Unwanted Horses

Approximatley 100,000 horses are relinquished in the United States annually, of those 60,000 are processed at federally inspected plants, with 20,000 and 4,000 exported to Canada and Mexico for processing respectively. Others include feral horses kept at federally funded sanctuaries and Premarin mares and their foals.

The number of unwanted horses sent to slaughter decreased 80 percent between 1990 and 2004. This decline is attributed to responsible breeding and anti-horse-slaughter movement.

Unwanted horses fall into a wide range of categories. They can be healthy and of various breeds, suffer from non-life-threatening disability or infirmity, fail to meet the owner's expectations; have behavior problems, or be mean or dangerous.

Beyond those generalizations, not much else is known about the kinds of horses that are unwanted or why they are relinquished. It isn't clear whether there are trends in horses' age, sex, breed, occupation and original value. For more information visit on unwanted horses visit www.aaep.org

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Robin Johnson, D.V.M. Riverbrook Animal Hospital 3750 S. Peoria - Tulsa, OK 74105 Phone (918) 748-4400 Fax (918) 748-4402 E-mail info@riverbrookpetvet.com

 © Robin Johnson, D.V.M. 2001-2008. All rights reserved.