractor wont pull her so I'll have to hire the guy down the road to pull her out of the field with a chain (sometime that can be nasty work), then i have to call a company in the state next to ours and have a truck come and pick her up, that could take a couple of weeks, so I'll have a dead horse in my driveway for that time. If I'm lucky I'll catch her before she goes down ant get to to the vet to put her down and have them get rid of the body. Yes the Clinic woud be the less expenssive of all. Sorry, but I two wish we still had slaughter houses around.

 

[New_Image]

I don't think its necessarily offensive but it is pretty stupid.... Rather then putting a horse down simply because "You" cannot afford its care there is always the alternative of listing the horse in free ads online. Chances are very HIGH that someone will take the horse off your hands in under a week and then there is no need for it to be put down.

I suppose if that was not an option then putting it down is far better then watching it starve to death in your back yard or turning the horse loose, which are both popular choices around here. But there are many people I know who take free, un wanted or pay good money to help underweight horses, so putting them down is ridiculous if it can be avoided.

 

[bingo]

I don't think its necessarily offensive but it is pretty stupid.... Rather then putting a horse down simply because "You" cannot afford its care there is always the alternative of listing the horse in free ads online. Chances are very HIGH that someone will take the horse off your hands in under a week and then there is no need for it to be put down. I

You are correct many will come to you with stories of a fairytale retirement home and endless dollars to support all the horses and just as many will be taking your free horse to the next local auction to make 20-30 bucks. Enough free horses and to some that adds up to enough for gas or grocery money that week from taking others horses to auction.

 

[Minimor]

I'd much rather see horses being taken to such a clinic for humane euthanasia rather than being sent to auction, sold for whatever piddly amount and then have to be trucked to Mexico for slaughter. That Mexico trip is IMO a fate worse than euthanasia. MUCH worse.

New Image, there are also many people who take those free horses and dispose of them through the sales ring/slaughter house...I just know too many people who have had that happen. I've also known too many people that keep a crippled horse alive for far too long--suffering in life can be much less humane than euthanasia and I personally hate seeing some of the ads where people are trying to give away an injured or crippled horse that they can no longer care for...or that they don't want to care for any longer. Sometimes those horses would be better off if they were just put to sleep. Then of course there are all the people who have leased out (free lease or otherwise) a horse and the horse disappears--sold on to goodness knows what fate. In view of all that, I would personally prefer to euthanize some of my horses rather than give them away if it were to happen that I couldn't care for them for whatever reason.

 

[krissy3]

Its a great idea...most people that cant afford to feed or house their horse let them starve in the field , or sell them to the kill buyers, where they cut the spinal cord first then bash them over the head to kill them , hopefully they die with the first cut , but most dont...now thats sick.

 

[tagalong]

Check the ads... check Craig's List... there are all sorts of horses to be given away. FREE horses abound! Even 10 year old barely halter-broke ones. Only - as the old adage says - there is no such thing as a free horse. Hay, vet care, farrier.... will someone see to all this? Or find it all too expensive?

I would rather see an old friend end his days with me at his side at that euthansia clinic... then wasting away in someone's backyard once the novelty wore off. The known vs. the unknown. Peace vs. pain. JMO.

ETA: I should also add - please be VERY careful about some rescue places..... if you go that route check them out in person. Nice facilities? Not overcrowded? Horses in good shape? Rescue horses should not be being bred - that is a giant red flag.

A couple of so-called rescues in this area had all the starving horses seized and are now being prosecuted. it was not rescue... it was an equine concentration camp.

 

[RockRiverTiff]

I don't think its necessarily offensive but it is pretty stupid.... Rather then putting a horse down simply because "You" cannot afford its care there is always the alternative of listing the horse in free ads online. Chances are very HIGH that someone will take the horse off your hands in under a week and then there is no need for it to be put down. I suppose if that was not an option then putting it down is far better then watching it starve to death in your back yard or turning the horse loose, which are both popular choices around here. But there are many people I know who take free, un wanted or pay good money to help underweight horses, so putting them down is ridiculous if it can be avoided.

I agree that it is a sad thing to see a healthy horse's life ended early, but there is no denying that we have an overpopulation issue. Many dog and cat rescues have already been forced to accept euthanization as a necessary evil. There are thousands of unwanted horses--the local classifieds site I browse has at least a dozen free horse ads up this week, and most of them are repeats from previous weeks. When you add the poor economy to the situation, you've got more horses entering the market and even fewer people able to buy, adopt, or donate.

I think what this clinic is doing is very responsible of them--charitable even since they will most likely take a loss on their services. As another LBer said, the other alternative for many of these horses is starvation. Who's going to take in an old, lame, untrained, and/or unpapered horse when they can get a trained, healthy, registered horse at auction for a couple hundred dollars or less? Most rescues are already overwhelmed, and many people that would otherwise help are now worrying about how they can care for their own existing stock. Not all but some of the people taking these free horses are no more capable of caring for them than their current owners (believe me--we have some local hoarders, and I pity their poor horses). That we have turned to mass euthanasia is sad, but at least those horses will never know suffering.

 

[Lucky-C-Acres-Minis]

I don't think its necessarily offensive but it is pretty stupid.... Rather then putting a horse down simply because "You" cannot afford its care there is always the alternative of listing the horse in free ads online. Chances are very HIGH that someone will take the horse off your hands in under a week and then there is no need for it to be put down.I suppose if that was not an option then putting it down is far better then watching it starve to death in your back yard or turning the horse loose, which are both popular choices around here. But there are many people I know who take free, un wanted or pay good money to help underweight horses, so putting them down is ridiculous if it can be avoided.

BUT the problem is, there is absolutely NO true FREE horse.. Yeah you may not have a purchase price on it but what about hay, grain, vet bills, health up-keep, housing and the list goes on.. I just did a search on one of the popular internet horse classifieds and found 348 "free" horses waiting for new homes (and not one of them was a miniature), and while many of these looked in great shape, there's HUNDREDS+ of "free" horses out there waiting that are in far worse shape than those.. I too have two older trail horses who are in their late teens-20's, one is arthritic and the other has severe asthma/heaves (vet diagnosed it as asthma, others have said heaves

) that yes eventually we will lose or have to make that decision to put down, and thankfully we have the ability and the land to lay our beloved friends to rest, but many do not, which adds on even more costs that many just can not afford..

 

[Buckskin gal]

I think this is a very humane way to deal with the overabundance of horses that breeders have created. Much better than putting them through all the misery they must endure in going to auctions and then the abuse of traveling to slaughter and then the slaughtet itself. I hope more of this type of thing is done so our beautiful horses do not have to suffer for what man has done.