PART TWO:
If you are a Bureau Valley Veterinary Service customer (Princeton, IL), you will be pleased to know that the cost to euthanize your horse is approximately $50, plus fees for vet transport and possibly emergency fees. Compared to the $225 national average, that is pretty cheap. If you have a farmer with a backhoe you are also doing pretty well. If you don’t have a backhoe you have to call a renderer—which will cost you at least $250 because horses are considered “companion animals”.
For those horse owners who don’t euthanize and bury their horses, they have to look at other means—selling, possibly to a person who is willing to have an older, injured, or dangerous horse, but also quite possibly to a kill buyer.
After the slaughter ban in 2007, horses had to be shipped to Canada or Mexico for slaughter.
On June 11, 2011, an independent entity, the US Government Accountability Office, studied how the effect of banning horse slaughter in the US affected the horse industry. According to the study, there was a 148% increase of shipments to Canada, and 660% to Mexico. If you are a “pro-ban” advocate, consider how many more horses are going to Mexico and how long it takes to transport to Mexico. Also consider the health regulations that Mexico has—or does not have. Not only is the ban affecting the safety of a horse being transported a long distance with very little care, it is now quite potentially endangering human lives by a lack of government regulations. We can argue all we want about the horrors of an American slaughter house, but it is nothing compared to the foreign houses.
“GAO analysis of horse sale data estimates that closing domestic horse slaughtering facilities significantly and negatively affected lower-to-medium priced horses …” Also decided was that “the economic downturn reduced prices for all horses by 4 to 5 percent.” The horse market was never something to be envied unless you were with some of the top-dollar accounts. It is said that you are not in horses to make money, but to lose it. Now good horses that would have been worth $2,000-$3,000 are seen going for $20 at the local auction. Many are also being given away because people can’t afford the feed.
“[S]tate, local government, and animal welfare organizations report a rise in investigations for horse neglect and more abandoned horses since 2007” according to GAO. “California, Texas, and Florida reported more horses abandoned on private or state land since 2007.” Animal shelters are not only full—they are overflowing with horses to adopt. Because there is no market in the low end of the horse business, some owners are releasing their horses. What does this mean for the horse? If they are released by themselves they do not have the protection from predators that a herd environment would provide. Mountain lions, feral dogs, ignorant hunters—all hazards to a domestic horse. If the horse has not had good farrier work what is to become of its feet in rocky places? If they are released in a desert atmosphere will it find food and water?
From the slaughterhouse to the horse market to the animal shelters—it is a process of checks-and-balances with each side needing to be weighed with its pros and cons.
Link to GAO research and in-depth report:
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