A horse crashes into the
back of a car during a 'sulky' race and is abandoned, left to succumb to its
wounds. It's questionable if some horse owners even 'truly' try to take care of
the horses in their care (whether it is their own or others) the horse is left
in poor condition looking for a new home and then becomes someone else's
problem because they no longer have the time?
And
now Alberta is Culling, to control the 'wild horse' population. It's
questionable who traps the horses and what in fact happens to them after
they're captured?
Are
there no other options? Can they not drop bales of hay? Or geld the males so
the horses can no longer re-produce if the growing population is a
concern?
After
giving this some deep thought I understand something. We all want to blame
someone, blame the government for culling the horses, blame the horse for no
longer being 'suitable'. But what are WE doing about any of this as individuals
and are we taking responsibility where we should be? The sulky racing should be
banned by the government, some people can't be left to make those types of
decisions or judgment calls regarding racing a horse and cart on a city street,
but has anyone pursued having it banned or just complained about it?
With
respect to re-homing a horse because it is no longer suitable? Why not change
your needs for the horse? Is there no room on the acreage to put it out to
pasture, has it not earned it's retirement rights over years of service to you?
If there is no acreage you can retire the horse to and you only own one which
you need to ride, can you not re-home the horse with a few good years left in
him rather than waiting until he is too old, or arthritic to be of any use
other than a pasture ornament to someone else? This limits their odds of
finding a good 'forever home'. At minimal, is it not possible to take good care
of them during, and up until, they are re-homed so they appeal to more
potential people looking for the right horse? Most people are looking for a
horse they can bond with and get to know, when a horse (or any animal) isn't
well/healthy it's hard to get to know them as the chances are they will seem
like an entirely different horse when they get better~ it's like setting them
up for failure.. "the horse was so calm/quiet when I got him, now he's too
energetic and I am not able to handle him"
Lastly,
with regards to the HORSE Culling, when we're are completely honest, these are
not 'WILD' horses. Don't get me wrong, I'm against it, but they are Feral
Horses. This means much like the stray dog and cat problems we have around the
world these horses were, at one time, someone’s domesticated horse. Whether
they are 'descendants' of a domesticated horse is irrelevant, my point is that
something, somewhere went wrong and a HUMAN FAILED THEM. How does a
domesticated horse become wild, was it released or thrown away because it was
no longer 'suitable'? Now they are being culled, whose fault is that? How did
they get their? The Government didn't put them there, it's a system not a
person. I am sure there are other alternatives, but unfortunately sometimes it
is thought that PEOPLE need to be reminded (similar to when statistic's are
released on how many cats and dogs are euthanized each day, week, year) that
there is a severe CONSEQUENCE to our lack of responsibility or negligence. Sadly,
the person is usually not the one to pay for it, but the horse, dog or cat
is.
SO
WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP? TO CHANGE THIS? Well, we could donate bales of hay, but
that would be ongoing and if the population continued to grow the need for hay
would increase, we could donate money to geld all the males, but there are
risks (infections, complications etc) involved. They are feral, WILD like,
un-domesticated horses and 1200 lbs is a lot heavier of an animal then most
stray dogs or cats. We could perhaps RELOCATE THEM TO A RESCUE, but from what I
understand most rescues are FULL of horses that were abandoned, surrendered,
brought in by the SPCA or pulled from AUCTION. There aren't many people able to
offer land for a rescue horse let alone a feral one.
So
here's my suggestion, donate whatever you can of your time or money to rescues
AND make the right conscious decisions. If you don't like that horses are being
killed and possibly destroyed or sent to slaughter and breed - STOP BREEDING
HORSES! Realize you're only adding to the already exiting problem. If you love
horses and want to make a difference, rather than breed that Mare to the Stud and
have a cute foal (who will one day be a, not so little, horse that is no longer
'suitable' and in need of a forever home) adopt a rescue horse, foster a horse
or rescue one from auction - make a positive difference. Please don't bring
another animal into the world that has the potential to live 30 years or more
unless you know you will be able to provide a GOOD forever home for them FOR the duration of IT's LIFE!
