Our Work
Before & After
What happens to horses that are neglected, abused, or simply abandoned? What happens to horses when their owners can no longer afford to feed them? What happens to racehorses that did not perform as their breeding would have suggested? The answer to all of these questions is that horses are taken to the local auction or left to fend for themselves in deplorable conditions. If seized by the government, they are sent to auction, where they will almost certainly be purchased for slaughter.
Slaughter does not mean humane euthanization but rather an excruciating process ending in painful death. From the auction yard, the horses are taken to a feed lot in order to put on enough weight to be worth transporting to Mexico or Canada by the “kill buyer”. Once loaded onto the “kill trucks” the horses are transported where they will be slaughtered for meat that is sold in Europe and China for human consumption. The horses are provided no food or water during their journey to the border. Their deaths are long, painful, and cruel beyond description. Many die along the way or are unable to stand by the time they reach their destination.
It is not unusual for a horse that was bred for racing to be worth $35,000 as a foal or yearling only to be worth its body weight for slaughter should it fail to perform on the track as expected. Likewise, valuable horses that have fulfilled their promise as racehorses, studs or brood mares and are no longer profitable are also disposed of at the local auction.
The racing community frowns on the practice, but unlike in other states, it is not barred by statute in Washington. The small percentage of breeders, owners and trainers who engage in the practice of disposing of non-performing or injured horses by selling to kill buyers tarnish the reputation of racing, and like most professions a few bad apples can ruin the whole bunch.
Washington has no animal shelters for horses or livestock. Dogs and cats that have been abused or simply found as strays are taken to a shelter where they are cared for, adopted or humanely put down. No such resources exist for livestock. Horses, as companion animals, are the most vulnerable because they are not raised for food, while most livestock are a commodity; in other words, a herd of cows is unlikely to be neglected or mistreated.
Yes, cruel owners can be prosecuted though it is rare, but even in such cases seized horses cannot even be euthanized if they are healthy enough to survive. They must be taken to auction and sold to any bidder willing to pay the price for them. There, the horses suffer for their size because there is no budget to feed them and no housing to shelter them. It is not the auction that seals the fate of these horses, it is the “kill buyer”. If horses are not sold at auction to a bona fide buyer, then the kill buyer will purchase the horse for its slaughter value. Once in the kill pen, the fate of that horse is usually final.
This is where horse rescue organizations enter the otherwise hopeless lives of these horses. Serenity Equine Rescue & Rehabilitation is one such rescue. SERR is located in Maple Valley and is now in its third year of operation. Its mission was formed out of a need that could not be ignored by its founder, Patricia Clark. Patricia was an accomplished horsewoman who built a premier boarding and training facility as a retirement avocation, but instead was compelled to rescue and rehabilitate abused and neglected horses, turning her attention and resources toward a full-time rescue operation.
This shift was triggered by a woman named Dean Solomon. Solomon ran a facility called Pacific Equestrian Center in Auburn and at one point had 93 horses on 11 acres. The horses were malnourished, depressed and suffering from parasites, and many were living with injuries that were not addressed. For years, caring people had turned Solomon into Animal Control but no action was taken. Patricia refused to give up on these animals and through constant contact with Animal Control, the County Council and other county administrators, and a 2-inch folder full of documentation, Solomon was charged with 1st degree animal cruelty and eventually shut down.
Patricia took in many of the horses who were able to be saved and established SERR with other caring volunteers, donating her boarding and training facilities for our use. One of the horses we took in was Copper, a 2-year-old Thoroughbred suffering from horrible malnutrition, his skin festered with rain rot, and his coat covered in lice and filth. He had been starved to the point that he was underweight by more than 250 pounds, was visibly depressed and showed very little interest in interacting with other horses or humans.
Within 6 months, we were able to rehabilitate Copper to full weight, and his skin and coat were clean, shiny and bright. He started to wander over to the front of the paddock when people came up to it, and began to display affection to even strangers that came to visit him. Copper is now a huge, muscular, stunning horse of 17 hands who has found his forever home with an owner who values his heart and tenacity.
These transformations are only possible with the support of our caring donors. We are 100% dependent upon donations to keep Serenity’s gates open to continue helping horses in need.
Donations are used to support the following programs:
Ø Meet our annual hay budget of $54,000
Ø Pay for fencing maintenance and improvements, equipment maintenance and rentals, and various farm repair and maintenance expenses in the amount of $50,000
Ø Meet our grain budget of $24,000
Ø Meet our supplements budget of $8,500
Ø Pay for veterinary and farrier services in the amount of $24,000 each year
Ø Meet our medicine budget of $7,500
Ø Pay for our adoption program through 2011 in the amount of $12,000
Ø Pay for our Manure Composting Plan in the amount of $9,000
Ø Pay for our shavings (bedding) budget of $9,400
Ø Complete our Green Watering System (to collect and use rain water and to recycle water used around the farm) in the amount of $5,000
Donate today and help us save the next 100 horses!
