This Isn't The County Dump! These Are Horses!

Pardon me, everyone, but I am about to go on a bit of a rant here. We hear the term "unwanted horses" more and more these days, and there are an ever growing plethora of rescue organizations which keep cropping up dedicated to saving horses. At face value, that's not a bad thing.

Keep in mind though, this is California -- horse slaughter for human consumption has been illegal here (as in, a felony) since 1998. That's 19 years now. It's not a secret, and one reason why some of our low end auctions ceased running horses through years ago. We don't have "kill buyers" here. Horses cannot be shipped across state lines, and yes that includes to Mexico, for slaughter.

Folks (particularly those who make good money getting donations to "save horses from slaughter") will say the law isn't enforced, or that the traders and dealers just ship to other auctions in other states where slaughter IS legal, then it doesn't matter where the horses end up... but I'm here to say, nonsense.

Here's the bigger issue: Why are so-called rescues putting money in the traders' pockets instead of intercepting horses before they wind up in the traders' hands? Why are they letting the traders buy at auctions, then paying the overinflated markup, instead of outbidding the traders? Trust me, no horsetrader wants to bid up a rescue, because if the rescue backs out, they don't want to be left paying way too much for horses.

Then there's this, another sordid issue. Why haven't any rescues put resources together, or held fundraisers, to close off the so-called "slaughter pipeline"? I mean, it's this pipeline to slaughter they all rail against online, right? How about a caravan fundraiser, to follow these "slaughterbound" California horses to the slaughterhouses, since these rescues claim horses are being illegally shipped to slaughter anyhow, despite the law? Put an end to it!

But the bottom line is, without the ability to cry, "These babies are going to die in a slaughterhouse if we don't save them!!" ... these rescues won't be able to rake in the funds from their bleeding heart donors. I am NOT against rescue, in fact I've dedicated many years to the rescue cause, however what I'd like to see is a lack of need for having rescues in the first place.

Join me in helping to put rescues out of business. Let's choke off the slaughter pipeline where it counts, in the pockets of the supposed kill buyers. Can I get an Amen?

~SFTS