"The question is not, "Can they reason?" nor, "Can they talk?" but rather, "Can they suffer?" ~Jeremy Bentham
Unfortunately horses in the United States are at risk of being shipped to the slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico.
To see a video of why we save horses, click here! (warning: some graphic images!)
Q: Why would someone ever sell their horse to a slaughterhouse?
The average horse owner does not sell his horse directly to a slaughterhouse, but all too often the horse does wind up there after a while through local riding academies or horse dealers.
Q:What is so bad about a horse going to the slaughterhouse?
The slaughterhouse is not equivilant to euthanasia. The road to the slaughterhouse is a scary and painful one. It begins at a horse auction where horses are nervous and rough handled. The people handing the horses from this point on are not animals lovers, so they are often mistreated. Once the "kill buyers" purchase a horse it is shipped to a slaughterhouse in another country. This trip is long and horses are packed into trailers (sometimes made for cows) and scared. According to the drivers, time is money so they do not stop to check on the horses or let them drink. Even when a horse falls on the dirty trailer floor, they do not know it until they arrive at the slaughterhouse... and by then the horse has often been trampled. This whole process may take days and the horses are mishandled and scared the entire time. Horses that are down and cannot get up are often moved with tractor buckets which is very painful. There are some laws that address the shipping and handling of horses but they are all too often ignored and not enforced by anyone.
Q: What type of horses go to slaughterhouses?
Horses of any age, breed, size, career. Racehorses, foals, carriage horses, minis, show horses and ponies, trail horses, family horses, etc.
Q: Why don't owners just sell their horses to nice people?
Upkeep for a horse is often $1,000+ a month. If an owner loses her job, moves, gets divorced, or just cant afford it anymore, she will often give the horse away so the bills stop. Many times this is done with the best of intentions, but unfortunately many horse dealers sell to slaughterhouses, not nice, happy families.
Q: Why do racehorses wind up going to slaughter?
Racehorses are young, and are not trained to do anything more than gallop around a track. They require an advanced rider, lots of training and often have track related injuries, making them difficult to sell. As soon as a horse can no longer race many owners want to stop paying any bills immediately, even if that means sending a horse to the slaughterhouse. Luckily some tracks are starting an anti-slaughter policy.
Q: Is there anything I can do to prevent my own horse from winding up at a slaughterhouse?
The ONLY way to truly protect your horse is to realize that, when you buy a horse it is a lifetime commitment. If you must sell the horse make sure that you get a contract signed by the buyer/adopter saying that if he or she can no longer keep the horse, they must give it back to you. It's amazing how often people's situations change and those who "promise to keep the horse forever" cannot fulfill their end of the deal. I have seen horses who are VERY loved and spoiled by family members wind up at auctions years down the road because they just got into the wrong hands.
For more statistics and information about auctions and slaughterhouses click on the following links.