Washington County Group Rescues Three Baby Horses From Slaughtering

TEXAS -- Three baby horses are finding foster homes in the Brazos Valley after nearly being sold for slaughter in Mexico.

Thousands of horses are exported out of the country every year to be sold as food on the European markets.

A local animal rescue group is advocating an end to slaughtering.

The newest animals in this barn in Washington are a little shy.

The three horses would have likely ended up on a dinner menu overseas. They were rescued from a feedlot in the Stillwater, Oklahoma area after coming from a Navajo Reservation. Next up, they were set to be shipped to Mexico for slaughter.

"He's just a baby, he'll grow up to be a great horse for somebody, nice riding horse," said Melanie Deaeth, the Founder of True Blue Animal Rescue in Washington County.

"These aren't sick horses going to slaughter, these horses are somebody's horses that they don't know are ending up in a kill lot. So you need to be careful where you send your horses and watch where you're going because they're going by the thousands every single day," she said.

The American Veterinary Medical Association estimates as many as 140,000 horses are sent to slaughter each year. While animal groups like the Humane Society want to ban the practice, others in the agricultural industry still support it.

Some in the equine world and veterinarians have said slaughtering is a better option than having unwanted horses suffer from neglect, malnourishment or abandonment.

While there are no longer slaughter houses in the United States, horses are shipped to Mexico and Canada for killing.

Legislation in the U.S. House called the S.A.F.E. Act would end that.

This is what happens to people's pets which are sold for slaughter

"I'm excited to have him, I'm also sad to have him," said Ellen Spahni, a Volunteer with True Blue Animal Rescue.

She will foster one of the horses.

"Let's help stop this whole thing because this is not what we do here. We are compassionate people," said Spahni.

New care for these Lineback Duns, as a local group tries to address a national problem.

The S.A.F.E. Act was introduced in Washington last month, but hasn't been discussed in committee or voted on by the U.S. House or Senate.

The AVMA estimates one to two percent of the U.S.horse population is slaughtered each year.
(KBTX - May 22, 2015)