RE: More on euthanasia/slaughterhouses

["Maryanne Stroud Gabbani" <maryanne@ratbusters.net>]

Death is real. It would be lovely if the people and horses that we love
didn't get hurt, or sick, or die, but they do. I live in a country of real
horses who have to do real work. Every now and then I see a horse or donkey
that has died by the side of the road from some reason or other. I always
hope it was something painless or quick, but it often is not. I have also
had to help a beloved family dog leave when cancer became too much for her,
but we knew she ready to go and the vet had left us some phenobarb to
administer. I worry about my horses, especially since my oldest is over 25
and she's not going to last forever. My horses are in the country and near
the desert so they can reasonably be moved to a hole in the desert and
covered over, but this isn't the case for many other people. There has to be
some way to take care this, and right now a lot of the choices are really
not so great. The choice almost always tears the chooser apart. It's pretty
hard for me to condemn with the things I've seen.

Maryanne Stroud Gabbani
Cairo, Egypt
maryanne@ratbusters.net
www.ratbusters.net



Ray O. rno2m@virginia.edu
   Must disagree.The need for decent euthanasia and or decent
euthanasia/slaughter will be with us no matter how few horses/animals are
"responsibly" bred. The slaughter option as currently available is not
viable for most of us for a variety of reasons,but the fact is that all
horses must die eventually-quickly or slowly,humanely or inhumanely.I had an
unwanted and suffering old mare left on my hands recently,and I looked into
slaughtering her,but as it turned out,didn't.There are worse ways for a
horse to go.Western Horseman had a good article on this very subject in last
two issues.I would shoot and pay to bury my beloved Chico before I would (as
currently practiced)slaughter him.BUT-if when the time came,I could take him
to a nearby place where they would do him in immediately,with no
delay/stabling,etc,the difference in cost if one is paid for the carcass
would be nearly a thousand dollars.The body must be dealt with,etc,etc.How
many of us have land to bury a horse on,if !
that can even legally be done in your area?Back hoe expenses?Cremation?How
do you load your beloved old horse into the trailer when he dies in the
pasture or barn of "old age"(think he didn't suffer?).This is one of those
areas where you can't win.Being humane and being weak/squeamish are two
different things.I have personally shot a beloved dog in recent years,to
spare him the knowledge of what was coming,the bummer trip to the vet,etc.It
was easier on him than me,but I've never regretted it.He never saw it
coming.