Contact us at:
info@horsewelfarecommittee.com

Use this electronic form to tell
us your experience with
unwanted horses

Click here for a printable
PDF of our submission form

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Flow chart on unwanted
horse situation

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Body Condition Scoring
of Horses

A score card ____________________

Unintended Consequences
of Ban of Horses in U.S.

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The Alberta Horse
Welfare Report
A report on horses as food
producing animals aimed at
addressing horse welfare
and improving communication
with the livestock industry
and the public. Click here.

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Unwanted Horse Forum
Click here for the full
proceedings

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Kentucky Horse Council
White Paper on neglected
horse situation,
Click here

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Click here for a list of
websites that frequently
link to articles related to the
issue of the unwanted horse

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Click here for a list of
groups actively involved in
horse-related work

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Click here for documented
reports of unwanted
horse incidents

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About Us

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Is there a problem of unwanted horses?

What is an unwanted horse?


  • If we believe there are unwanted horses, are there more than in the past?
  • How can we best promote responsible horse ownership? How do we foster best practices regarding the breeding of horses? How do we educate novice horse owners to optimize their likelihood of success with horse ownership?
  • What resources are available for horse owners who have lost the economic means to care for their horses? Are there sufficient rescue/retirement/second career options for these horses?
  • Have there been unintended consequences of the ban on U.S. horse slaughter? Could there be further unintended consequences of a ban on all horses leaving the country for slaughter?
  • What does a person do with a horse they’ve been unable to sell…give away?
  • What constitutes an “abandoned horse”? Should there be repercussions for horse abandonment? Does the U.S. have the current resources to enforce such repercussions?
  • Can rendering, incineration and burial handle all annual horse deaths?
  • Is it possible that it is more acceptable to slaughter some horses than others?
  • Is it possible that there are options more “unkind” than death at a slaughter house? Is there anything “unkind” about death at a regulated slaughter plant?
  • Is it fair to ask the horse industry to operate as though it is not a business?
  • What fate awaits “unwanted horses” whose owners feel they’ve exhausted efforts to get rid of them?
  • What is the cost of keeping an “unwanted” horse in different parts of the country?
  • Can we verify the stories of abandonment currently prevalent in the media?
  • Are there truly more cases of horse neglect and abuse than in the past – or are they simply being reported more often?
  • What is the actual cost of euthanasia of a horse in different parts of the country?
  • What are the regulations on equine burial in different parts of the country?

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It is these questions, and others, that prompted a group of concerned individuals to come together and develop this website. Its purpose is to serve as a “clearinghouse” for verifiable evidence related to the unintended consequences of the ban on equine slaughter in the U.S.

This committee does not advocate slaughter as the best or only option for unwanted horses but does believe that the recent ban on slaughter has probably put the welfare of many horses at stake and removed the "bottom end" of the market to the point where these animals have no value.

While it would easy to simply point to the numerous news reports about the rising number of unwanted and neglected horses, this committee is committed to collecting and objectively analyzing the available data before making any such conclusions particularly given the current state of the economy and the high price of feed.
Above all else, this committee believes the value systems of a few should not drive the value systems of all…particularly if the unintended consequences have led to greater additive
suffering of equines in the U.S.

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Click here for a form to use in reporting unwanted horse incidents.
Or email us with the following information:

- Your name and contact information
(this information will not be publicly disclosed but is necessary for the purpose of providing proper verification)

- Name of a witness to verify the information (optional)
(again this will not be publicly disclosed but serves to verify the information should it be questioned)


- Details of the abandonment incident
(specifics of your location should be stated but will not be posted).
Please be as detailed as possible.
To more accurately determine the body condition scoring of the horse, Click here.
 
Feel free to submit details on an individual incident basis and/or as a summary of what is going on in your area. There is no such thing as too many submissions.
 
We encourage accompanying photos, videos, etc. Also if you have stats that show increases or decreases in unwanted horse incidents over comparable periods, we would be interested in receiving that information. Likewise, any data showing the economic impact from unwanted horses, horse welfare situations or the slaughter ban would be of interest.
 
Our email address is: info@horsewelfarecommittee.com
 
Click here for a printable PDF of our submission form.


From a veterinarian

"I have had and heard about so many horses being free, due to the price of horses decreasing drastically and the market being flooded. I have seen many emaciated horses due to people not wanting to feed them anymore because they cant get rid of them.  Animal controls and rescues are either unwilling or unable to 'deal' with these animals.  Either they don't have the resources or money to take care of them, or they have been overwhelmed with unwanted horses and are at or over capacity.

I have had a client who woke up one morning to find 4 horses in their pasture. In my opinion, I would rather see a horse go to slaughter and be used (for food, by products, etc) then starve to death, or be neglected or abused." _________________

From a boarding
stable owner

"As a boarding stable owner, we have more slow and or "no pays" then ever before. We also have owners who have "disappeared" and basically abandoned their horses. With hay, shavings, fuel and feed prices skyrocketing as well as a massive increase in the minimum wage it has placed a huge financial burden on the barn owners. The horses still have to be cared for at someone's expense. When owners don't pay it the boarding stable is forced to cover the extra costs. In the past, there was some possibility of recovering some or all of the past due bill by a legally forced sale of the horse. With prices of horses very low  and no real way to dispose of older, unsound or useless horses this is no longer an option.
   
I am not a 'pro slaughter' person but even so ... I think it IS a necessary evil. I would rather see horses humanely slaughtered than what many of them are going through now that it has been banned. Ten years ago I don't think any of us saw this coming as a major issue in the horse industry."

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From a horse owner

A couple of my friends returned from watching a horse sale at a northwest Iowa sale barn this summer to report that there had been sellers who just tied up their horses and drove off. They apparently didn’t want to have a no-sale or take them back home, so they abandoned them.

They also reported that since this commonly occurs, there is a loose horse pen out back and when the sale is over, anyone is welcome to go pick out a horse from that pen. This is really putting an unnecessary burden on the sale barns and must be expensive for them to care for their unexpected herd now.