Donations Needed To Help Starving Horses

[Kadie]

Donations Needed To Help Starving Horses
Animals Recovering At Modesto Facility

POSTED: 5:55 am PST February 20, 2009
UPDATED: 7:51 am PST February 20, 2009

MODESTO, Calif. -- Money and other donations are needed to help horses found sick, starving and abandoned in rural Stanislaus County.

The ill, haggard animals were apparently dropped off in remote Del Puerto Canyon by someone who could not afford to keep them.

snip...
"We're going to be looking actively for the people who let these guys go," said Andy Fiskum of the Stanislaus County Animal Shelter.

The animals suffer from malnourishment, sores, hoof problems and strangles, a highly contagious respiratory disease.

snip...
Officials estimate they will need $500 per horse to pay for feed and medicine.

Anyone wishing to donate money or feed to help with the horses' recovery may contact Andy Fiskum at [e-mail].

more...
http://www.kcra.com/news/18758033/detail.html

[Kali]

1. I found my first last month.

Rumor somebody dumped 15 of them down on the San Pedro. There will be more and more. No slaughter = abandoned, starving. Unintended consequences. Again.

[demodonkey]

3. Until you have had a horse disappear from your farm...

... you might be OK with slaughter. But get back to us when it's one of YOURS that is gone some morning and you feel that knife in the pit of your stomach because it might be that your gentle horse was loaded up and hauled to the meat auction by some thief looking for a few bucks.

If you ever wake up some morning and find a beloved horse gone (and I hope for your sake it doesn't happen to you, like it did to me), you just may want to start thinking differently.

Slaughter of companion animals for human consumption is NOT the way to deal this problem. If you think it is, are you also in favor of selling our "unwanted" dogs to China, where they eat them?

[northernlights]

4. I'm so sorry Demodonkey

It very nearly happened to me when I first moved here. A neighbor was trying to steal my horse -- casing my place and looking for a way to get him off my property -- for a year. He ended up in jail and I learned from his nextdoor neighbor that he "already had a buyer lined up."

Since my guy was a 20 year old retiree, I have no doubt what kind of buyer he had lined up. Esp. since I'm just a couple hours from the Canadian border.

[demodonkey]

6. Thank you for caring, will be 10 years this summer since I lost JJ, but the pain is still there...

... a HUGE reason why I am against horse slaughter for any reason. I am really angry with the AQHA and others who are pushing the "unwanted horse" meme as a reason for slaughter and fighting John Conyers HR 503 and other anti-slaughter bills.

We do not raise our American horses in feedlots like cattle. We raise these animals as companions and partners, and to send them off to death in a meat processing plant after perhaps years or even decades of partnership is beyond cruel. There HAS to be another way.

I still have JJ's grandfather, my beloved Jazz who will be 26 come June and is still rideable and driveable. I raised Jazz from a baby -- and raised his mother as my 4-H project when I was 10.

No matter how bad times get, I would sooner blow my own brains out than sell a horse for meat.

BTW, another "unintended consequence" of horses being classified as meat animals for human consumption may be that recreational horse owners will sooner or later be denied the use of fly sprays, wormers, dressings, etc. that are labeled "not to be used on animals intended for food." I can really see this coming, along with NAIS and other ills, all because somebody wants to see slaughter as a solution for the "unwanted horse."

As I said, there HAS to be another way.

[KathieG]

15. So sorry about JJ...

As someone who has been involved with horse rescue for many years, I know exactly where you are coming from, and I am right there with you.

I own a 20 year old QH with sweeney shoulder, arthritis, and allergies (the love of my life), a 7 year BS Paint with joint issues, and a 8 year old QH/Belgian cross who was a PMU baby from Canada. As long as I am breathing, they will be with me. I have a keep 'em or kill 'em policy. When the time comes, it will be humane euthanasia at home.

I have been fed up with AQHA for a long time. They make a lot of money registering new foals every year...they have a vested interested in keeping slaughter legal in the United States...as long as there is a "convenient" disposal method, the big farms and remudas can keep breeding and culling.

My farrier is from Idaho and knew of several ranches that would cull weanlings and yearlings, and send them directly to what he calls "the canner"...the feedlot guy would come pick them up directly. These babies never had a chance. I asked him why they didn't put a couple of ads in the paper or at least run them through a sale to give them a shot at finding a home, he said that it was too time consuming, they didn't want to be bothered. It was easier to take a check from the kill buyer and send them on their way. :-(

[Kali]

5. WRONG

I lost a beloved horse a year ago. I do not know what happened to him - but I doubt many people were risking arrest for $40 worth of horse to sell at slaughter - who knows maybe, got any real stats on that? Nevertheless I know how exactly how it feels.

Tons of dogs are euthanised every freaking day - doubt if china wants them at all - how is that relevant?

Not all horses (or even most?) are "companion" animals - they are livestock. I am in favor of slaughter as a way to dispose of useless livestock - whether for human consumption or pet/zoo food is up to the buyers.

Slaughter beats the HELL out of abandonment and starvation.

[demodonkey]

7. Have you ever been slaughtered?

Come back after it's done and let us know how it feels to be crammed on a truck with dozens of others, driven for perhaps thousands of miles to a terrifying, blood-soaked plant, and then get a captive bolt rammed through your skull (perhaps after a few tries.)

And DO NOT TELL ME THAT I AM "WRONG" TO BELIEVE WHAT I DO AFTER OF THE LOSS OF A BELOVED ANIMAL.

How. Dare. You.

:grr:

[Kali]

8. You were wrong about me having lost a horse.

I would not presume to tell you how to believe or feel. I do feel free to presume to give other sides of an issue and to perhaps encourage you to rethink your stand. You are being understandably emotional - believe me I grasp the loss - I would never sell my pet horses for slaughter. On the other hand I AM capable of understanding the need for it. Just because I wouldn't do it and can afford to feed retirees/pets does not mean everyone can - or should. There are tons of horses that are simply livestock - there is nobody to (pay to) euthanize, feed, adopt, or care about them in the least. Slaughter is better than abandonment and starvation.

[bahrbearian]

9. Chill

I've always had 2 or 3 AQHA's Loved them. 6 years ago after having too spend $6 a bale and losing access to free feed, I wised up. I had some great horses I sold em for top dollar , not slaughter. I knew that was coming in the future. Quit breeding horses and buying them if you can't afford them. I love horses and it is sad to see them starve, because someone wants a pony, then a barrel racer,.....

[demodonkey]

12. You chill.

People with "top dollar" attitudes is a lot of the problem, and it began long before this economic problem started.

AQHAs bred with HYPP, navicular, tiny feet, peanut rollers, etc. etc. -- whatever current trend it takes to "sell 'em for top dollar." Riding yearlings so they can get a jump on the 2 year-old snaffle bit futurities. Steroids. Tail jobs. The list goes on and on. So many of these horses got used up or crippled up and ended up in the slaughter pen.

AQHA is only one of the breeds that has had problems like this, but we are the biggest by far and thus we had and have the largest numbers.

If you really love horses and are a breeder you will breed responsibly (which may mean little or not at all in this market), and when you do you do breed you go for long range goals that make a horse a good match with humans no matter what the economy. Things such as healthy conformation that lends itself to long healthy life, good bone and feet, brains, trainability, and a kind disposition. That is the best way to avoid an "unwanted" horse, and to keep the horse industry -- and the species -- around for the long haul.

If you own a horse, you need to face the responsibility of what happens if it becomes sick/crippled, or you can no longer care for it -- even if you can't afford a vet and this means a bullet in the head. Bullets are cheap, and fast, and done right the horse will never know what hit him. And most areas have rendering plants that will take the carcass. I have no problem with that.

But sending a live horse to slaughter is NOT the way to deal with the problem.

I hope the "great" horses you sold for top dollar six years ago are all still around somewhere with good homes and doing OK, BTW.

[KathieG]

14. AMEN demodonkey.

[bahrbearian]

18. Like I said I loved my horses

I rode trails almost every day with them. I worked in an Auction Barn, I know what goes on. When Long acres closed we sold thoroughbreds to Saudi, they flew them over in a 747. The standard joke at the barn were the horse people. They strutted around like peacocks. We knew which animals went where. Like Dogs and Cats , its the people that love em death.

[Yellow Horse]

10. Polls say that the majority of Americans disagree with you and are opposed to slaughter of horses.

I sure disagree, and I sure am opposed to slaughter.

Personally, if I were a horse I would rather take my chances starving to death than dying in terror in one of those meat plants. Rmember horses are flight animals and they live in the "now" unlike humans. They can accept hunger and cold and a lot of terrible things, but fright is their defense mechanism and terror without being able to flee is the worst thing for them. I guess after they are dead it doesn't matter how it ends, but those last few seconds in the kill chute must be pure hell for a horse, especially those that were once raised to love and serve humans. Think about it.

BTW I don't know where you live, but in my part of the country horses ARE companion and recreation animals. No one raises them for meat, or as "just" livestock.

You seem pretty flip about the "tons" of dogs that are euthanized every day, and the "useless livestock" horses that you claim are so prevalent everywhere. If I were you I would think about those animals as living, breathing beings, but then I am not you. I am just one of the many horse owners who is OPPOSED to all slaughter of horses. As DemoD says, slaughter is not the way.

[Kali]

16. Polls?

Less than 2% of the US population involved in ag - do you think polls should determine policy?

I'm in southeastern Arizona. We still use horses for work. Breeders view them as livestock (as do some of the tax codes). Your personal view of being a horse differs from mine. As long as we are anthropomorphizing animals, emotion rules over logic so how can you have a real discussion?

I seem flip? Not sure what you mean by that - I stated a fact, I wasn't even sure why that poster mentioned dogs...???

Are you saying there aren't useless horses around? I don't understand. Are you challenging my statement? Just what were all the horses that were going to slaughter? If they were "usefull" or wanted by someone for something else I would assume they could have bought them (pretty cheaply from what I understand). Ok maybe some few (no links to any stats from anybody making the claim) were stolen, but I suspect the vast majority were in fact "useless livestock".

You seem to be missing the fact that I stated a couple of times I would never ship an old pet. I guess the simple fact that I think there should be choice makes me heartless or something (man this reminds me of the human abortion debate - are you guys anti-choice there too?)

So what do you propose to do to if slaughter is off the table? You going to subsidize all those animals and the folks who don't/won't/can't take care of them anymore?

I see a lot of banning but no real solutions.

[bahrbearian]

19. I've seen people starve horse's to death , its not pretty.

[KathieG]

13. People were starving horses even when slaughter was "booming"...

The kind of person that lets a horse starve in front of their eyes doesn't usually want to pay for a vet visit and coggins test which is required to sell, or run the horse through a sale so that it can even make it TO a slaughter plant.

Years back when slaughter was really booming, a man starved a whole herd of horses right down the road from the Cavel plant. The "convenience" of slaughter plants won't stop irresponsible people from doing bad things to horses anymore than the "convenience" of your local animal shelter/pound stops people from starving and abusing dogs and cats. I'm hoping that people finally wake up a little bit and stop all of the excessive, and backyard breeding. This is the root of the problem. Slaughter simply makes it easier for these people to keep doing the wrong thing.

Huge remuda's are famous for culling a large amount of young quarter horses every year. They breed everything in sight, pick out the "cream of the crop" and dump the rest...many are sent straight to the feedlot, never even having a chance to find a home. What a waste. Broodmares are sent to slaughter, foals are born on the slaughter plant floor. GOOD horses go to slaughter. It's a shame.

As far as people stealing horses to take to slaughter, it happens. I know there are people who go around collecting free horses from ads in the paper to take to slaughter, it happened to a neighbor of mine. Nice old man said he wanted a couple of horses for his grandkid's...my neighbor gave him her old 20+ year old mare because the guy was so nice, and assured her that the horse would be well taken care of for the rest of her years, he said she could visit her whenever she wanted to. Well...come to find out, the horse was on the next truck to the Dallas Crowne plant in Texas along with a whole bunch of other horses that this guy got for free promising a "great forever home".

And...you are right, thousands of dogs are euthanized every day. If only horse slaughter was as humane...it's not. The transport alone is horrific (see link below if you dare). I know that other types of livestock go through horrible conditions, but most beef cattle, meat hogs etc. aren't named, trained, loved-on, and ridden...they aren't asked to give of themselves like a horse. Most horses learn to love and trust humans. When a horse is packed like a sardine in a trailer full of strange horses, traveling for hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles with no food or water to arrive at a slaughter plant (if they make it alive), herded up a chute...still trusting humans, only to have a captive bolt shot into their head (sometimes multiple times). Ultimate BETRAYAL.

Here are some GRAPHIC pictures of just what happens during transport http://www.kaufmanzoning.net/foiaphotos.html
Don't look if you have a weak stomach. It's horrible, but it's reality.

[Kali]

17. Yes that is true, but I suspect the ones who would have sold and now can't

are the demographic we need to look at. (no need for those tests where I am so I don't know about that being a universal issue anyway) My local sale barn stopped taking horses last fall so now you have to sell private treaty or haul them further anyway.

I agree totally about doing something about the backyard breeders. Morons ruin a lot of things not just horses, but I'm not sure what you could actually do. We used to have to have permits done after a livestock officer inspected the animal to haul a horse, now you don't need anything anymore. Large landholders can always shoot and shovel, its always the little guy who has to deal with the feel-good "solutions" that get put in place.

Yes horrible things can happen during transport. Of course they can happen to the well cared for pets too. Choosing worst case photos (of violations - problem with enforcement? why?) to manipulate opinion is dishonest. I could do the same with "humane" euthanasia. I had a horse break a pastern at an advanced age. We agonized over putting him down but it was the only real choice. I just couldn't shoot him myself so we had the vet out for injection. It didn't work right and was truly horrific. My random personal anecdote. Should I rail against that now?

I ask again: What are your proposed alternatives?

[Kadie]

2. .

:kick:

[Seldona]

11. K&R

nt