| The Humane Society of the United States Rescues Horses after Hellish Journey to Slaughter and Back | |
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CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Thirty horses bound for slaughter last week are safe today after The Humane Society of the United States halted their planned slaughter for human consumption and arranged their transfer to an animal sanctuary in Colorado.
The opportunity to save these horses came after The HSUS and other animal advocates won a court ruling last week closing down the last operational horse slaughter plant in the country. The horses' owner had planned to have the animals slaughtered and their meat exported for human consumption, but decided to contact The HSUS instead after learning of the court decision.
"These are the only horses on earth who have seen the inside of a horse slaughter plant and lived so that their story could be told," said Wayne Pacelle, HSUS president and CEO. "They have been through hell and back, stuffed into trailers, trucked for days, and led to the very brink of slaughter, only to be rescued at the last possible moment."
This group of horses was standing in line waiting to be slaughtered when news of the decision reached officials at Cavel International, which is located in DeKalb, Ill., and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which pulled its inspectors from the horse slaughter plant. While most horses, still waiting in trucks in the plant's parking lot, were promptly routed to slaughterhouses in Mexico and Canada, these animals were reloaded onto a truck bound for a stockyard in Cheyenne, Wyo.
The HSUS agreed to pay the owners' expenses, and took possession of the horses in Cheyenne on Tuesday. The HSUS is partnering with the Denkai Animal Sanctuary in Carr, Colo. to rehabilitate the horses so they can eventually be placed with loving owners. Currently, they are being assessed by HSUS personnel and given necessary veterinary care in anticipation of their move to the sanctuary. The HSUS has set up a "Miracle Horse Fund" to accept donations for the ongoing care of these animals and other rescued horses.
Because the Congressional funding limitation barring the USDA inspections for horse slaughter expires in September, The HSUS is calling on Congress to pass the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 503 and S. 311) to settle the matter permanently. This legislation will also prohibit the export of live horses to Canada and Mexico for slaughter.
Courtesy: Humane Society of the United States
