July 17, 2009

» Abandoned horse found with brand cut from rump

A further $US2500 has been added to the reward for information leading to those responsible for cutting the brand from a two-year-old filly and abandoning her.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) has added the sum to the amount offered by the Humane Society of the United States, bringing the total reward to $US5000.

In doing so, its president Ed Sayres dismissed claims the case highlighted the need for new US-based slaughter facilities, saying a poor economy and overbreeding were the main culprits.

The Nevada Department of Agriculture found the terrified dappled grey filly wandering alone near Round Mountain, a remote mining community about 350km southeast of Reno.

In an effort to make sure the filly could not be traced, her former owner cut a 15cm by 20cm section of flesh from her rump to remove the brand.

Officials at the Department of Agriculture took the horse to a holding facility where she was treated by a vet. They contacted Return to Freedom, a wild horse sanctuary in California, who agreed to help the mare. She is safely recovering in her new home now and will be well cared for during the rest of her life.

"We applaud the ASPCA and HSUS for their role in helping law enforcement officials bring justice to the person responsible for this, and we applaud officials at the Department of Agriculture for acting swiftly to save this mare.

"Had she gone to auction in this economy, the mare would certainly have been scooped up by the slaughter industry's kill buyers and taken to Mexico to endure a grisly death," says Return to Freedom Founder Neda DeMayo.

"It is ironic," said the ASPCA's Sayres, "that this mare was spared the nightmare of slaughter and yet pro slaughter advocates are using her story to make the case to reopen US-based slaughter houses, claiming that she was abandoned and brutally tortured because horse slaughter was outlawed in the US.

"Abandoned horses are the result of a struggling economy, and the unscrupulous overbreeding of horses ... around the country.

"The numbers of dogs and cats being surrendered to shelters increases when the economy fails as well but we don't blame that on a lack of dog slaughtering facilities.

"The real solution involves educating breeders and horse owners about responsible horse husbandry, not using slaughter to enable the overbreeding of horses to continue."