Have you heard “Don’t donate to Horse Plus, they euthanize horses?” Some people don’t like our organization because we do humanely euthanize unadoptable horses. These same people don’t seem to care that nearly 13,000 horses have been exported into Mexico for slaughter just this year alone.
As a Horse Rescuer I see the reality that these horses face and the horror they will experience if we do not step in to save them. When we are at auction rescuing horses, we routinely see horses who are completely unadoptable, suffering from medical problems, cancer, severe injuries, etc. Their owner’s should have had them humanely euthanized but instead they took them to auction to make some money off of them. When the horses are brought back to our shelter they are all evaluated by our veterinarian to determine quality of life and adoptability. We follow our veterinarian’s recommendation in accordance with the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) on horses that are deemed unadoptable.
Some people accuse us of euthanizing horses with methods that are approved by the AAEP, telling others that we’re no different than a slaughterhouse and contacting our donors and sponsors and telling them never to donate to us again. We love each and every horse that comes into our facility, none of them deserve to be in the slaughter pipeline and every one of them is precious and deserves love and kindness. When euthanasia does happen at our facility, the horse knows that it is surrounded by people who care. The horse is sedated and humanely euthanized by our veterinarian whenever possible and then the deceased horse is cremated. There are times when our veterinarian is not present and a horse needs humane euthanasia to relieve pain and suffering. Our veterinarian has trained certain members of our staff, including myself, on how to perform humane euthanasia on horses if he is not available and in accordance with the AAEP Humane Euthanasia guidelines. It would be completely irresponsible for us not to have members of our team trained on how to humanely and quickly end a horse’s life if it is suffering.
We have come under criticism because one of the AAEP approved methods our veterinarian has trained us with is a penetrating captive bolt gun. It is important to understand that there are more than one type of captive bolt. Non-penetrating captive bolt which merely stuns an animal. If I believed that there was a rescue out there using a non-penetrating captive bolt repeatedly on a horse to try to render it unconscious so it would die, I myself would be furious, so I completely understand where the confusion comes from. We have never used a non-penetrating captive bolt as it would be extremely cruel and inhumane. Our veterinarian has trained us to use a penetrating captive bolt which instantly destroys the brain and the horse doesn’t know anything as it passes on.
Our preferred method is always to have our veterinarian sedate and humanely euthanize horses that are in need of the Last Act of Kindness, but there are times when the veterinarian is not available. I am thankful for the knowledge and training I have received to end the life of a suffering animal. In California I was a certified euthanasia technician. I never would have thought back in 2003 when I began rescuing animals that I would be faced with making end-of-life decisions. I just wanted to help animals find a new loving home, but I learned I cannot turn a blind eye to animals who are suffering, animals who need the Last Act of Kindness.
So yes, I know that our organization is criticized by some who do not like that we will humanely euthanize horses that need it, but I ask: would they rather see them crammed into a slaughter truck and spend days without food and water as they make their long trip down into Mexico to be brutally killed in a slaughterhouse? This is not a perfect world and the horrors that happen in the slaughterhouse are unthinkable. If you have never seen what happens in a horse slaughter plant and you are skeptical about our decisions, I ask you to please watch this short video of inside a Mexican slaughterhouse. This video is endorsed by PETA who does a lot of work to help expose animal abuse but understand we do not agree with all of their philosophies. From our experience and knowledge this video is extremely accurate and should be watched by anyone who is skeptical on whether or not horse slaughter is something that should happen. It is graphic and I have a hard time watching it. It does put a fire in my heart to rescue more horses from that horrible fate though. You can watch the video at this link: https://bit.ly/3gb0jo3
I know there are people out there who don’t like our organization, I have received death threats, I know people are contacting our supporters trying to slander us. I ask if you are contacted by somebody making slanderous claims against us that you please email it or take print screenshots of what they are saying and send it to us. The email to send them to is: info@horsehumane.org This will help us build a legal case against those who are trying to prevent us from rescuing horses out of the slaughter pipeline.
Yesterday the USDA reported that 83 horses were exported into Mexico for slaughter. Slaughter is real and it happens nearly every day to horses that could have found loving homes or horses that needed humane euthanasia, but instead have to spend their last days in complete and utter agony on their way to the slaughterhouse and then brutally killed.
I cannot turn a blind eye to horses being auctioned off to head to Mexico, we will continue to rescue these horses that need our help and do whatever it is they need even if it is the Last Act of Kindness. I will not stand by and allow animals to suffer. If you do not agree with me please, unfollow our page because we will continue to rescue horses no matter their condition, even if it’s just to say goodbye. If you agree that humane euthanasia is far superior to slaughter for horses that have no other option, please donate to help rescue horses from the slaughter pipeline. No matter how much or how little, every donation helps save horses from slaughter.
Tawnee Preisner – President of Horse Plus Humane Society
To support our mission and help us rescue horses from auction please make a donation – Thank You!
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Horse Plus Humane Society
P.O. Box 485, Hohenwald, TN 38462
Horse Plus Humane Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit animal welfare organization, tax ID #20-1156396.