Abandoned Horses: Brace Yourself for More
When I saw a recent article in The Oregonian newspaper about the rising tide of abandoned horses (search for it on Google by typing the title, "They abandon horses, don't they?"--including the quotes--into the search function), I wasn't at all surprised. I think we'd better brace ourselves, because more and more of this is bound to occur as long as hay remains scarce, sale barns cut back on auctions due to slaughter-plant closures, and grain prices continue to rise. (Example: The pre-mixed feed that sold for $10.99 per 50-lb. bag last spring is now $18.99 at my area feed store.)
Think you need to be living out West, near BLM rangelands, for you to become the unwilling recipient of an abandoned horse? Think again. It's happened to me, and I even saw and shook hands with the abandoner, face to face. Here's how she pulled it off:
One stormy night, using the Yellow Pages number she got for our stable, a woman claiming to be on her way to a new job in a neighboring state called to ask if we had room to house two horses for a night or two, until the weather cleared up. We accommodated her; that's what you do when you board horses for other people. She unloaded the horses, paid in cash for two nights, and, charming as all get-out, left us with name-and-contact info that turned out to be false.
We never saw her again. Not only did we get stuck feeding and caring for them at our own expense, but we also had to jump through some maddening legal hoops before a state brand inspector came and took the horses off our hands.
Needless to say, we no longer accept horses from people we don't know well. But that doesn't mean I (or you) won't wake up one morning to find someone's discarded horse tied to the mailbox.
posted by Juli Thorson @ 4:05 PM
8 comments
8 Comments:
There are too many abandoned animals of all kinds, not just horses. Cats, dogs, birds, you name it. In a perfect world, it wouldnt happen. But what is the solution? How do you make people more accountable? How do you reduce the breeding of low quality horses? Some people seem to think that if they have a mare and cannot ride her, she should be bred, with no thought to the foal's future.
Another part of this is the lack of training. I read a report that said many neglected and abandoned horses were unhandled, and who wants to take on an unbroken 12yo horse when there are so many better options out there?
The previous comment is so correct. On our local internet classified ads, there are many many horses that are mature and haven't been handled much or not at all. Lots of unregistered horses with little or no training and unfortunately many unregistered mares that are bred and will foal this spring. I have a registered broodmare who is not bred back and is in training now. I didn't want someone to buy a 'package deal' and not want the foal. A broke saddle horse with good training, nice conformation and good breeding is much more valuable and I hope useful.
There are also lots of horses with disabilities that are 'free to a good home'. I wonder what will happen to these?
This whole slaughter/abandoned horse issue(s) could all be solved in a few years (yes a few years) IF the slaughter plants stay closed (USA, Canada and Mexico). After a few years the breeders will realize there is no money in breeding and quit. With less horses (remember in a few years) they will become more palatable to those that want a horse and their price should go up. Plus, with less horses (or any animal for that matter) those that have a horse would be more inclined to take good care of it. It just all boils down to basics of supply and demand. Make the supply small and the demand (cash) will go up. It will take a while but if we stick to our guns it can happen. In the interim however there will be many horses who will need the rescued and I hope people can do it. I have 5 that I have taken in.
All of you have made good points in your posts. I'd like to add that the BLM constantly rounding up wild horses that don't need to be, are flooding the market with horses. The racing industry always looking for the next winner, breeds and discards horses like they were TV dinners.
Yes, there are many irresponsible horse owners our there, but when you have two major influxes (BLM and the racing industry) they need to shut down and downsize. They make it difficult on everyone else from selling your planned dream to drumming up hay to feed. And they don't care as long as they get a dollar out of it.
I work on legislation for the anti slaughter bill, I also work with rescue groups, individuals, and wild horse herd management plans (thats a joke) In the past month, BLM has gathered 1500 horses in NV alone, and an additional 400 out of WY. The horses out of NV were over and beyond what congress had alotted for the year and they continue keep rounding up more, labeling them as 'estrays'. I recieved and email from a fellow 'rescuer' that the La Kota took 500 off their range that are now in the 'system'. All of these horses are in dire need of homes or they risk being sent across the border to slaughter. These horses did NOT need to come off the range despite of what propaganda the BLM is spewing out this month, add it all up and it's nearly 2,500 horses in one month! What is the real clencher is that these entities are using OUR tax dollars for round ups, and then keeping whatever they get from slaughtered horses. In another words they have found a way to scam the system, while placing hardships on the personal horse owner, the market, and compromising our national heritage the wild horse of which are supposed to be protected by the same entities that are gathering and selling for slaughter.
I recieved an email from a fellow rescuer trying to find a home for grandson of Seattle Slew, a yearling. This colt had fractured his leg as weanling, healed up, but on preliminary x-rays before race training, the vet said he wouldn't hold up. This colt didn't find a home at the auction, so the owner luckly was giving him away rather than let him go to slaughter. His owner wouldn't keep him, hey, he has next years winner to breed and use his money for. He bred this horse with one thing in mind, and when he couldn't do the job, he was out of a home and now someone else problem. How does one talk sense into an owner like this? And 85% of the racing industry is this way.
Due to this colts breeding he was much easier to find a home for than the 460 wild ones in my immediate area that are awaiting homes or the slaughter truck, and are on 60 day deadline and counting.
Caroljohn, I think your on the right track, and it will work for the individual smaller breeding operations, but stopping BLM from gatherings on OUR tax dollars and telling the racing industry to downsize is another matter, you can talk till your blue with them and it doesn't matter. Anonymous, you don't have to wonder what will happen to the horses with the disabilities that were most likely caused by a human in the first place. I can tell you their headed over the border!
It's very important that SB311 does pass so BLM can't round up more, the racing industry has to downsize, and irresponsible owners will be brought to a minimum.
We all have to check out articles about abandoned horses carefully. There has been a recent flurry of news articles that seem alarming until they are checked out. Over 50 stories of horse abandonment in a variety of locations have been proven to be false so far.
I have no doubt that some horses are truly being abandoned for a variety of reasons. However, since kill buyers are still aggressively buying horses for export to slaughter, any of these irresponsible horses owners could have taken that option instead of abandonment.
But they didn't, so the slaughter house closures in the U.S. apparently are not a factor in horse abandonment or abuse. I blame any increase on the catastrophic record-breaking drought and the conversion of many hayfields to corn for ethanol production.
Until I see some statistics on abandonment actually increasing, however, I have found that I can't depend on the media for correct information.
Just an amazing story....
Anyone wishing to make a contribution to help shelter and feed our 10 horses so they do not become a burden at an animal shelter is welcome to make a donation for their welfare. william.papczun@live.com
That Oregonian story isn't a good source of info about abandoned horses, if it's the same one I'm thinking of. The under sheriff who was "quoted", for instance, stated later that both the number of abandoned horses was misprinted (he said there was only one case of an actual abandoned horse), and much of the other information was provided by the pro-horse slaughter folks. (The paper refused to print a retraction>) You can get more details from an online report called "Deleting the Fiction" by John Holland and others.
--Danny Adams
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