08/09/2023
Your love is killing America’s horses. Literally.
It’s time we talked about “Kill Pens”. It’s time to take the gloves off and share some painful truths with you all.
You can call them “kill pens” if you want… or you can call them brokers. It’s the same thing. The one thing you CAN’T call them is RESCUE, and here’s the many reasons why-
1. Buying a “kill pen” horse doesn’t save horses. True kill buyers hold a contract with a slaughterhouse which demands how many horses they must provide. A kill buyer with a contract for 40 horses will ship 40 horses, every time. You buying that horse does not mean he will ship 39. He will just ship one you didn’t see.
2. Most kill buyers don’t sell their slaughter horses. Most get their slaughter horses USDA export tagged at the sale and ship out quickly. The longer they hold the horse, the more it costs them in food and housing. Holding a group of horses for any amount of time significantly multiplies the chances that the horse will get sick or get injured and will fail EU inspection.
3. No reputable, ethical, honest rescue or “rescuer” is acting on behalf of the kill pen to try to save horses. This is not altruism, it is capitalism. If anyone claims that they are advertising kill pen horses to save the horses or from the bottom of their heart…. Think three times about that and then think once more. These “rescuers” are often hired people working on behalf of the kill pen to make them huge profits selling B grade horses who have no other profitable market.
4. “Kill pen” horses are often grossly misrepresented. There is no accountability for the description or condition of the horse. A kill buyer is not dealing in honesty and the value of their good name. They are dealing in a world of a-sucker-born-every-minute and huge profits with no repercussions. If they tell you the horse is 10, dead broke, and sound then it is more likely 25, dead lame, and an ex-bronc rodeo horse. Use some common sense- if the horse WAS 10, sound, and dead broke why wouldn’t they sell it themselves for $5,000? Because that is what a horse like that would be worth. It’s certainly not because they have gentle hearts, it’s because they are LYING.
5. The “kill pen” horses you see online are often not even slated for slaughter. They are the cast-offs of the auctions which sell dirt cheap. They sell even cheaper than the slaughter horses. These are the lame horses, the thin horses, the old horses. They are purchased for this intent specifically- to be sold at huge profits sight-unseen online under threat of slaughter. It’s an emotional manipulation that pays huge dividends.
6. Despite the literally MILLIONS of dollars well meaning people have spent “bailing” these kill pen horses; slaughter rates are largely unaffected. The same number of horses get slaughtered, you just don’t see those horses online.
7. Kill pens are stupidity at its finest. The concept that buying kill pen horses will end slaughter is like saying PURCHASING ALL THE PUPPIES WOULD CLOSE THE PUPPY MILL!!!! No it WON’T!!!! All it does it train these guys to do this more and make more money!
8. Horse slaughter is not really all that profitable right now, and your support of “kill pens” is keeping these guys in business.
And it’s killing our horses. Literally.
People aren’t adopting. The adrenaline rush of making offers to meet fake deadlines all the while with a cheering social media crowd adding to the frenzy and excitement is almost an addictive high. It’s not thrilling to make an appointment, visit a rescue, test ride a horse or two or three, have the one you like vet checked, fill out an application, and have your farm visited, and sign a contract to adopt. I mean…. That’s RESPONSIBLE. And responsible stuff is BORING.
And a second trend has started that is even worse. Well-meaning horse lovers are crowdfunding the “bail” of horses on behalf of strangers they don’t know who openly say they CAN’T AFFORD THE HORSE!!!! Why on god’s green earth would you want to BUY a horse for someone who admits they can’t AFFORD a horse?? What happens once it arrives? What happens when it needs a vet? What happens when it needs training? What if it is pregnant and now there are two? What happens when the “gelding” is actually a cryptorchid stallion and needs a $1200 surgery?
This is how hoarding happens. This is how some lunatic yahoo ends up with 180 horses on their 40 acre farm that they can’t feed. This is how horses end up starved and dead.
So please…. If you love horses STOP supporting kill pens.
Supporting kill pens is giving money to the devil. Support your reputable rescues who outbid in the auction ring and won’t give a $1 of your money to a kill buyer.
Let’s put these guys out of business.
