No room at the pen
Slim wallets and an end to U.S. slaughterhouses flood rescue centers with horses and few options for dealing with them.
By Michael Booth
The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 02/17/2008 05:55:35 PM MST
Kyle Mitchell of Kersey heads back to the office to fill out paper work on the grey quarter horse he brought to sell at Centennial Livestock Auction in Fort Collins, CO. (Photos by Joe Amon, The Denver Post )
A dying dog is 40 pounds of family sadness.
A dying horse is a physics problem, and 1,000 pounds of emotional debate over what we should do with the iconic Western companion at the end of its useful life.
"The bottom line is there are more horses than there are people with properties who can adequately care for them," said Keith Roehr, a veterinarian with the state of Colorado.
Overbreeding has saturated the horse market, driving down values, while feed-grain prices have tripled. At the same time, changing ethical standards have shut off a generations-old relief valve for ranchers — slaughtering horses for meat to be consumed in foreign countries.
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