[Sandra-A1]

Since shooting has been mentioned I thought I would look online and see what I could find out about it. I found the following information that briefly describes the various euthanasia options. Keep in mind that all of them might not be available to all horseowners:

Euthanasia - Options
It is hard enough to decide that it is time to euthanize your horse. It is even harder to complete the task yourself. Therefore, prior to the need arising, speak with your veterinarian and consider the various options. They include:

Lethal Injection
A veterinarian will often administer an intravenous injection of a tranquilizer, followed by an overdose of a barbiturate. This is a very fast and pain-free method of euthanasia. It is usually less traumatic emotionally to the owner than other methods. However, the euthanized horse now contains significant levels of barbiturate. The carcass must not be scavenged prior to disposal. It is your responsibility to ensure that birds, wolves and dogs do not eat from a contaminated carcass. There are sufficient drugs in a euthanized horse to be a danger to a scavenger's health.

Lethal injection may not be feasible in some areas since a veterinarian may not always be available for an emergency euthanasia. When scheduling a veterinary-assisted euthanasia, ensure that you schedule your veterinarian as well as a backhoe operator, or other means of disposal, on the same day.

Gunshot
The use of a firearm is a very efficient method of euthanizing a horse, when administered by an experienced person. The weapon should be fired with the muzzle close to the head (but not against the skull) at the correct location and in the required direction to ensure that the shot penetrates the brain and does significant damage (2).
It is essential that the horse is properly restrained.
Muscle twitching may still occur even though the shot has been lethal.
A number of calibers can be used, including: a rifled slug fired by a shotgun (410 gauge or larger) and rifles (including .308 and .223), when placed 1-2 inches from the skull.
The smaller caliber .38 police service revolver or .22 calibre long rifle may render the horse unconscious but may not be lethal and may require exsanguination (bleeding out) subsequent to shooting.

While being fast and readily available in most rural communities, aesthetically, the use of a firearm may be unpleasant to the owner. In addition, the release of a projectile(s) by a rifle or shotgun poses a potential danger to animals and humans in the vicinity.

Location and direction of gunshot

Captive Bolt
A captive bolt pistol discharges a blank rifle cartridge (no bullet). It drives a piston-like bolt forward. When placed on the skull of an animal, the bolt is projected forward and delivers a lethal blow to the brain. The location on the skull and angle of the bolt is the same as recommended for euthanasia by a firearm.
A captive bolt pistol should only be used by an experienced operator. It does have the advantage that no permits or licences are required and it can be legally transported in a vehicle. For safety reasons, the captive bolt should only be used in a location, such as a knocking box, which provides protection from a horse falling on the operator.

Transportation to an Abattoir
Owners can transport their horse to a licensed horse abattoir, where experienced personnel can humanely euthanize it. Aesthetically, however, this may not be pleasant for the owner of a horse. This is a viable option only in those areas where horse abattoirs exist.

Horses that are not able to rise and stand unassisted may not be loaded, transported, and/or unloaded at an abattoir. These animals may only be loaded with veterinary authority for treatment purposes (3).

Donation to a Teaching Facility

In areas where veterinary schools are close at hand, horses can be donated to the teaching facility. Horses will be examined and humanely treated while in the care of the teaching hospitals. Subsequently, they will be euthanized using an overdose of a barbiturate.

The above was found at:
http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/...euthanasia.htm

[Barn_Brat]

Well I hope the workers are getting it in the correct spot...It seems that it would hurt alot if it hit the wrong spot.

[i_luv_moth]

Originally Posted by Barn_Brat

Well I hope the workers are getting it in the correct spot...It seems that it would hurt alot if it hit the wrong spot.

Then they do it again straight away to put the horse out of misery.

[Lou3]

Originally Posted by Blistering Winds

Huntsmen either shoot them in the head (and they miss more often than the bolt and need to shoot more than once)

Or they do a throat slice and bleed them down.


I know one guy who does that over the gun to the head. He isn't a huntsman, but he will drop your horse quickly and quietly and then feed it to his dogs.

They've never missed that I have seen or heard.

[Blistering Winds]

Lou...then your people who handle the guns are better than the idiots here.

Even our marksman at the renderer has missed here and there, had the bullet ricochet, or other issues with the firing mechanism.

Though he hasn't had too many problems...he has had them.

he had a bullet removed from his leg from one that decided to BOUNCE. The horse was flat on the ground, couldn't move, so it was a "PERFECT" scenario for him. Just the angle was JUST right or something that caused the bullet to literally bounce off the skull and into his leg. He wasn't happy about it either.


I've heard stories from others who have known or have done it themselves about having to shoot more than once on several occassions.

[doublebarr]

I've resisted from posting as so many others are makeing the same points I would so well. But, on the issue of putting a horse down humanely, I felt I did have something to share.

We have had to put horses down before for different reasons, i.e.: broken leg, old age (couldn't get up anymore due to severe arthritus) & severe colic. After the vet told us the kindest option would be to put the horse down, my husband got his hunting rifle and quickly finished the process and ended the pain. The vet agreed that a well placed shot is quicker and kinder than doing it medically. The horse does not know what the gun is and there is no fear. If my husband was not home I would have been able to do it myself, and then broke down and bawled like a baby, but the quickest end is far better in my mind than slowly suffocating with medication. I have had to do it a few times with the cattle. However, we are sportsmen and have well developed shooting skills. I can see where someone that is a "lets go shoot some cans" every few weekends out of a year can improperly use the gun when putting a large animal down.

Add to that we are in an area where burrial is possible and this is a good option for us. While we perfer to let our older horses retire on the ranch and die a peaceful death here, I do understand the need for slaughter. If one of the horses I sold had the misfortune to somehow end up sold again to an uncarring home where they were slowly starved or beaten, I would much rather they ended up going to slaughter and maybe have only a couple of uncomfortable days with a quick end, than months or years of neglect or abuse. JMO

[Lou3]

Originally Posted by Blistering Winds

Lou...then your people who handle the guns are better than the idiots here.

Even our marksman at the renderer has missed here and there, had the bullet ricochet, or other issues with the firing mechanism.

Though he hasn't had too many problems...he has had them.

he had a bullet removed from his leg from one that decided to BOUNCE. The horse was flat on the ground, couldn't move, so it was a "PERFECT" scenario for him. Just the angle was JUST right or something that caused the bullet to literally bounce off the skull and into his leg. He wasn't happy about it either.


I've heard stories from others who have known or have done it themselves about having to shoot more than once on several occassions.

Well they use the captive bolt gun at the hunt kennels here not a shot gun - its pretty hard to miss with that thing, even I've used it on a cow and managed to get it in the right place first shot. Not saying it hasnt happened but i've never seen or heard more than one shot - and i seem to be at the kennels on slaughter day a lot for various reasons.

[Equine_Harmony]

Originally Posted by pocahontas

Congressman speaking out on horse slaughter

http://www.house.gov/gallegly/press2...1705horses.htm


**TELEVISION NEWS TEAM GOES UNDERCOVER:**
"He had to be kicked and prodded by auction employees to get up and make the walk past the buyers at the kill auction. The auctioneer joked, "Hey, this is Old Joe. He was a food horse in his day."
The final destination: slaughterhouses in Illinois, Texas or Canada. Video shot undercover by the Humane Farming Association shows it can take three or four blows with a bolt gun to the head to render some horses unconscious.
http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=319256


http://equineprotectionnetwork.com/press/lride.htm
"THE LAST RIDE"
A person rides along on a trip with horses to slaughter.

Fantastic facts and information, thank you.
It is very sad, but a reality. What has America done with the very animal who paved our way?
True other animals have, but none like the horse, he still does, from worker to a friend/pet.

I call this the fall of the american treasure.
I have seen the other sides of why horses have to be slaughtered, too many, too many are starving and left to die, a very suffering way to go, but also the the trip to the slaughterhouse, the horse does get fed and with hope, he is happy now, eating, he feels he is rescued, litle does he know at the time he is about to die, to smell the blood of his kind, to hear the cries fear set in...drama? no, it is a fact. anyone who knows this animal does know how smart he is, how intuned he is and with built in flight response, the very legs that made him are about to be hoisted in the air, head down, well you know the rest, before how many blows by the Captive Bolt Gun? How much did he suffer in the chute? last thoughts, it may as well be why? No the horse dos not speak our language, however he does and did learn our cues, smelled us, got to know us as his leader, as a leader in horses we are the protector...
What if no one wanted horse meat, would this change things? Yes it would less demand for horses.
Foreign plants in the USA.

What is next on our list cats and dogs? they are not livestock, their are too many. china/ Korea they do eat cat and dog, it is their culture, why do you think many chinesse reserunts used these animals for our eating and without knowing? We all in most get an idea how they slaughter animals. Mcdonalds was brought up, they were caught using Kangaroo, and I think horsemeat as well, perhaps I ate horsemeat without knwing , liked the taste, this would make me very p!ssed off, to be betrayed here in the USA.

Barn Brat, I seen a young one 14 years old ******** out, runing on all but nothing tears and flooded with mis-understanding, anger, did anyone pm her? Why couldn't some people see she was not stable at the time frame? To the ones who judged her too quickly, and now you see she is seattled down and ready to take in WHY this has to happen. If you were to loose your logic here, some would sit on their hands, while some will react in not a logical manner. We are human here, we all in most do love this animal differently...look what has happend to this animal we love.

[Beau]

The fact is that although you may think that they did, horses did not "pave our way" into America. It was cattle, actually. They pulled the wagons, and broke the ground, provided milk, and sometimes meat. No one on here seems to see anything wrong with the slaughter of cattle, so why horses? It's because you keep them as pets. The thing is that this post isn't about emotion, or shouldn't be. Emotion is not going to stop the fact that there are so many extra horses, and there is nothing else that can be done with them. I understand that it can be an emotional topic, but you need to try and take the emotion out of it, and just look at the facts. It's humane, horses generally suffer very little, and instead of wasting the remains, they are used.

[pocahontas]

Originally Posted by Beau

Emotion is not going to stop the fact that there are so many extra horses, and there is nothing else that can be done with them. I understand that it can be an emotional topic, but you need to try and take the emotion out of it, and just look at the facts. It's humane, horses generally suffer very little, and instead of wasting the remains, they are used.

Humans are emotional beings. Emotions are part of us. Emotions can be a part of solutions and/or discussions. Done productlivly, emotions along side logic can be very productive and beneficial.