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September 5, 2008 6:07:12 PM CDT

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Horses Abandoned As Economy Fails Them

Posted May 31, 08 3:05 PM CDT in US 

(Newser) – With feed and fuel prices rising, more US horses are being abandoned and left to die. “It's a growing problem," says Brent Glover, who runs a horse rescue ranch. "Basically, it's the economy.” Glover’s own hay costs have ballooned from $28,000 to $80,000 this year. Many of these horses would be slaughtered if killing them for consumption were still legal in America, Time reports.

Now, the only humane place to kill old horses is Canada, but fuel prices can make that drive impractical; many horses are simply abandoned or left at less savory Mexican abattoirs. “People who protest slaughter ought to have a bunch of these old horses starving to death in their back yards,” says one livestock transporter.

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More and more horses are being abandoned thanks to the weakening economy and lack of slaughterhouses.   (Getty Images)
Tourists go on a horse ride in this file photo.   (Getty Images)
A horse in the marshlands windswept by the mistral.   (Magnum Photos)
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horse  • slaughterhouses  • horse neglect


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