In about a week Victoria Goss will become the caretaker for a dozen foals that otherwise would have been transported to slaughterhouses outside the country.
During the next six months, Goss, who runs the Last Chance Corral, a horse rescue and rehabilitation nonprofit in Athens, hopes to rescue as many as 200 foals that are castoffs from the racehorse breeding industry.
Although the ranch exceeded that goal in 2007, this year's dwindling budget may prevent the Corral from caring for as many foals and full-grown horses as it has in the past.
This year
I'm turning away more horses than ever Goss said, adding that the ranch is currently operating on about $135,000. Last Chance Corral collected $326,155 in revenue with a shortfall of $6,257 in 2007, according to its 990 tax form.
Economic recession combined with the closure of slaughterhouses nationwide has left many horse owners without the money to care for their horses and with limited options for a way out.
Pete Smith, a local veterinarian who treats horses from Last Chance Corral, said that without slaughterhouses, many horse owners can't afford to euthanize and bury their animals themselves, and may turn to rescue operations like the corral.
All of these rescue operations are just overwhelmed and there had to be some outlet for these dead-end horses Smith said. Now people are just turning them loose ... or letting them starve.
Instead of being sent to slaughterhouses in the country, many unwanted horses undergo shipment in poor conditions to Canada or Mexico to facilities that the United States can't regulate, he said.
Even though the Last Chance Corral strives to rescue unwanted horses from unnecessary slaughter, Goss tries to divert resources to animals that have a chance for survival.
We're a no-kill shelter in as far as long it takes (for a horse to be adopted)
she said. We are a kill shelter if an animal can't
be saved.
An increasing number of people have called the ranch in the past couple of years to donate old and injured horses, Goss said.
We're not a retirement facility; we're more of a rescue and adoption
she said. The fact that some of these animals need to find a dignified exit is important.
As a horse owner and vegetarian, Ohio University sophomore Lauren Huefner said the closure of U.S. slaughterhouses sounds good in theory but isn't solving the problem of horse maltreatment.
It doesn't really change the circumstances much
said Huefner, a member of the OU Equestrian Team. No one's taking care of them. I think that's kind of worse than being sent to the slaughterhouse.
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Culture
Meghan McNamara
