Local rescue groups overwhelmed with unwanted horses

2007 was the year of a packed stable for Nina Margetson and the Horse Haven shelter in West Knox County.

In a typical year, they see about a dozen horses. Last year, they housed more than 50.

"It's been ridiculous, I mean the cases that are coming in are cases of 20 horses and 5 horses," Margetson said. "You ask around, 'Why are you not feeding your animals?' 'We can't find hay.'"

While some of the horses at Horse Haven have been abused, many have owners who just can't afford to feed them with record high hay prices. What used to be an "easy-out" option for those owners is no longer legal.

"Now the horse traders who were buying the horses for slaughter aren't buying them," she said.

Late last year, because of federal law, the last American horse slaughter facility closed its doors. Horses slaughtered for human consumption in Europe now must be transported from the U.S. into Mexico and Canada.

The transportation costs are too high to turn a profit.

So now, many of the roughly 100,000 horses that used to be slaughtered each year in the United States, have to find a different path.

"Our numbers are going to get to the point where they'll be like the dog and cat numbers, and you've got to be realistic," Margetson said. "If you can't take care of them, there is only one option."

That one option is having the animals put down by a vet. To help, the shelter is offering free transport for horses to U.T. if their owners can no longer afford them.

"It's hard, it really is. The majority of them just don't understand," Margetson said.

One lawmaker in South Dakota thinks the answer is reopening slaughterhouses.

Margetson disagrees. She says with hay prices what they are, there isn't any easy way so long as breeders continue breeding irresponsibly.