It's not that horse owners want to give up their animals, at least not most responsible horse owners. But with a bale of hay costing $4 or more, and a bag of grain going for $12, State Animal Welfare Director Norma Worley says her phone and those of horse rescue organizations around the state have been ringing off the hook. "We're getting more calls so far this year than I think in combined all the winters together in five years. And they're more desperation, more pleading. I think it's just the state of the economy and many people are looking at their large animals as well as their small animals as a luxury they can no longer afford."

 

Around the state there are at least half a dozen rescue organizations that will take a limited number of horses, but only animals that have been abused or neglected. Not horses that are simply unwanted. Worley says it's too expensive to find long-term placements for them. Last year Marilyn Goodreau of the Maine State Society for the Protection of Animals had a budget of $1.3 million to care for 84 horses. Her organization is a private, non-profit, the largest horse rescue and rehabilitation center in New England. "The problem will always exist because there are more horses that are on the ground than people are willing to afford or can take care of 'em."

 

Susan: “You mean that there are more horses born every year in the state of Maine that can adequately be housed and cared for?”

Marilyn: “Exactly. Exactly."

 

Goodreau says that means some animals will starve to death. For Goodreau the solution is not to breed as many horses. But in a Standard bred harness racing state like Maine, she says that's a difficult subject to broach. "It's difficult to get the entire horse community to speak in one voice, to try to eliminate the problem or solve the problem."

 

Some say imposing a fee on horse breeders each time a foal is born would help reverse the trend. Others suggest creating a fund to help horse owners care for their animals in times of economic trouble. And then there's the taboo subject of euthanasia. Assistant State Veterinarian Beth McEvoy brought that up at a special meeting attended by equine rescue groups, veterinarians and others who care for horses.  McEvoy calls euthanasia a "kind option" in certain situations. "I am opposed to rescuing every single horse. I see horses with huge joints, horses that are lame, horses with debilitating illness and I think we need to make sure that the public knows that it is okay to euthanize a horse that has a chronic disabling and is in pain. We emphasize rescue but we need to have the kind solution also out there."

 

Getting a vet to euthanize a horse can cost more than $400. And then there's the matter of disposal. If you can't legally bury an animal on your property you may have to pay another $300 for that service. State Veterinarian Don Hoenig says he's recently heard about several farm owners who are interested in euthanizing a large number of horses, but don’t know how to dispose of them. Those attending the meeting agree that these are all unsettling questions. One other option is to transport the horses to Canada for slaughter where they are used in products such as fertilizer and cosmetics.

 

"We're not trying to be cruel to these animals. We're just trying to have a means to an end for 'em." Jeff Tilton of Tilton's Auction in Corinth takes unwanted horses from Maine to Canada for this purpose. He says he can earn between $40 and $60 a horse from a slaughter facility in Quebec. But it costs him about twice that much to pick up the animal, care for it until he has enough horses for a full load, and then transport them all across the border. He says requests for his service are up about 30 percent over last year and he's recently started charging horse owners $100 to haul the animals away for slaughter. “I mean a lot is to do with the economic conditions, I'm sure of everything around, too. But it's also more so to do with no place to go with them."

 

In other words, says Tilton, horse owners have virtually no options when it comes to giving up their animals. The United States recently banned the practice of horse slaughter and Tilton says that has only created more unwanted horses and created more transportation expenses. Now there is also proposed federal legislation that would prohibit horses going across the border to be slaughtered. And as those in the business of caring for horses await the outcome of that legislation, they say they will work to coordinate feed banks, foster farms and adoption networks for unwanted horses as temporary solutions to a problem that shows no signs of going away.