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A WHITE PAPER ON ELIMINATING EQUINE SLAUGHTER
December, 2010
By Allen Warren
Horse Harbor Foundation, Inc.
Poulsbo, Washington
THE FOLLOWING LEADING EQUINE RESCUE SANCTUARY OPERATORS SERVED AS A
RESOURCE GROUP FOR THIS PAPER AND ALL CAN BE CONTACTED DIRECTLY FOR
SPECIFIC INFORMATION REGARDING THEIR REGIONS OF THE COUNTRY:
Jerry Finch, Habitat for Horses, Texas; Hilary Wood, Front Range Equine
Rescue, Colorado; Grace Belcuore, California Equine Retirement
Foundation, California; Teresa Paradis, Live & Let Live Farm, New
Hampshire; Katie Merwick, Second Chance Ranch, Washington, and Melanie
Higdon, Hidden Springs Equine Rescue, Florida.
THERE IS A VIABLE ALTERNATIVE TO THE CONTINUED SLAUGHTER OF U.S. HORSES
IF THE COMMERCIAL EQUINE INDUSTRY PARTICIPATES
According to its proponents, if the slaughter of America's displaced
horses in Canada and Mexico were to be halted tomorrow, there would be
approximately 100,000 needing to be dealt with each year by alternative
means which they claim do not exist today.
Those that would continue the practice of disposing of these companion
animals, never bred or raised to be part of the food chain, and that
total only about 1% of the total U.S. population of horses each year,
argue that equine slaughter for human consumption abroad is the only
economical way to handle what they call the "unwanted" horse problem.
The purpose of this paper is to prove that not only does an alternative
already exist, but that it can be quickly expanded to accommodate
America's not unwanted, but displaced horses if the commercial equine
industry will stop using slaughter as a dumping ground for its byproduct
and participate in providing for the true welfare of the animals upon
which its businesses are based.
Elimination of horse slaughter would also remove the present incentive
for bad equine husbandry and therefore reduce the number of displaced
horses in itself by the simple laws of supply and demand, and also serve
to improve the quality of all breeds. As one breeder who previewed this
paper stated, “Simple logic-no slaughter, no profit for the rancher at
the auction yard. No demand, no kill buyers at the auction. The rancher
then reduces his breeding program substantially.”
That total of 100,000 horses sounds overwhelming until broken down by
the number in the pipeline at any one point in time, and that is the
factor that makes this alternative presented here viable.
One hundred thousand horses annually translates to 8,333 per month.
Divide this number by the 48 contiguous states these horses are found in
and the average is only 174 per month per state. Broken down even
further into the weekly cycle of livestock auctions and the number of
horses that actually must be dealt with at any one point in time is on
average only about 40 per week in each state.
The ultimate solution for homeless horses is to reduce this number
dramatically through more responsible breeding practices, a massive
public education effort to make both current and potential owners aware
of their lifelong responsibility to companion animals that can live 30
years and other measures. However, a viable interim alternative for
re-homing displaced horses does exist today if the commercial equine
industry and the horse rescue sanctuary community join forces instead of
battling over this issue.
It is indeed a sad state of affairs that all over the country equine
rescuers are being forced to bid against kill buyers to save horses,
using financial resources that could better be used for expanding and
caring for those in their sanctuaries and foster home networks. These
are supported almost entirely by charity with virtually no help from the
$102 billion a year industry from which the problem stems.
Proponents of equine slaughter claim that the nation's horse rescue
sanctuary resource is inadequate to handle displaced and neglected
horses and many are even trying to revive equine slaughter in the United
States based on this premise.
The fact is that many leading equine rescue sanctuary operators across
the country have developed innovative new programs since the recession
began in 2008 to save more horses than ever displaced by the economy.
This places them in a unique position today to immediately play a major
role in re-homing and caring for the country’s displaced horse
population at this time, thus eliminating the perceived need for equine
slaughter while long term measures are implemented to reduce the numbers
needing re-homing in the future.
Another myth being perpetuated at the moment by those who do or would
profit from equine slaughter is that the nation's equine sanctuary
resource is at capacity because of the current economy and therefore
there is no place for homeless horses to go other than slaughter. The
simple fact is that rescue sanctuaries are and always have been at
capacity. When a space opens up either to adoption or loss of a horse
due to natural death or euthanasia brought about for medical reasons,
another immediately takes it place. That is the way they have always
operated.
New programs however, such as in-place rescue, in which dedicated but
financially challenged horse owners are provided direct aid to keep
their animals in safe homes, have prevented thousands from being
neglected or displaced already and these efforts are being expanded. The
innovative Oregon Hay Bank program, created and operated by horse
rescuers, has kept 800 horses in their current homes since January 2009
in that state alone.
A recent survey by the National Equine Resource Network revealed that
about 20 per cent of all rescue sanctuaries responding have similar
feeding programs in place in their areas of operation across the
country, effectively doubling and tripling their actual resident
capacity since every horse that doesn't need to be rescued provides a
space for one that does.
Further, the population of horses in sanctuaries is in constant flux,
with openings occurring on a regular basis. A recent study by the
University of California Davis indicates that four out everyfive horses
that are taken in by rescue sanctuaries are then adopted out to new
private owners, creating a constant stream of openings for more needing
re-homing.
A national pilot program, funded by a private donor, is already in place
this winter in which 1,000 horses are targeted for in-place rescue with
aid to qualified owners ranging from hay and feed, farrier and vet
services and even facility repair when safety or containment are a
factor. A total of $200,000 has been provided to selected rescue
sanctuaries around the country for this equine crisis intervention
program, and that translates to an investment of only $200 per horse on
average to keep these horses in their current homes and out of the
displaced population.
All America's horse rescue community needs to provide a viable
alternative to slaughter is the financial support of the equine industry
itself, and a simple way to provide this is to add a long-term care and
re-homing surcharge to the fee for every horse being registered in the
country each year.
The various U.S. breed registries add approximately 500,000 horses to
their rolls each year, and a surcharge of $25 (Which could be viewed as
a one-time long-term care insurance premium for these animals) would
provide $12,500,000 annually toward making sure they never suffer the
horrors of the slaughter house. And this would cost the registries
nothing because the cost is passed along to the end consumer, the horse
owner.
Since all breed registries have in their mission statements that they
are dedicated to the welfare of their horses, this is a much more moral
and ethical way to honor those commitments and would unquestionably
resonate well with their ultimate constituency, individual horse owners
themselves. If the funds being used for lobbying by the major breed
organizations today to keep slaughter are redirected to re-homing and
long term care when necessary instead, it would add millions more to
this effort.
A SIX - POINT PLAN TO ELIMINATE THE SLAUGHTER OF AMERICA'S HORSES
The following programs are not theoretical, but have already been
developed and implemented by the country's equine rescue community, and
if expanded by funding from the industry, can eliminate the perceived
need to send our horses off to slaughter for human consumption abroad in
a relatively short period of time.
1. The creation of state and regional managed reserves to hold large
numbers of horses safely until they can be absorbed back into the
system. HSUS has already established two of these as a model and the
cost for quartering and properly caring for each horse is miniscule
compared to those on smaller sanctuaries. These can be established and
operated by existing rescue organizations in each state working
cooperatively and sharing the facility. Since much of America's farm and
ranch land lies fallow at this time and many states have provisions for
taking those dedicated to animal sanctuaries off the tax rolls, land
owners will have the incentive to donate the use of these on long-term
lease arrangements, thus minimizing the cost of establishing them.
2. Selected expansion of existing sanctuary capacity for rescues that
establish business plans allowing them to accommodate and care for
additional horses in their operations if more facility space is
provided. Already many leading sanctuary operators around the country
have expanded their rescue herds to deal with the crisis caused by the
economy, and many more could if provided with the necessary funds to do
so. Simply stated, if sanctuaries are at capacity, make them larger so
they can accept more horses.
3. Expand existing and develop new sponsored foster home networks in
which rescued horses are placed and supported with private individuals
who have the facility and desire to keep horses, but are financially
unable to. Interestingly, the economy has created more candidates for
this than ever before as owners have had to give up their own horses,
but still have the facility to provide a home for those owned by
nonprofit sanctuaries. The largest pure equine sanctuary in the country
today has the majority of its rescued horses placed in foster homes in
three states and many others have these on a smaller scale, so the
experience and expertise for helping other sanctuary operators develop
them quickly is already in place. The cost for keeping a horse in a
foster home is a fraction of that for one quartered on a sanctuary
itself since there is no fixed overhead expense.
4. Expand the concept of in-place rescue to keep more horses with
dedicated and committed owners in their current homes with temporary
financial or feeding assistance. The nationwide pilot program mentioned
is privately funded and a number of selected nonprofit sanctuaries are
providing local horse owners who qualify with financial assistance for
feeding, minor vet procedures, farrier work and other equine needs if
they agree to a sustainability plan to keep their horses. This is
considered a hand up, not a hand out and the goal of this program is to
keep 1,000 horses in their current homes this winter. The investment to
do this average only $200 per horse and this program can be rapidly
expanded nationwide since the mechanics are already in place. Still
another established program is emergency feeding assistance efforts
being carried out throughout the country. The Oregon Hay Bank was also
mentioned earlier and there are many smaller ones operated by rescue
sanctuaries themselves with grants and public donations. With funding
from the equine industry these efforts can be expanded immediately and
directly benefit its end consumer, the private horse owner.
5. The creation of state and regional training centers and networks, in
which younger, healthier horses, which represent most of those going to
slaughter today, can receive the training they need to lead productive
lives and therefore be much more eligible for adoption to new homes.
This can be based on the existing T.R.O.T.T. program for off-the-track
Thoroughbreds which has been successfully implemented in California and
the various mustang training competitions designed to make wild horses
more adoptable. Again, there is nothing to invent in a program such as
this, there are models already in place. Although some rescue sanctuary
operators have the ability to train the younger, healthier horses being
saved today, having this availability for those who do not would make
many more of the horses in their herds adoptable, thus creating openings
for more displaced horses. Also placing rescued horses in centers or
with private trainers in these networks would provide temporary
quartering for them, further alleviating the strain on the sanctuaries
themselves.
6. A relatively new development in equine rescue, a growing network of
sanctuary operators who work together to place horses they cannot accept
themselves, has saved literally thousands of horses in the past two
years. An informal regional group of a dozen in the Pacific Northwest
has been able to place hundreds by posting horses needing new homes and
sharing information. The establishment this year of the National Equine
Resource Network provides a vehicle for not only creating and
formalizing a national placement network, but also can be a resource for
effectively distributing funding from the industry as envisioned in this
paper. Currently there are two individuals who post horses nationally
needing re-homing that are listed directly or on various websites, and
their records more than anything else belie the claim that only unwanted
horses go to slaughter. The owners posting the vast majority of these
horses have found themselves unable to keep them due to unemployment and
other reasons created by the economy and are desperate to find them new
homes to avoid slaughter for their beloved animals.
CONCLUSION
There is an almost immediate and viable alternative to the continued
slaughter of America's displaced and homeless horses. It will require
the country's commercial equine industry and horse rescue sanctuary
operators to join forces, with rescuers taking on the task of
implementing the programs described above and others, and the industry
accepting financial responsibility for its byproduct. It's first and
foremost about the welfare of the horses. There can be no debate that
the plan offered here is much more humane than slaughter in terms of
their welfare. Public sentiment is overwhelmingly against equine
slaughter. Every true horse lover, no matter what their position on the
issue today, would like to see it end. In one way or another, it will
either through legislation banning it or economic conditions such as the
new regulations imposed on horse meat in Europe decimating the market.
Now is the perfect time to act proactively and find a solution that
works for all concerned, especially for our horses.
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