DARRYN BENNETT | March 29, 2008
NORTH COUNTY -- Too old, too lame, too expensive to care for any more.
Those are the typical complaints that Nicki Branch, a Valley Center rescuer of horses, has been hearing recently from overwhelmed horse owners asking her for help.
Branch owns FalconRidge Ranch Equine Rescue, a 7-acre nonprofit ranch tucked away in Valley Center where she cares for about 60 horses that former owners had to give up.
In the last few years, horse sanctuaries such as FalconRidge have been housing too many abandoned horses and seeing too little demand for adoptions, which is their ultimate goal for the horses they take in.
In recent interviews with equine associations, industry leaders and horse enthusiasts, the consensus was that the problem stems from the faltering economy, rising hay prices and recent legislation that shut down the nation's three remaining slaughterhouses.
Branch and other equine experts said the result is a market flooded with horses, which has led to widespread neglect and a growing population of unwanted horses—those with owners who won't or can't properly care for them.
Although figures for San Diego County weren't available, industry estimates suggest that across the nation, there are as many as 100,000 unwanted horses.
Web sites for Branch's sanctuary and some others feature pages of photos of horses, many severely underweight or suffering with cracked hooves and rotting coats, that need homes.
"Even a healthy horse can't get adopted out right now," Branch said last week. "I can't give them away."
Branch's normal adoption fee for a horse at FalconRidge is $500, but she said she is often willing to waive it if she can find a responsible owner.
With as many as 60 horses coming to FalconRidge each year, Branch said she found homes for less than 10 last year.
"We are in desperate need of equine sanctuaries and more rescue facilities," she said.
A horse in every yard
Americans today own more than 9 million horses, up from 6 million in the mid-1990s, according to the American Horse Council, a national lobbying group for the industry. Furthermore, of the more than 2 million Americans who own horses, roughly one-third have a household income of less than $50,000.
Many professional breeders and trainers contend that good economic times that began a decade ago led to an unprecedented number of people buying horses for the first time.
"All of a sudden everyone wanted Black Beauty in their yard," Branch said.
Retirees and families enjoying extra income purchased large homes with acreage and began buying horses in record numbers. But then the housing market slumped, money got tight and they couldn't afford to care for the horses or bring them along when they were forced to downsize to smaller quarters.
Add to that the price of hay, the staple food for horses, which has more than doubled over the last year.
The surge in hay prices has been blamed on droughts and the rising cost of the fuel necessary to grow and transport the crop. A 50-pound bale of horse hay that cost less than $3 a couple of years ago costs about $6 today.
Branch estimated that the average horse at FalconRidge eats at least 25 pounds of hay a day. She said she spends about $4,000 a month to feed her horses.
The estimated annual cost of providing basic care for a horse is about $2,400, according to the Unwanted Horse Coalition, an alliance of equine organizations.
"The economy is the main problem," said Branch. "Money is tight, people are out of work or losing their jobs. People bought these horses and now they can't afford them."
For example, one family told Branch last year it was facing foreclosure and was forced to move out of upscale Rancho Santa Fe where they'd had room for horses. They called Branch to ask if she would take two underweight horses they wouldn't have room for at their new home.
"They just owned (the horses) because they wanted something pretty in their yard," Branch said. "They were sad to let them go, but they did it."
Dividing the equine community
Until last year, a market for unwanted horses existed at slaughterhouses.
According to data from the nonprofit American Welfare Institute, an estimated 65,000 horses were killed each year at domestic slaughterhouses.
Although horse slaughter is still legal in the United States, the last three factories, in Texas and Illinois, were closed by court order last year.
Also, under mounting pressure from animal activist groups, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, a federal bill that stalled in 2006, is moving through Congress again with strong bipartisan support. If enacted, the bill would ban domestic slaughter and bar the exportation of horses being sold to factories for their meat.
The bill has divided the equine community.
Opponents, including the American Veterinary Medical Association, argue that overpopulation will become a bigger problem without slaughterhouses. They say the result will be less economically valuable horses that will be at greater risk of neglect and abandonment.
Proponents of the bill, including the Humane Society of the United States and equine rescuers, say slaughterhouses are profit-driven operations that don't improve the bleak situation horses are facing.
They say healthy horses without homes and lame horses that can't be rehabilitated should be euthanized.
The federal bill would also make it illegal for horses to be transported to slaughterhouses in Mexico and Canada for human consumption in Europe and Asia, where their meat is considered a delicacy.
Shirley Puga, of the Ramona-based Emergency Rescue Team, raises money to buy slaughter-bound horses and transport them to rescue ranches.
She said she buys horses "by the pound" to save them from "killer buyers"—people buying horses dirt cheap to truck across the borders to be slaughtered.
She said foreign demand for horse meat—not a massive influx in unwanted horses—is exacerbating the practice.
"(Slaughterhouses) aren't an American business," she said. "(Americans) don't eat horses. We're vehemently against it because we have always considered them companion animals."
XP—Honestly, how could anyone believe that 100,000 unwanted horses would just disappear? The issue remains that there are too many horses and not enough viable options for solving the crisis. (By the way, Ms. Puga—not true. Horses have long been American table fare. Don't want to eat them? Then don't. No one will force you to. So, why would you force someone else to adhere to your voluntary dietary restrictions?)
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