Equine Rescue

Video Report: Neglected Horses Saved from Slaughter by Passionate Bidders

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Source: By Lorraine Jackson and Devon Dolan of KSL.com

“My part in all of this is to buy one and love it and make sure it doesn’t go to slaughter…”

Click IMAGE to view video

SPANISH FORK — Victims of one of the states largest cases of animal -abuse found new homes Wednesday night when over 40 horses were sold at an auction.

Multiple volunteers and horse rescue organizations had confirmed that “kill buyers” would be attending Wednesday’s public sale of the neglected horses owned by mother and son Rory and Trudy Childs of Smokey Mountain Ranch. Fourth District Judge Fred Howard ordered that the horses be sold to pay a lien to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, which cared for the horses after they were discovered near starvation in mid-February of this year.

Buyers could purchase the horses, transport them to Canada or Mexico, and resell them to slaughterhouses for processing. While regulations have recently changed on the matter of domestic horse slaughter, there are currently no U.S. slaughterhouses open for business.

Many bidders were fighting beyond their means, taking money out of savings, to help save the horses from slaughter.

“My part in all of this is to buy one and love it and make sure it doesn’t go to slaughter,” said Jo Crawford, a bidder at the auction.

Nine purebred quarter horse foals and 31 mares and geldings ranging in age and experience were auctioned. “They’re engaging, good personalities, they’re spirited,” said Sgt. Spencer Cannon from the Utah County Sheriff’s Office. “A lot different than they were several months ago.”

Bidders worked together, outbidding what they say were suspected kill buyers. According to americanhorsemeat.com, buyers for slaughterhouses can’t afford to spend more than around 20-25 cents per pound and still make a profit. With fully grown horses ranging between 800-1,000 pounds, to outbid the middle men, bidders needed to pay $160-$250 per horse.

After an hour, the auction ended, some having spent thousands of dollars to save as many horses as they could. Sales reached up to $2,700. Barbara Phillips ended up buying eight.

“I just wanted to help the ones that were still alive,” Phillips said.

The new owners do not get any papers detailing each horse’s past, but they know their history. Many of the bid winners say they’ll now get the horses healthy and train them then find them good owners.

Click (HERE) to view video and to Comment at KSL
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Categories: Equine Rescue, Horse News, Horse Slaughter

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23 replies »

  3. My only worry would be, if they’re buying beyond their means where will the money
    come to look after. Would hate for the horses to end up back at square one.

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  4. Thank You for all the Passionate people would were able to go to the Auction and adopt the horses they did ………..It was a beautiful pouring out of love and devotion to the horses , i am in awe of !!!!!!!!! God Bless everyone of them !!!!!!!

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  5. May God Bless these wonderful and compassionate people. May their sacrifices and dedication continue to “Payed Forward”.

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  9. YEAH!!!! Thank you to all those who stepped up and closed the door on the kill buyers. Good Job!!!! I love you people!

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  10. Thank you! to all the good people that saved these horses. Good luck to all involved with these saved horses.

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  11. This is wonderful. I love it when people actually work together vs. working against each other. I stepped up and rescued one from Craigslist, where we all know kill buyers look for those free to good home horses.

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  12. The kindness you gave will come back to you a thousand-fold. The world needs much more of this kind of behavior because “what goes around, comes around.” God bless all people everyday who love and care for our animals, our earth, and each other.

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  13. An aquaintance of mine goes to a slaughter auction every fri. and gets a couple horses out, evaluates, trains, and very carefully sells them to good homes. Last week, one of her previously sold horses ended back at the auction. Thankfully, this was posted on facebook and several of us pictched in thru paypal and got that good horse out of there. It is sad this happens to these beautiful animals and very depressing for the people who expose themselves to this venue to do good. Hats off to them.

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  14. Thank you Spanish Fork people. That was great of you to buy those horses. I just moved to Payson, UT and there are alot of good horse people here.

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  15. ALL those who helped care for those horses and stood up and saved them should be so VERY PROUD I am so very proud of them all, JUST a great thing,…… AND so DELIGHTED and HAPPY that they were saved from slaughter, it was a good night for them all…. YEAH 🙂

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  17. lien to the sheriff’s dept, crap. rescue them and send them right back into danger. don’t the taxpayers fund the sheriff dept? the lien should be against the defendents not the innocent horses.

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  18. According to some of the comments you can spot the kill buyers or their friends. What happened at the ranch where the horses came from is typical over breeding and poor management. There also could have been hoarding involved too. There was a study done a while ago that now says that hoarding is a mental disorder. It took them long enough.

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  19. Oh HAPPY DAY! This made my Friday in reading this one. Give those bidders and horses a big sound of applause!

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