It is easy to write papers......not so easy to finance keeping a bunch of horses.  Remember the Craigs List thread.  Just adore people who want to tell me what to do.....I call them talking heads.....just sit around and carp.....If one never does anything except yap, then one cannot fail;  well until the voice gives out.

Please invite all these goody 2 shoes to my bbq.  Since I cannot sell my horse because there is no market and I canot send it to slaughter because there is no market, I am going to cut him up myself and bbq him.  If you all really do not want this to happen, then send lots of $$$$ real quick.

Well said.  Hey Rose, I will bring the Potato Salad...lol..

Seriously, we may not agree on other issues, but I do agree on this.  I think there are too many nondescript horses that do need to go to slaughter.  Obviously folks don't want them for a reason.  Whether financial, medical issues, behavioral issues, etc.

When I visited a slaughter pen down in Ohio, none of the horses there would have interested me at all.  Majority were previously Amish owned and worked till they couldn't work no more.  Very rarely did I see anything that would have been a good candidate for rehab.   I talked to the guy who owned the place and he said 90% didn't have any sort of papers at all.  Occasionaly he would get one in with papers, but mostly it was due to behavioral, medical, or age issues they ended up there. 

I don't view these men as callous, in fact this guy was a very nice guy.  This was his line of work, he was following in his fathers, and grandfathers footsteps.

Some may consider me a hypocrite because I would like to import a horse, but I can not get this breed anywhere in USA as non have been exported to date, and sure as heck wouldn't find one at a slaughter yard.  So it is just "wishful" dreaming.

Not all slaughter horses are in such dire need to be eaten:

Slaughter horse. Good thing they stopped at another auction before finishing the trip to Cavel.

At the auction.

I know, I've shared these before and will again if need be. Yes not all slaughter horses have the potential to be good looking, good horses with proper care, but way too many of them do.

The saddest thing is I've seen too many horses at auctions to go to slaughter that should have been humanly put down likely days before the auction. Fractured knees and such, but anything to save and maybe make a buck I guess. 

Responsible breeding programs would easily end the need for slaughter and this topic would be a moot point... but then, those people don't read these posts or the news. If you cannot feed,(clothe?), or educate it, and provide a decent life for it... Don't Have It!

Sounds like an ad for birth control and welfare. 

Well said Terri

and thank you Mrs;  that is what these boards are about....the free exchange of info and ops

The problem is no one can predict their future, no matter how well you think you plan for things.  That is what happened to many folks.  They had to sell their horses, you can not control what the person does once they have the bill of sale in their hands.  It becomes a moot point.  You no longer have a right to that horse as you have relinquished ownership. 

For those that support anti slaughter I suggest you go to the auctions or craigslist and get your fill of cheap horses and take them off other folks hands. 

There will always be breeding, as it is necessary to continue bloodlines, good conformation, etc.   You will always have those who show, race, do endurance, and other various equine sports.   People will continue to breed for bigger and better.  You will always have folks who do indiscriminately breed because they CHOOSE not to get educated.   You can't force common sense on them.  These are the folks who are contributing to the over population.  But you can't change a brick wall.  You won't stop someone who wants to have a foal because they think it is cutsie wootsie...but then because of the lack of experience, the foal grows up to be a horse with an attitude.   There are numerous factors to the large amount of unwanted horses.  You can't lay the blame on one factor.  Everytime you pay to go see a Rodeo you are contributing, everytime you watch the races on tv you are contributing, everytime you pay to have a kid ride a pony at the carnival you are contributing, everytime you go watch Arabian Nights or one of those dinner shows, you are contributing, everytime you or a friend rent a horse for a trail ride or go to a Dude Ranch you are contributing.  So there isn't just the breeder, but there is also the consumer. 

I think that slaughter needs to be reinstated or as Rose has said, only the rich will be able to enjoy the horses, which is definitely going backwards.  Until then all those against slaughter I hope you plan on bailing out those unwanted horses, because they are now suffering even worse than what a captive bolt would be doing.  Slow starvation is more cruel in my eyes.

Loveduffy, easier said than done.Many vets will refuse to euthenize a healthy horse or one they feel can find another home, or if it is too vicious to get close up to. You also have the situation where folks who work under contract think they have a great job, have money saved up etc.  They make plans in case they have to find new homes for their horses, but what has happened is many of those "backup" homes are now in dire straits as well.  Nothing is ever set in stone. 

You could have the best plan in the world but circumstances change.  Rescues are filled to the max. There is one I donate to a couple times of year.  Horses Haven in Michigan.  They have a great reputation, but unfortunately they have had to TURN AWAY lots of horses.  They are inundated on a daily basis with phone calls and emails.   Normally they don't besiege donors with frequent emails and postcards, but are having to now to maintain.  But now us donors are getting to the point where we have to say no more and take care of our own. 

As revolting as it may be, slaughter is a necessary evil. Folks can keep their heads in the sand all they want, but horses are slowly dying of starvation while they ignore the mess they made. 

Animal control officers are swamped with neglect calls, but they haven't done anything because they are lacking funding.   They can't afford to take these abandoned horses in. 

It is a culmination of things, economy, job loss, fuel prices (which are one of the LOWEST in the world), and the end of slaughter in the USA. 

The horses have to suffer more going to Mexico. It would be far more humane to open several plants in the USA and have them heavily monitored. 

I'm not about to get into the slaughter/no slaughter debate,having had to donate a blind horse to a rescue facility (because I wasn't about to let him go to slaughter,he was still ridable under controlled enviroment) and my husband had to let a Saddlebred go to slaughter once because the horse had foundered,and he had worked with him/vet/farrier over a yr without results.

But the only two video clips I have seen on national news from a slaughterhouse were enough to brand the scene on my mind forever.Horse strung up like a deer,still kicking and struggling,is what I saw.All I have to say.I don't even WANT to talk about it.

alot of folks don't realize that when an animal or even a human dies the body doesn't automatically "shut off".  Being an EMT and a law enforcement officer I have seen the body continue to shake even after the heart stops or brain activity ceases.  The nervous system takes time to shut down and oft times will react.  When you see someone slump over an die on tv it is "Hollywood".  People very rarely do that, as with animals.  There are involuntary shudders and reactions.  I would definitely say don't go into the medical field if that bothered you. 

I am not going to debate this anymore.  Just tired of hearing how better off the horses are....yep starving slowly while fending for themselves is soooo much better. 

OMG,I should have found this out 36 years ago,when I went through nursing school at the age of 18!!!! Gee,think of all this time that I could have been doing something else,because it "bothered" me to see somebody die!

I know all about what YOU'RE talking about,mam.That's not what I'm talking about,either,and I said I wasn't going to debate slaughter nor the humanity of it.People have to do what they have to do.A lot of the starving horse standing around are a result of deliberate neglect and abuse,though,not someone that has come onto hard times and out of necessity have given up on feeding a horse.If a person can't afford a horse any longer,and want to send it to slaughter,why not just have a backhoe dig a hole and either have a vet euthanize it,or shoot it yourself? Well,what about it? Isn't that OK?Just so  you'd know you're preaching to the choir.You're a paramedic and a cop,or whatever,I'm a registered nurse.

So I've seen plenty of folks die.Very few have I seen jerk and struggle and thrash about after death,however.VERY VERY few.Maybe once,if I think about it hard enough.It wasn't pretty,either.

Yes, you are right about the post death movement. As someone who has held 8 horses as they have been euthanized in the last 40+ years, I can tell you that a horse's reaction to the drugs varies, especially depending on the health of the horse at the time of the administration. A horse with a broken leg can be in otherwise great health, for example, vs. a 40 year old pony who the vet does not think can walk to the grave site for the administration of the drugs without collapsing. Some have a lot of movement after the heart stops, some do not.

Brenda

Yvette - Your horse that you saved is beautiful.  There are so many messages that tell it like it is.  I understand the horses need to treated humanly throughout their journey and killed quickly.  I do not agree that horse slaughter places should be closed in the United States.  There should be places where horses can go and be put down gracefully.  I wish I had a crystal ball and tell you all my horses will always have a place with us.  You never know what is going to happen.  Bad things happen to good people.  I am sure that my vet would do everything in his power to help us either find a place or find someone that would take them to auction or put them to rest rather than find them starved and neglected.  From what I have read we all understand what it takes to take care of animals.  What it also takes is intelligence to know when not to flood the market with more than what the market can hold.