Horses for $5, $10 at auction

'It's 200 times worse' [link]

Karen Binder | March 12, 2008

Horse owners confronted with high hay costs, low horse sale prices and no more domestic horse slaughtering are saddled with a bigger problem—what to do with the unwanted 1,000-pound animals.

"Ideally, there'd be no unwanted horses, but we're already in a sad state of affairs with cats and dogs. It's 200 times worse with horses," Dr. Nancy Kucera, an equine veterinarian, said. "It's pathetic. The poor horses are the ones suffering."

It's a growing problem in Southern Illinois, which contributes to the state's estimated $3.8 billion equine industry, the fourth largest nationwide. There were 77,000 horse owners, 213,000 horses and 15,000 full-time jobs associated with them in Illinois last year, according to the Horsemen's Council of Illinois.

Hay is selling as high as $8 for the smaller square bales and up to $75 for the larger round bales—nearly twice the usual price—thanks to last year's killer freeze that affected most Southern Illinois agriculture. Considering a typical horse eats about 2 percent of its body weight daily, it would cost about $60 a month just for hay, Kucera estimated. This doesn't include grain, pasture or other feed additives. Many horse owners say they simply cannot afford to feed their horses anymore, she added.

Selling them isn't a viable option either these days.

Some horses recently up for sale at the Southern Illinois Equine Sale Barn in Goreville were going for $5 and $10, Garry Jenkins said. Not only is he the sale barn coordinator; he's also the Williamson County Farm Bureau manager.

"Do you know what this means? Those horse owners have to pay us to sell their horses by the time they pay the $25 sale fee," Jenkins said. "And you can't give them away. What are we going to do with 100,000 horses? Who's going to pay for them? You are."

Jenkins was referring to the 100,000 horses a year that were "harvested" in horse slaughter houses nationwide last year. The last three facilities that exported the processed horse meat to foreign countries were shut down by respective state laws in late 2007, including Cavel International in DeKalb.

The state Horsemen's Council also noted the trend.

"Many of the horse community's concerns are basically the same as that of most Americans—the current economy, taxes, the environment, government restrictions and risk management (liability)," HCI President Frank Bowman noted on the council Web site.

Leading economic issues Bowman cites on the Web site include the high cost of fuel and feed, particularly hay because of its scarcity, and the low selling prices for horses.

"Couple these with government policies that are forcing many professionals and top amateurs to move their operations out of Illinois to more horse-friendly states and you have a good idea of what's troubling Illinois horsemen," Bowman said.

On the matter of unwanted horses, Bowman stated that many horsemen, particularly those in the southern part of the state, are reporting instances of horses being turned loose to fend for themselves on public lands and in forested areas.

However, representatives for the Shawnee National Forest and the Land Between the Lakes Federal Lands earlier this week reported no cases of stray horses.

Kucera added that the nearest rescue facility accepting horses she's aware of is in the suburban Chicago area.

She, too, has heard stories about horse owners letting horses loose in the wild.

"There's pretty much no option for a lot of people," Kucera said. "I have no doubt in my mind this will happen. I'm surprised the insurance people haven't gotten on the bandwagon. We all know what it's like to hit a 200-pound deer. Try hitting a 1,000-pound animal."

XP—Ban advocates: take note. Look what you have helped create. People can't sell horses now. They can't GIVE them away. Rescues are full and turning people away. Yet, many can't afford to feed them. Horses are still being slaughtered, but face unknown trauma outside of the U.S. now. In addition, they are being neglected here in the U.S. in sickening numbers. The answer to many of these problems is to immediately reinstate legal horse slaughter for human consumption in the U.S. with government oversight of the industry.