What happens to unwanted horses? Aren there enough homes for all of them?
Several things can happen to unwanted horses. Sometimes these horses are lucky and find new homes with someone willing to provide them with care and attention and/or redirect them to second equine careers. Other horses may be placed in equine rescue, rehabilitation, or retirement facilities. Some are euthanatized by a veterinarian at the owner’s request. What happens to the others? They may be abandoned, neglected, abused, or slaughtered. Although there are numerous equine rescue facilities throughout the United States, these facilities simply do not have enough room or resources to accommodate the additional 90,000 to 100,000 horses every year that will no longer be able to be slaughtered in US plants. The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) has estimated an additional 2700 rescue facilities would be necessary in the first year of a processing ban to provide care for these horses (based on an average of 30 horses per facility). If the same number of horses became unwan
