Guest Author - Susan Hopf
Tough economic times sometimes force people into decisions that they would not ordinarily entertain. Horses and all the animals for which we care rely on us for everything. They trust us to feed them on time and provide adequate shelter and medical intervention when necessary – above all they trust us to cause them no suffering. Sadly horses are made to suffer all too often. Whether through lack of understanding or blatant abuse horses cannot understand the reason for such treatment all they know is pain and emotional distress. When people that obtain horses for whatever reason no longer wish to keep them they often wind up at auction where most are sold for meat.
Horse slaughter has been banned in several states in the US and the failure to appropriate money for USDA inspections has caused the shut down of the few remaining slaughter facilities. However Mexico and Canada still partake in the consumption of horsemeat. Horses are gathered by many means – some by legal auction sales and others by thievery – either way these animals, after being ripped from a home that they thought of as safe, are then transported thousands of miles, penned in holding facilities that offer them no food, water or kindness to await a miserable death. They do not understand that those who were once caring for them were no longer able or no longer wanted to take care.
Horses bond with their human caretakers and recent scientific evidence points to the conclusion that they actually never forget humans that have treated them well and in contrast nor do they forget those that have mishandled them. To dispose of a horse because you can no longer afford to maintain this animal, an animal that has, no doubt, served you with as generous a heart as most equines offer, is an extremely hard decision – if such money restraints exist humane euthanasia is also often too expensive a consideration despite being the only truly humane end to a bond that must be broken. Despite the expense you must find a way to be responsible toward your four-legged wards - it is the kindest end one can offer.
