Our Current Project

Many may not know, and some may have forgotten, that my journey in rescue began with horses. I have rescued from kill pens with active slaughter contracts, auctions, and individuals...  

Numerous individuals have attempted to explain the workings of the slaughter and auction pipeline to me this week. I truly appreciate your concern, I honestly do. However, I consider myself educated on this topic. I do not engage in pulling horses from lots that lack active contracts, as those horses are not immediately bound for slaughter. Instead, they are transported to an auction where they are dropped off to make room for new arrivals. Some of these traders posting as kill buyers even engage in trading horses with eachother. While I am not suggesting that once these horses reach the auction they are safe from ending up in a legitimate kill pen, but at that moment, they are not being shipped to Mexico or Canada. Unfortunately once a horse is in the auction pipeline, its hard to get out.

Let’s address the issue of "the horses you pulled not being in danger of being sent to slaughter." They were all owned by Bowie Livestock, a kill buyer who has an ACTIVE SLAUGHTER CONTRACT WITH MEXICO, which can be verified. 

Additionally, it’s important to note that slaughter rates have increased by 14.8% compared to this time last year, primarily due to rising prices per pound. I recently had a DIRECT conversation with the largest kill buyers in the United States, who consistently ships the highest volume of loads each week. He verified the horses they weren't shipping when rates were low are now being shipped. While the situation for these horses may not have seemed dire to those living in a fantasy world, I WANT TO CLARIFY THAT MY INSIGHTS COME FROM INFORMED SOURCES WITHIN THE INDUSTRY, NOT JUST EMOTION.

The criteria for horses that are shipped to slaughter are quite minimal. Generally, they must have vision in at least one eye, be able to stand, and stallions are not accepted. This is why colts like two of these often undergo harsh unmedicated "cowboy castrations" by workers at the lot before being loaded onto trucks. Foals, on the other hand, are typically ripped from mom and dumped in feedlots to either grow older or perish. If they survive, they are shipped once they reach an appropriate age.

Many individuals fail to realize that actual kill buyers do not need to promote these horses. However, if they choose to invest time in advertising, they anticipate a greater return than what they would receive across the border, which is simply logical. Each week, there are HUNDREDS of horses being shipped that remain unseen because they are direct shipments. This occurs because these connections must be satisfied. Therefore, to those claiming 'we sent the trucks home empty,' that is not accurate. The lot still met its requirements with direct shipment horses; they simply did not receive any additional trailers of horses available to the public.

We pulled horses that weren't being pulled, fundraised for or inquired about. Three of them have soundness issues that we hope are fixable. One has a contagious issue that while isnt really a big deal... Isn't a selling point by far. We are not the rescues clearing lots by mass bailing, buying not bailing the desirable horses or purchasing horses not in danger from traders. I'm educated enough to know that... That isnt rescue work.