13 horses saved from slaughter

There is a farm near me that buys horses on the cheap and then trucks them to Canada for slaughter. He has a license (or whatever the states gives livestock haulers) to do this. I am not trying to start an anti slaughter conversation. However for almost a month he has had about 18 horses in his fields waiting to be trucked. They had 1 round bale at at time, which is fine for the leaders of the herd, not so good for the lower horses. It got to be too much for people to handle and I have it from an excellent source all the horses have been removed from the slaughter bound farm. Some were returned to old owners who did not know that is what had happened to their horse after making arrangements with a local stable. Some were bought before the State of Vermont Ag department got involved. The bulk of the horses were removed with the consent of the Ag department and by having enough money pass to the hands of the farmer who was determined to take them to Canada for horse steaks and burgers.

There are 13 horses at one farm in quarantine for 45 days. All other horses have been removed from that property to allow for this to happen.

I have heard that the horses are all in pretty good condition with the exception of one, whose body score is about 1.3. She is being kept in the barn where she can eat in peace. No heroics will be used to keep this mare alive, she will just be given a chance to live her life comfortably as long as she can. If it appears she is suffering she will be put down. A lot of the horses are Arabs, but there are also Thoroughbreds and Quarterhorses. There is some with nice color (if that is what you are into).

I am writting because as you can imagine 13 extra horses to care for is going to be expensive. Spring Hill Horse Rescue has agreed to help with the funding and this also gives anybody who would like to donate some money the ability to do it through Spring Hill and get a tax deduction.

They are also looking for hay, either in round bales or square bales. If you have any extra please contact me and we can figure out a way to get it to the farm that is housing the horses.

Once the horses are done with the 45 day deal they will be able to go to new homes. As news comes out and pictures are taken I will send that information along to anybody that would like to have it.

Thanks,

Jean