Abandoned and starving to death: Hundreds of skeletal horses left to die

Abandoned and starving to death: Hundreds of skeletal horses left to die

www.dailymail.co.uk

After a year without rain in Texas, coupled with rocketing temperatures, crops have been sparse and the price of a bale of hay has doubled.

The effect on the horse population has been devastating. The number of animals being abandoned is ten times greater than in previous year.

(visit the link for the full news article)

This is just so sad to me I don't know what to say.

If you are an animal lover you might not want to look at the pictures at the article. I mean, they aren't super-gross but still so sad.

The poor horses have nowhere to go. Some of them have been sold for as little as fifty dollars.

You think lack of rain isn't a serious issue? THINK AGAIN! Look what can happen even in "the world's most advanced country" when there is NO WATER.

I've lived all my life in and around the Great Basin Desert in the Western US. My dad made sure to teach us how precious water was, and to make us feel ashamed to waste even a drop. Now maybe if everyone realized how important water is and how fragile the supply is, we wouldn't have to look at horses with ribs poking through.

Isn't there anything somebody can do????



www.dailymail.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

Very sad.

I live in a rural area. Several times over the last year, neighbors have found strange horses mysteriously appearing in their pastures. Hay is getting too expensive and we have not had enough rain to grow grass. People who can't afford to feed their horses are sneaking them into peoples pastures in the dead of night. It's better than letting the animals go hungry but it only makes it someone else's problem. I feel sad for folks who have gotten to that point.

I don't understand how someone can abandon such a beautiful and majestic animal. And to let it starve on top of that. Any animal actually.

Some people should be taken out into the desert and...abandoned.

Peace

it is heart wrenching. I wish I had the means to save them all.
a few years ago we had a drought here in ohio, horses were turned loose, found in pastures, tied to gates, it was out of control. they were on craigslist for free even. People were desperate to get rid of them before they starved to death. It wasn't a water issue , it was a cost of hay issue.

I have noticed an influx of cheap horses advertised locally this late summer and they look like really nice horses. there are a few people (horse traders) that have the money driven desire to go to auctions in texas/out west and pick them up cheap and sell them here for a handsome profit.
But they can only transport so many at a time and their main motivation is money.

i so wish I was rich.

Originally posted by Neysa
Very sad.

I live in a rural area. Several times over the last year, neighbors have found strange horses mysteriously appearing in their pastures. Hay is getting too expensive and we have not had enough rain to grow grass. People who can't afford to feed their horses are sneaking them into peoples pastures in the dead of night. It's better than letting the animals go hungry but it only makes it someone else's problem. I feel sad for folks who have gotten to that point.

ah-ha ! just what I was saying happened here years ago.
and like you said, it just becomes someone else's problem. just like dumping puppies, kittens, unwanted pets on a country road. just a larger scale.

I have seen this unfortunate reality throughout the great state of Texas within the past 12 months like never before. It's not just domesticated animals. The wildlife is emaciated as well. It's a sad reality that plays itself out, over and over again, as the weather cycle continues (as it has for millennia).

Recently, and what is worse, there are thousands of starving people living on the streets (in Dallas alone), shivering in sub-zero weather, eating trash to survive; with hopes of surviving until sunrise.

Living in an urban area, I see the effects on people more often than the animals (despite my career in wildlife conservation)...my heart goes out to the livestock, but my heart bleeds for my unfortunate brothers and sisters that must survive based upon the refuse and/or generosity of the more fortunate.

reply to post by Partygirl


A year without rain in Texas , yes saw this on CNN about a week ago in the UK. Some of the comments on the DM page at the bottom are disturbing, quote,

I am from Texas. The comments on this article are not only hurtful but astounding in their ignorance. My family has owned ranches in Texas since the 50"s. We love our animals, as do all the ranchers i know. Not only our livestock but the beautiful wildlife that grace us with their presence. Just the other day we rescued fish from a small pool of water and transported them to a deeper pool in the hopes they can hang on until rain comes. We have been digging deep wells, at great expense, in an attempt to find water for our livestock and the wildlife. Unlike what some DM readers believe, we dont control water flow any more than we control the alaskan pipeline. If we could pump water in we would, its simply not there. People are going broke, we"ve been battling wildfires ( we lost 25 acres to fire in september) and then theres the economy. Our ranch is lucky to have some underground water. Most ranchers are simply bone dry and broke with zero options. judge not.

I have heard stories that water in the future may / will be traded as a commodity. RT also Max Keiser have had the odd item on this subject. Words fail me on this. Bush and co are Texas good ole boys are they not , well no Bush is not a true Texan so there you go , he has enough power and pull to get something done , nothing will be done from them though .

wait, what ever happen to the US weather modification.....? All the chem trail posts haarp and all the other stuff people think the US governments is doing with weather clearly does not work. proof is in the pudding.

Originally posted by Legion2024
wait, what ever happen to the US weather modification.....? All the chem trail posts haarp and all the other stuff people think the US governments is doing with weather clearly does not work. proof is in the pudding.

Well, that would depend on what the objective is.

If it's to cause hardship, bankruptcies, foreclosure on land, rising food prices and water to be as valuable as gold, then mission accomplished I would say.

Who said the Govt. was here to help?

reply to post by Partygirl


And now everyone knows why they just made it legal to slaughter horses in the US...
much better to make it fat in the short term and EAT it then let it rot and die!

reply to post by Partygirl


A very sad story. Read it in the paper today. What's worse than the horses plight is that donkeys have less to no value compared to a horse and are just dropped off somewhere to fend for themselves. Here's a link and a S&F.

www.chicagotribune.com...

reply to post by freakshowfatty

It's only a matter of time, I suppose. People who are out of work and have no choice but to sell their horses to the slaughter house.
Maybe thats the plan? Let me be paranoid for a mo.
Will it be legal to sell horse meat in the US for human consumption, soon? Just in time for the inevitable depression? Hmmmm...
'
My Mother's family had to eat horses during the last "big one" You would have to know my Mom to appreciate that statement. Mom was a horse lover and had horses from the time she was a teen. She loved them. Let's hope it does not come to that.

reply to post by Neysa

Sometimes reality can be crueler than fiction, and to a bushman, whose animals are his life, then you will understand what is meant, by being cruel to be kind, is not kinda being cruel, but being kind

bulla joiner of dots

Originally posted by jude11
I don't understand how someone can abandon such a beautiful and majestic animal. And to let it starve on top of that. Any animal actually.

Some people should be taken out into the desert and...abandoned.

Peace

Agreed until the last sentence. Humans living in poverty require equality and healing with a lot of love thrown in. There are many ways to be poor. Applicable to all of them.

"Pay no attention to the faults of others, things done or left undone by others. Consider only what by oneself is done or left undone."

"Never in this world can hatred be stilled by hatred; it will be stilled by non-hatred - this is the law Eternal."

www.buddhist-temples.com...

quotationsbook.com...


The problem is in our unequal unjust system and allowing corruption with high technology used to harm people running things, people should be pulling together.

Its like blaming someone who is weak and sickly, carrying his household and supplies and lifestock over a huge mountain, till he drops, nor lending him a hand, blaming him for his condition, not taking responsibility for the system we've allowed that forces his plight to exist, then hating him when he takes his kids and runs with his last bit of strength.

A few weeks ago my brother in law went Elk hunting in Colorado and after getting his elk he filled his truck and a flat bed trailer he had towed from north Texas with good high grade alfalfa so his horses would have feed for the winter.
some people have rented Uhaul trucks and filled them with feed in other states to bring to texas f

Other people in the area have taken there horses to as far away as Calif till the drought is over.

There have been cases where ranches have leased railroad cars to haul feed from other states.

All this is very expensive and some people do not have the money.

Many of the feed dealers are gouging there customers with the prices going up 500% in the worst areas of Texas.

Originally posted by jude11
I don't understand how someone can abandon such a beautiful and majestic animal. And to let it starve on top of that. Any animal actually.

Some people should be taken out into the desert and...abandoned.

Peace

Not that this doesn't happen, but I think the situation described is totally different. It is absolutely agonizing to own an animal like this the you cannot care for, nor find shelters with room for, and you would find this is often the case.
In answer to the OP about something being done, I don't know if a state of emergency has been declared in Texas over this situation, but it seems like it's getting to that point. This might make some kind of emergency funds or help from the department of agriculture available to people in this position with their horses. Hard to beieve this wouldn't be affecting people with cattle, as well.
There is a website called trot.org ( as well as many other horse related sites) where anyone could post a request for any humanitarian help in the form of donated hay and feed. Unfortunately when it gets to this point in an area, the shelters are usually full and struggling themselves.
It's a horrible situation. And it wasn't all that long ago that everyday joes depended on these animals for their livelihoods. Nor out of the realm of possibility, actually, that this time might occur again. Besides that, obviously, just the appreciation for a noble, dedicated and loyal, beautiful creature.

I'm glad that this story (And hopefully more stories like this one get) are getting some attention in the present world.
With everything that has been going on and the current state of the world, it's very easy to only care about ourselves because we forget that we are not the only species living on this planet.

If we start seeing this as "normal" and/or not give it the attention it deserved, we start lose our humanity.
If we lose our humanity, we lose our reason to exist.
With power and knowledge comes responsibility and we better realize that because of our role and impact on this planet, we are responsible for a hell of a lot more lives than just our own or "just" the 7 billion of us walking around.

Very saddening to see what some people are forced to do because of the lack of $$.

Thank you for bringing attention to this OP. I myself am guilty of doing exactly what I explained to be wrong in this post because of all that is going on and I want to let you know that appreciate you bringing my ass back down to planet Earth.


IT--

reply to post by edog11

As an Australian we as people are very accustomed to droughts some lasting 10 or more years and we have our own people that donate fodder and hundreds or road trains and transport this donated fodder freely to those that are in difficult circumstances and not a penny asked in return, there has been times when things have been so bad, and no relief that stock owners would rather shoot there stock rather then let them suffer and endure the slow and agonizing, death

and to this, its my precise meanings of words and whether you are religious or not, it would be difficult for you to teach me how to such eggs, when it comes to cruelty to animals, and its all very well for you in your glass tower to remind others of rightfulness, and or godliness, perhaps you do better to look around you at real people dieing of starvation

Originally posted by bulla
reply to post by edog11

 

As an Australian we as people are very accustomed to droughts some lasting 10 or more years and we have our own people that donate fodder and hundreds or road trains and transport this donated fodder freely to those that are in difficult circumstances and not a penny asked in return, there has been times when things have been so bad, and no relief that stock owners would rather shoot there stock rather then let them suffer and endure the slow and agonizing, death

and to this, its my precise meanings of words and whether you are religious or not, it would be difficult for you to teach me how to such eggs, when it comes to cruelty to animals, and its all very well for you in your glass tower to remind others of rightfulness, and or godliness, perhaps you do better to look around you at real people dieing of starvation

I don't know if it is because I haven't slept for too long or that the unclarity is on your end, but your post isn't very clear to me.. I do however think that I got the gist of what you are saying and I applaud you and your fellow Aussies for doing that and ask nothing in return.

To address your "Critique":
Maybe I didn't make it clear in my post but I didn't say that human lives and suffering is any less than that of animals.
I feel more connected to human suffering than that of animals to be honest and my point was that we should not forget that we are not the only species suffering. We in fact are often the reason why other species suffer and even go extinct.

The different between our sufferings as human beings and that of animals and the difference between our position/options and that of animals is: that they CAN NOT help themselves AND help us while we CAN help our own species AND theirs.

What I am trying to say is that we should never forget that it's not just us on this planet and should help whoever is in need, be it Asian, African, European, American etc. or be it a cat, dog, sheep, mouse, horse etc.

Also, I live in a "Glass Tower"? On second thought, I find your post rather condescending. Especially since you haven't got the first clue as to who I am and what I have experienced.


IT--