"Basically its the 'end of the line' for the auction market horses. Every Wednesday night the girls on the Facebook page go and see the new arrivals and post them online. They ride, lead, etc the ones they can and try to provide some kind of description. Basically, if you find one you want, you just call Frank at the auction and give him a hip # and your credit card number, then it's all yours. The 'discussion' tab on their page has people willing to do quarantine and ship them where you want them, most for very reasonable prices. The total auction price already includes a coggins and health cert. The auction is in New Jersey, but there are a lot of people associated with them that are willing to ship all over."I am usually pro-slaughter, because I believe that some horses are best put out of their misery & if they are mentally unsafe, they aren't doing anyone any good alive. I'd rather horses get slaughtered than starved, and I'd rather their meat feed hungry mouths than rot in the earth. That being said, looking through the photos of the horses from last week (2/9/11) on the Camelot Horse Weekly Facebook page was one of the more difficult things for me to stomach through. Normally I can look through photos of starving horses with a neutral eye and think "Help is coming for them" but in this case, this is it. I don't know how many of those horses were saved, but the thought that every one of their gorgeous necks were broken and they were all chopped to bits for my dog's food is gut-wrenching.
I know I'm a trainer, and I'm a trainer who makes part of her income from selling horses so this will sound backwards, but for the love of horses, PLEASE look into rescuing. If you are looking to take on another horse, or you've recently lost your beloved equine buddy, at least research the choice. Rehabilitating Jimmy's mentality has been the most challenging, but rewarding experience in my life and if my lifestyle were such that I could allow more four-legged friends into my life I absolutely would be rescuing a new horse every day – but it's not. So I am asking all of you - before you scour the internet to find your next "perfect mount" and spend thousands and thousands of dollars on a perfect pedigree, think about the rescues. People often become tied up in their minds with the thought "I need a horse". For one moment, I'd like you to think about all those horses who need you.
3 comments:
Just a quick note - from my understanding slaughter horses are killed by captive bolt guns to the head, much like being shot in the head with a reusable bullet. And I believe it is a myth that horse meat is used in dog food, it is primarily exported to Europe for human consumption (it's a delicacy) or used domestically for zoo animals. You'll be happy to know it is illegal in Illinois to sell or consume horse meat.
I agree wholeheartedly about rescuing if at all possible, and urge you to do a bit more research about the horse slaughter industry and consider changing your pro-slaughter stance.
I'd resuce a horse if I could. Till then I'll stick with Charlieze
Horses in the U.S. were slaughtered with a captive bolt. In Canada, they generally use a .22 to the head (which seems more reasonable and a lot more accurate than the captive bolt). In Mexico, they usually stab them in the spine and hoist them up alive and conscious, but paralyzed. Because the anti-slaughter community drove the business out of the U.S., the horses now must travel very long distances out of this country to await their fate.
I used to see double-deckers of horses go past my office on their way 5 min. down the road to Cavel. I would hear them whinny sometimes. It broke my heart, but knew their end was very near and any suffering they might have endured that brought them to the end of line was going to be done. Now, who knows what horrendous misery those horses go through on their way out of this country. The prices of horses absolutely plummeted because there is no more slaughter in this country, and horses are literally dropped of at the ends of barn driveways because they are worthless. But for most people, it seems out of sight and out of mind, so once slaughter was stopped in this country, the cry for the 'poor ponies getting made into burgers' stopped. The situation is far more dire now.
Thank you, Jess, for posting this. Hopefully some of those horses can get homes.
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