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RE: [RC] Reality bites - heidiOK, I, too, have done a pretty fair job of staying out of this discussion--I think I've only posted once. But I am sick and tired of the self-back-patting about how "good" we are because we recognize the suffering, we put our horses down at the "right time," and we dig a hole. You know what? That's just fine, but it doesn't make other approaches WRONG, as long as the horses do not suffer. Jody, you live in an area where a hole dug by a backhoe will quickly "heal." If I dug holes for my horses here, the place would soon be covered with backhoe "mounds" because our arid desert takes years to "recover" from that kind of digging. Besides, for at least 4-5 months of the year, digging is nigh on impossible due to frozen ground. I don't know if you have ever watched birds die when exposed to the chemicals that are traditionally used for euthanasia--but it isn't a pretty sight. I once had a buried DOG (nowhere near the body mass or amount of drugs as a horse) get partially exhumed after burial--and the entire burial area was ringed by dead birds. I don't feel I have a right to pat myself on the back when I add those sorts of toxins to the ecosystem and cause that sort of damage. My only real "option" at the moment is to put a 30-30 bullet in their brains and leave them out for the scavengers. I don't mind the coyotes coming down and "cleaning up"--but I REALLY mind doing this now that we have wolves in our area--I feel like I am jeopardizing my still-living horses by doing this. I think I already mentioned in my only previous post on this subject that the vets in this area WILL NOT come out and euthanize a horse unless you have a hole already dug and a backhoe standing by. The reason is that it is a federal offense to kill a federally-protected wolf--and they figure it isn't worth losing their licenses over. I recently had a foal born with some serious issues that kept him from being able to stand and nurse. One of our local vets came out, at the request of my neighbor who was place-sitting while I was away on an emergency trip with my mother. We consulted by phone, and he WOULD NOT euthanize the colt--he instead arranged for a neighbor to come and shoot it for me. It isn't about having the "guts" to know when, or about the dollars for many of us--it is simply a matter of not having viable options. Terry, this isn't all about "disposable" horses (although I agree that the racing industry, etc. do abuse the situation something awful)--it is about being humane when the time comes, and there aren't any other options available. By far the BEST solution remains having relatively local slaughter plants, where horses are not subjected to batching and extended travel. Once humanely killed, the horse truly DOES NOT CARE if his carcass is eaten or buried--or whether the one eating him is a human, a pet, or a wild scavenger. It isn't just about waste--it is also about being environmentally responsible, and not adding some really NASTY chemicals to the wild food chain or to the ground water. Heidi
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