But you can help. If you live near New Holland, you can go there and literally outbid these people. Or more easily, you can help donate to Omega Horse Rescue. See their Facebook site here.
Kelly Smith uses her time and tremendous energy to gather forces to help save these horses from slaughter. She gathers money, people, interested buyers who agree to take these horses so they have life, a purpose. Many are in bad condition. Some need medical attention. Others just need a home with love. You can help Kelly by going to her Facebook page, donating money, helping spread the word about this terrible situation that does indeed exist in our own backyard.
Please donate your time or your money if you can. Here is a link for a donation.
Help save a horse today. Help Kelly if you live near her in PA by helping to trailer a horse, finding a home for one that needs to be cared for. It is money and time well spent. Ask me how I know?
Donations raised also benefit the Rescue’s Slaughter/Rescue Fund* or the Humane Euthanasia Fund** (see footnote).
The Rescue is grateful for donations of any amount, from individuals, families, groups or businesses. Donations to the Rescue,
a 501(c)3 non-profit, are tax-deductible.
It turns my stomach. Thank you for the enlightening post. I live on the West Coast and consider horses part of our natural terrain. A day doesn't go buy that I remind myself of how lucky I am to see these magnificent creatures. Thank you for sharing the information on where to donate, educating us, and shouting out to the people who make a difference daily! Thank you!!!
ReplyDeleteSharon
The House of Hampton
Just an FYI the EU, the governing body re; food imports, has banned Horsemeat from Mexico, I think effective next month. This is due to the IEDs not being a reliable source of documentation of the medications the horse has received in it's lifetime. Simple, every day drugs [Bute, dewormer] and maintenance meds [joint supplements] are banned for use in animals intended for human consumption. The list is really long and would surprise most horseman.
ReplyDeleteOf course those of us with horses understand those items are readily administered by owners all the time, with no documentation. So when a horse goes through a sale they come with the IED filled out by... and there's the problem. Some of these killbuyers fill them out themselves, basically lying about the time they've had the horse and their knowledge of what meds the horse has/has not been given. Sometimes the seller fills it out, and lies because they don't care where the horse ends up, or fills it out not knowing the entirety of that horses medical history.
Those of us fighting to get slaughter banned are hoping that, considering that the same process and documentation that they banned in Mexico exists in Canada, the EU will ban horsemeat from Canada soon also.
We can hope.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteLate BloomersJanuary 28, 2015 at 9:58 AM- deleting because I keep making errors!
Wanted to add, if you are not near New Holland, and want to help, most areas have an auction just like New Hollands and horses there can go very cheap... the rescue I volunteer with has a good relationship with the auctioneer at the sale near us, who has given her horses in the past because the horse needed a soft place to land.
Just be aware that horses coming out of these sales can be drugged, including to improve their temperament, and soundness. If you buy a horse this way, please be prepared to deal with anything and everything from injuries, illness and training holes. We got a lovely TB mare years ago, and a few weeks later she was lame, diagnostics showed she had a knee broken in several places... we spent $$$ buying her, caring for her, for vetting and finally to put her down. For every Happy Ending there are a couple of heartbreakers too, being prepared for that is key, IMO.
This is not an avenue I would suggest most amateurs get a horse... however most rescues have horses they've saved and evaluated available for adoption, so you know what you're getting when you adopt... and this frees up a spot at that rescue for another animal to be saved. Furthermore, most good rescues want to insure that their horses stay safe for life and have a clause in their contract indicating if the relationship fails, the horse MUST go back to the rescue. So if you adopt a horse and it doesn't work out, the horse has a safe place to go back to and you are not 'stuck' with a horse hat doesn't suit your needs or ability.
Final comment... please if you are going to work with a rescue, do some research on them... there are good and bad, just like in any industry. You can sign up at Guidestar to look at their financials and other documents, you can ask around to verify their works, and you can go visit to see with your own eyes. Sometimes even a simple Google search [my advice, search the rescue name and the name of those on the Board of Directors] will tell you what you need to know.