NOVEMBER 1995 BACK ISSUE

Part of Horse Previews Magazine website. Posted on 11/1/95; 10:00:00 AM.

Saving Horses From Slaughter

Saving Horses From Slaughter

For horse slaughter to disappear, horsepeople would have to change the way they do business. Animal interest groups focus on four areas in their efforts to reduce the number of horses who end up going to the killers.

Prevention of overbreeding
Short of strict breeding regulation, animal advocates seek to educate breeders on the consequences of producing an oversupply of horses. "Those in the breeding business need to be responsible to not only preserve the integrity of the breed but not to breed unwanted horses," says Robin Lohnes, executive director of the American Horse Protection Association (AHPA). Of particular concern to animal interest groups is the production of pregnant mare urine (PMU), a substance used in the manufacture of the human estrogen-replacement drug Premarin(TM). Tens of thousands of mares are bred annually to this end, with at least some of the resulting foals being sent to auction or feedlots and ultimately slaughtered for human consumption.

Owner education
Some horses end up being slaughtered because their owners cannot afford to care for them. As a result, says Lohnes, "Our emphasis has always been on educating people that it's great to own a horse, but it's definitely a responsibility that people shouldn't undertake unless they have asked themselves serious questions about economics."

Euthanasia
Most groups urge owners to euthanatize aged or incapacitated horses instead of sending them to auction or slaughter; some organizations will destroy and dispose of horses for owners who are unable to bring themselves to do so or who cannot afford it. "We encourage people to plan for the horse's eventual demise," says Marc Paulhus, director of equine protection at the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). "If the horse is going to be lame or aged to the point of suffering, we believe that the horse should be euthanatized and the body disposed of burial or rendering."

Auction reserves and sales contracts
A reserve price of $1.05 per pound or more, an amount above the current killer price, protects auction horses from selling for meat, but if the final bid doesn't reach the reserve, the owner has to take the horse back. Sellers in private sales can implement a contract to bar the buyer from reselling a horse to slaughter, but the contract is void if the horse goes to a subsequent owner. The HSUS (202-452-1100) can provide a sample contract.

Reproduced from Equus 217 page 44 by request of a Horse Previews reader.