Terri    You make some good points.....Now if peple were so wanting these horses, how did they come to get loaded onto a dbl decker livestock trailer and shipped to an auction many, many miles away?

And if the flood of apps is just an emotional response, what is going to happen to these horses 2 or 3 years down the line?  When the emotional response wears off and the reality of feeding, shoeing and maintaining a draft horse, not a riding horse, altho draft horses can be ridden but you need a draft horse sized saddle........

Feed alone will kill a budget.  Of course some may decide to pay for feed instead of gas.  I've thought of finding a cart and someone to train my horses to pull so I can drive the kids to school.

Why adopted out? Mostly as to pay for their board, feed, current vet bills, and arrange to haul them to another auction at this point would cost the insurance company more than they would get for these horses at an auction. Especially the ones that were extremely banged up and that they are now quarantined due to an outbreak of strangles. Not sure if they contracted it at the last auction or if it came from another source. Either way, they aren't going anywhere soon. However, donated to the rescue, they will likely get a nice tax right off with no further expense. Not to mention better press than sending them to a slaughter auction would.

Edited to add. This is an extremely experienced rescue, with the flood of adopters, they will be able to pick and choose the best qualified to take in a draft baby.

Not to mention better press than sending them to a slaughter auction would.

Now how would they get bad press for that.  The US slaughter houses are closed and if they are sent out of country that is beyond the insurance companies control.  They were bound for another auction anyway "to be sold to the amish for work animals"  They are still suitable for that.  Since they were in the ins companies posession they are still responsible for the feed and board up to this point. 

Oh well.  I guess as long as they are taken care of it doens't really matter.

Well d--n,  I have a beautiful black AQHA reg. gelding 01 model, trail ridden, shown in walk trot, high lined, goes english or western, and I CANNOT get him sold. 

The story behind how he came here is a friend of mine had him and HATED him and he HATED her;  so I bought him before one of them killed the other.  That was 2 and 1/2 years ago.  Since he has been here, he has been gelded (that happened immediately) and handled daily.  Now that he is a gentle, nice, trained horse, no one wants him.  Guess I will just have to EAT him.

Wow, so many people wanna eat horses here.  Well, you can always go uup to Montreal.

This is not the first time horses involved in an accident like this have been adopted out after the insurance company paid a claim. I believe the horses involved in the MO accident last year were adopted out as well. And it is certainly better press than sending the horses down the road.

Well Rose you could try adopting him out for $600 to $800 and I'll bet someone will snatch him up then.

And legislation SLOWLY grinds thru Illinois...

http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=11522

The sponsor of a proposed Illinois measure designed to enhance horse transport safety has tabled a controversial amendment that equine advocates denounced as unacceptable.

"Certainly explains why they never wreck on a highway that would be a direct/faster/safer way to their destination. Hard to avoid scales and inspections that way"

I'm sorry, I'm sick and have read this many times and still don't understand what you are saying here with what I have bolded in your statement. It maybe the medicine in my head not letting me understand right now, could you explain this part to me.......

I guess I should have worded it interstate or major highway, as many of these wrecks do happen on technically highways. There is a big difference between most state highways and major interstates. There are fewer to no scales (also known as weigh stations or truck inspection stations) on state highways. For where this guy was coming from and going to there were interstates that would have been a better choice. However it's very apparent these people did not want to have to stop at scales. I've yet to see a double decker filled with horses on an interstate when traveling. Not that I would want to, but hey if it's what they are doing is legal why would they all avoid the interstates?

By staying off the larger interstates these drivers can avoid the scales, where the driver would have to show where the horses originated from and their destination. Not to mention have the necessary paperwork (health certificates and coggins) for each and every horse. Also his log showing hours/miles driven etc. Besides the DOT (Department of Transportation) regulations concerning the hours the driver can drive without breaks, there are also regulations that govern how long the horses can be transported without water and feed breaks. Coggins they would likely have if the horses came from an auction, but I doubt these guys want to spend the money on nearly 60 health certificates from a veterinarian for horses they intend on selling for slaughter. Not to mention the cost of finding feed lots to stop at to feed and water the horses would add another expense. As with everything in the world it's all about the money.

As for the destination, the driver could still lie about what the horses ultimate fate was, but would have to have health certificates and coggins on him of all the animals on the trailer. The owner of these particular horses had to fax the coggins and such to the authorities as the driver had none of the appropriate paperwork on him, which makes it very apparent he was avoiding scales intentionally. I'm pretty sure one of the fines he received was not having the appropriate paperwork for the animals.

Hope this helps, but at least now I know who gave me this cold.

edited to correct a redundancy.

Yeah, that's it in a much more concise answer.