You learn important things on COTH.

[TBPONY]

OP your story with emoticons cracked me up!!! I totally thought they meant petting zoo and it never occurred to me - even after reading big cat threads on COTH, which is the only place I've ever heard of something like that - that they actually meant lions and tigers/body disposal. Carrie is SO cute! Please post more pictures of her.

[amastrike]

Treat hound.

Carrie will do just about anything for a carrot. I think we need to cut back, she's getting spoiled and greedy... On the bright side, it makes pulling her mane easy. Get the section ready and feed her a carrot at the same time as the pull. She doesn't even notice the pulling!

I'll have to get her a nameplate. I think the BO (aka Carrie's owner) doesn't like the spelling "Carrie" because of the horror movie. Maybe Carri? Cari?


In this month's Practical Horseman, there's an article about euthanasia and body disposal. They mention guns and captive bolts as methods of euthanasia, but not a word about feeding to lions to dispose of the body! Who wants to write a letter to the editor??

[Laurierace]

I guess you could inform them but I personally don't care what happens to the body after they are humanely euthanized by any method. If something useful can come out of it, so be it.

[RubyTuesday]

About a week and a half ago, the vet was out and asked if I knew anyone who wanted a yearling pony filly. Ehhh, maybe the BO because she's a sucker, but a yearling is a tough sell. Vet knows someone who has this pony and doesn't think it's going to be a good show pony, so she wants to get rid of it ASAP. If no one takes her, the owner will send her to a wild animal park.

Vet is thinking, oh, living in a wild animal park isn't the best life, but okay. I'm like "um, I could be wrong, but I think she means they're going to feed the pony to the wild animals."

Vet:

Me: I know they do it for big cat refuges, people can donate horses and they feed them to the lions and tigers.

Vet and owner of the horse the vet was out to see:

Me: Well, it's not like they set the horses loose for the lions and tigers to hunt! They shoot it--

Vet and owner: !!!!!

Me: Not like in the gut, they shoot it in the head and it dies right away, it's not that bad!

Vet and owner: !

Vet has never heard of this and asks me how I know. I read about it on Chronicle of the Horse, of course!

We talk to the BO about it... she'd rather not get another horse, but if the other option is lions and tigers... I tell the vet maybe this isn't want the pony's owner meant, so she should ask to make sure.

The next day, vet texts me: "You were right. Lions and tigers."

I called the BO and asked her when she was going to pick up her new pony.

So... Meet Carrie:
picture 1
picture 2

Her show name will be Carry On.

(Get it? )


Thank goodness for COTH! If I hadn't read about people sending horses to be lion food, we never would have guessed what Carrie's fate would be.

LOL! Guess the vet doesn't have to go to seminars to get his "continuing education!"

[RubyTuesday]

Ooh, hit a nerve. Apologies. But I stand by what I said and the explanation I gave as to why I think an equine vet should bother to education himself/herself about options for disposing of unwanted horses.

The blank stare and "Why don't you find someone who will want a horse you don't?" lands many, many horses in bad situations. I assume, too, that vets don't want to be called to perform euthanasia on healthy animals that their current owner just can't afford or doesn't want. So, insofar, as this will happen when owners can't find a better solution on their own, why not learn about places to send a HO with a giveaway horse?

I agree with MVP as well. The need for this education is a sign of the times we are living in, and vets need to stay current.

[amastrike]

I guess you could inform them but I personally don't care what happens to the body after they are humanely euthanized by any method. If something useful can come out of it, so be it.

Oh, sorry, I should have been more clear! I didn't mean to warn people, I was thinking to let people know it's an option and something worth considering.

[RubyTuesday]

It is one thing to consider the animal park or the hounds for an elderly, infirm, injured or dangerous horse.

It is quite a different thing for a yearling filly whose only fault is that the owner thinks she won't be successful in her chosen discipline.

Except the auctions and killer trucks are loaded with yearlings and other youngstock. Being put down at a zoo/wild animal park seems far preferable and humane than traveling thousands of miles in a truck to slaughter or being used for illegal sport and then being slaughtered for human consumption in a backyard. Yeah, Suzy homeowner might buy them too, and in fact I know one who just recently did, I trailered it for her, but there are only so many of those to go around.

[Alagirl]

Except the auctions and killer trucks are loaded with yearlings and other youngstock. Being put down at a zoo/wild animal park seems far preferable and humane than traveling thousands of miles in a truck to slaughter or being used for illegal sport and then being slaughtered for human consumption in a backyard. Yeah, Suzy homeowner might buy them too, and in fact I know one who just recently did, I trailered it for her, but there are only so many of those to go around.

how many yearling ponies?
The truckloads don't usually originate from farms because they won't make a show horse, but from large places that breed in volume. Not that I disagree with that method, somebody has to breed, nor with slaughter, whomever will benefit, but the notion that a yearling can be accurately assessed, even by seasoned experts as to how far they can go in the ring is simply absurd! The pros would not have to sift through truck loads of prospects, or racing stables for that matter. Breeding is a crap shoot, and you don't know what you got until you throw a saddle on and swing a leg over.

[RubyTuesday]

That's exactly my thought on it. While I could never send one of my own horses to that end, I applaud those who can. I suppose if I ended up responsible for a horse who needed to be put down for some reason, but it wasn't a horse I had any real relationship with, I would consider it. But a healthy baby?

A bullet to the brain is preferable to a slaughterhouse (NOT starting a debate on slaughter, just saying that a quiet trailer ride to a park and quick bullet is less stressful than everything involved in slaughter, so don't start on that whole topic) or starving in a field or being given to someone abusive. I don't think Carrie ending up as lion food would have been the worst thing in the world for her, but it certainly wasn't the best possibility either. And frankly, she's much too cute to be lion food and too small to provide many meals.

Thankfully the owner told the vet so she could use her contacts to look for a home. And FWIW, vet talked to several people before me, and no one knew "wild animal park" = "wild animal food".

Now when a horse is being obnoxious, we threaten them with the wild animal park .

Carrie is adjusting quickly. When she first came, she tended to pin her ears while being petted, she spooked hard at sudden movements, treats were confusing, and the sound of the aisle being swept was terrifying. Now she's eager for attention, spooks slightly at sudden movements, and is a total carrot hound. Yesterday a woman and her two children were petting her, and she was very friendly and comfortable. Definitely not something she would have been okay with in the first couple of days.

Well, if treats are confusing, I can see why the old owners would think she wouldn't make a good show pony. What the hell were they thinking? If treats are confusing, I imagine the rest of life would be as well.

[Tiger Horse]

Treat hound.

Carrie will do just about anything for a carrot. I think we need to cut back, she's getting spoiled and greedy... On the bright side, it makes pulling her mane easy. Get the section ready and feed her a carrot at the same time as the pull. She doesn't even notice the pulling!

I'll have to get her a nameplate. I think the BO (aka Carrie's owner) doesn't like the spelling "Carrie" because of the horror movie. Maybe Carri? Cari?


In this month's Practical Horseman, there's an article about euthanasia and body disposal. They mention guns and captive bolts as methods of euthanasia, but not a word about feeding to lions to dispose of the body! Who wants to write a letter to the editor??

Adorable!! My mare was "Kerry".

[RubyTuesday]

how many yearling ponies?
The truckloads don't usually originate from farms because they won't make a show horse, but from large places that breed in volume. Not that I disagree with that method, somebody has to breed, nor with slaughter, whomever will benefit, but the notion that a yearling can be accurately assessed, even by seasoned experts as to how far they can go in the ring is simply absurd! The pros would not have to sift through truck loads of prospects, or racing stables for that matter. Breeding is a crap shoot, and you don't know what you got until you throw a saddle on and swing a leg over.

See young ponies come through the auction here all the time. Registered and non registered. The pony I trailered is a QH that didn't grow, but have seen registered ponies come through as well. Minis and baby minis too. It's equal opportunity here.

[RubyTuesday]

Yes, the OP's emoticons were funny. I could completely see that happening!