She is just one of the thousands of horses and mules that are bound for kill pens and slaughterhouses. Often, they are shipped for 24 hours or more in crowded trucks with no food, water or rest – some die, and many are injured. Even more are shipped overseas alive in overcrowded crates, primarily to Japan, where horsemeat is considered a delicacy. It’s readily accepted that horses bound for slaughter must be old, lame or simply not suitable for riding. Contrary to this belief, they range from six months to old-aged, pregnant mares, race horses and everything in between. Most horses going to slaughter have nothing wrong with them, they are broke to ride, harness, and very gentle. There is a false assumption that horses available at auctions are going to new loving homes. Unfortunately, the majority go to kill buyers who ship them out for slaughter to Mexico, Montreal or Western Canada. More than 54,000 horses were slaughtered (2016), this is the last year data is available as the Canadian government has concealed horse slaughter stats for the last four years. What most people do not understand is that the kill chutes are not made for an animal as large as a horse. Because it's instinctual for them to seek escape and panic when confined, this means the captive-bolt gun often misses its target (the center of the forehead) and the process needs to be repeated. In some cases processing the animal begins prior to death. It's a brutal industry that is inhumane. Gerhard Foerg and Dianne Proper have been involved with saving horses for the past 40 years, "We saved horses that were going to slaughter, thrown away because they could no longer work or just not wanted by their owners." said Proper
"These horses end up in kill pens through no fault of their own therefore they are branded as meat horses, but they are not meat horses. Most of these horses are very usable, being broke to ride, broke to harness, very gentle and very loving. They seem to know what happened to them and they reward us every day for saving them. Every one of these
horses have experienced trauma and we feel so blessed to have them in our care and help with their healing process and once again trust humans. In a small way we are hoping to make a difference in every horse's life we can save. If we can just accomplish this we feel happiness."
- Dianne Proper
Sisters, Keisha and Kaelyn Oosterveld
SUMMER 2020 www.pei-living.ca
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