 |
[RC] putting down a horse - Andrea DayWow, I'm surprised at the number of posts on this! I figured I'd jump right in with support on an unpopular method of disposal--that is, shooting--and here I've counted a bunch of practical responses already.Guess I won't be the only flamebait. My two cents--I've had to put down at least a half dozen old or terminally ill horses, and one with a broken leg. All were shot. Only one bullet was truly necessary. Two horses are under the ground in my backyard. The ones I felt best about in their final resting place happened to be out far enough in the back country that I could let them go to the eagles and coyotes. One went to Darling-Delaware--the local renderer, because she was to close to town and in a spot where we couldn't bury her. Most dropped like a rock. One had leg spasms for about sixty seconds. The most major response was the horse with the broken leg--perhaps it was because we had no gun handy, and were out an hour from the trailer and a two hour drive from home. I waited and talked to the poor shaking boy, even though he wasn't mine. The owner said she couldn't bear it and took my horse home. It was long after dark when my husband came, and a long, long, sad wait. I don't know if it was the adreneline in his system, but he reared up when shot and crashed over backwards. But he never moved after that. A good reason NOT to stand close or directly in front of the animal. Always, even though I was absolutely sure they were gone, I made sure with a second bullet. Three others were put down by vets using chemical methods. I'm sure with two of them that they were truly dead almost immediately--brain dead that is, but they both ran and spasmed on the ground, legs and tail jerking, head flopping, groaning and twitching for at least 15 - 20 minutes afterwards. I had deliberately requested that the vet use twice the amount on the second horse. I believe it's called galvanic muscle response, but whatever it is, it's not fun to watch, even if you're not the 15 year old girl that is losing her first horse. That third horse? A rather strange and unsettling situation. A big QH, old, failed kidneys, gone down in the night and can't seem to get up. Vet comes, administers drug. Horse flops around a while, finally stops. Vet says, "He's gone." We sadly throw tarp over him, go in house to wait for backhoe. Backhoe operator shows up and wants to know where the horse is. When we go out, the horse is standing, head pressed against the back wall of the shed where we laid him down. He's making awful noises. His eyes are totally blank. We used the gun, and we made sure. The young vet was absolutely appalled, very apologetic, and said he wasn't sure what went wrong. Never, NEVER, will I go for the chemical means if I have the alternative choice of using a bullet on a horse that must be put down immediately. Other people will choose to have the vet administer a shot. Others may decide to send their old or permantly damaged horse to the canners while they can still walk, before they need to watch them go downhill. Some people don't have the money to support an old horse on expensive medication, the means or place to dispose of the carcass, or the courage to watch the animal being put down. It's an individual decision. If it's made with compassion, forethought, and a reckoning among the choices available, I respect the decision. That said, whatever the means of disposal, I hope the horse has been lucky enough to have a loving owner who provided adequate care to the best of their ability up to the very end. It's only what they deserve. Andrea _________________________________________________________________ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail
Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
|