Illinois: abandoned horses are a hazard to motorists.

Illinois

Horses may become highway hazards [link]
Charles Stanley | Aug 1, 2008

Worried about hitting a deer with your vehicle? In the future, you may have to expand that fear to include horses. Throughout Illinois, including La Salle County, equines left to run at large or abandoned are increasing as owners find them too costly to care for. One day, that is going to result in a collision with a vehicle, says Dr. Colleen O'Keefe, the Illinois Department of Agriculture's division manager of Food Safety and Animal Protection. "It's bad enough when you hit a dog or a deer, but hitting a horse, that's the fear I think everybody is holding their breath hoping wont happen," she said. The impact could be devastating. While a typical whitetail deer weighs between 125 to 150 pounds, for a riding horse it's more like 1,000 to 1,200 pounds. "I have a hunch that someplace here it's ultimately going to happen if we get enough horses running loose," O'Keefe said. "That's the reality of what's eventually going to happen with these quote-unquote 'back to nature' horses. If a minivan with a family hits one of those horses, it's going to kill a bunch of the family." The move to smaller cars many drivers are making to save gasoline could make a vehicle and horse collision even worse, she said. "I'd rather hit a horse in a Delta '88 than a little Precis."

At the La Salle County Board's Animal Control committee's meeting Thursday, Dr. Dell Brodd, the veterinarian who is La Salle County's animal control administrator, and La Salle County Animal Control Officer Gary Wind said in recent weeks Wind has taken in four horses, two burros and a pony. Indications were the equines simply were turned loose to fend for themselves, Wind said. "There was one on the loose in Grand Ridge that the Walters boys over there took care of for over a year and a half." Wind ended up with it last month and tracked down the owner. Since La Salle County does not have a dog pound, much less a facility for large animals, Wind has been keeping the equines at his home. It's something he is uneasy about, since he has horses of his own he is putting at risk. "I'm taking in strange horse with no shots, no blood work, no nothing -- and hoping I find the owners or an outlet for them."

When Arratta Znaniecki, R-Ottawa, who chaired the meeting, repeatedly asked for solutions, committee members had none to offer -- except to agree Wind should be reimbursed for his out-of-pocket expenses. O'Keefe was not surprised to hear the news from La Salle County. "To tell you the truth, we've been expecting it," she said. "I've also heard from my compadres out in the Western states that they're seeing more of it there on the wide open prairies." O'Keefe said there are a number of reasons for the abandoned horses. "All during the winter grain prices were very high and hay was in very short supply." Gas prices and the general condition of the economy are other reasons, she said. "Horses are often a luxury that become harder and harder to maintain."

Although the state does not have statistics on abandoned horses, there are statistics, she said, "that show a very significant rise in complaints about the mistreatment of horses." Typically, she said, those are reports of horses that do not appear to have enough food and water. Brodd told the committee another contributing factor is the closure of the Cavel International horse slaughtering plant in DeKalb County. That action followed the passage last year of an Illinois law prohibiting the killing of horses for human consumption. "They thought that would make better horse owners," said Brodd. "But they have absolutely no idea what pain and suffering they're going to cause." In simple economic terms, he said, a horse owner who in the past could have sold a horse for slaughter instead has to pay to have it put down and then buried or otherwise disposed of. Sometimes, having a horse put down makes sense, Brodd said. "It was brought up to me by a well-known trainer that we have these horses that are just factious -- they're not dependable, they're not rideable. They used to go from sale to sale to sale until finally somebody said, 'This horse is not safe, its going to hurt somebody.' " In those cases, the slaughterhouse made sense, he said. But without that option, said Brodd, "I think some people just turn them loose instead."

O'Keefe noted that even with the new legislation it is not totally illegal to slaughter horses. "You can still slaughter them for pet food, or to feed zoo animals. It's only slaughter for human consumption that's been restricted." She said horses can be slaughtered in Canada for human consumption. "There are people who are buying horses here but paying next to nothing for them and then they take them up to Canada." State Sen. Jim Facia, R-Freeport, is proposing legislation to lift the ban, O'Keefe said. In any event, she said, the decision to abandon a horse could come to a matter of personal priorities for owners. "It might be a matter of feed your kids and keep your house or you feed your horse."

VanKavage is less sympathetic. "Under the state's Humane Care for Animals Act, horses are considered companion animals, so you still have to provide food, water, shelter and veterinary care to prevent suffering. The first offense is a class B misdemeanor and the second time is a Class 4 felony." The county state's attorney should prosecute these violations, she said. Edeltraud Crabb of the Hooved Animal Humane Society of Woodstock agreed. "It's the irresponsible horse owners that don't feed their animals and that don't know where to get the feed or claim there is none around. It's just like anything else in life, the people that are responsible, they know where to get their stuff." The one thing all agree on is that horse ownership is not a casual responsibility. "They're a lot of work and they're expensive," said VanKavage. And having the cost of taking care of them the right way is a nice chunk of change."

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