Bolero Horse Adoption Network
Reply to the article
“When I die, I want my horses to…”
June 6, 2016
Thanks so much for broaching this very important subject. I own a custom, handmade horse tack website, SpanishHorseTack.com, and I market to a lot of Facebook groups.
After I recognized a photo of a horse I knew as a 3 years old colt standing in a kill lot and heading for slaughter listed in one of the rescue groups, I networked this horse, whose name is Summer’s Bolero, to every group I belong to and this horse was saved.
The next day, I started two horse adoption network groups on Facebook: the Bolero Gaited Horse Adoption Network and the Bolero Appaloosa and Spotted Horse Adoption Network. These groups have been online for over a year now, and our members network horses whose owners have died and have been sent to auctions and purchased by kill buyers ALL THE TIME.
A few months ago, 20 purebred Fox Trotter foals were auctioned together from a kill lot on Facebook. Several people who love that breed got together, formed a group and saved those foals–some of these foals were 4 months old! Their mothers were all sent straight to slaughter, along with over 150 purebred Fox Trotters in that one herd! We were later told that the breeder had suddenly died, and his family sold all of his horses at an auction. These horses were bought by kill buyers, but the foals were too small to ship to slaughter, so they were left behind to fend for themselves….
Even though horse slaughter is illegal in the US, over 130,000 horses are sent to slaughter for human consumption every year in Mexico and Canada. If you do not know what happens to horses in slaughter plants in Mexico, it is the WORST CRUELTY I have ever read about!
We see horses whose owners have died, divorced, gotten sick or lost their jobs sold at auction every day, and many of them end up in the slaughter pipeline. We also see a lot of horses who are sold under the kill plant per lb purchase rate, and horses given away in free to good home ads end up in the slaughter pipeline.
PLEASE spread the word to your animal loving friends about what is really happening to our companion equines who trust us. Please tell them if they need to sell their horses to always sell them above the per lb Slaughter Plant rate, between .70 and $1.00 per lb. Please warn them that kill buyers will lie to purchase a horse cheap, and say that the horse is going to its “forever home” but instead the horse will suffer a horrible death. Please tell them to always ask for and double-check references for any person buying their horse. It is also a good idea to have a buy-back contract so if the person who purchases a horse ever needs to sell that horse, then the first seller would be contacted.
Horse slaughter is not humane euthanasia at all, especially in Mexico. If you don’t know what happens, please search for Horse Slaughter Mexico; our horses deserve much better than this….
Sincerely,
Tracy Stevens
Bolero Horse Adoption Network
https://www.spanishhorsetack.com/the-bolero-horse-adoption-network
Tip sent to the New York Post:
May 23, 2016
Thank you for the articles on the deaths of 2 horses at the Preakness. I have always been amazed by the fact that 2 and 3 year olds are not only being ridden, but running flat out at these distances. I have been taught all my life that horses should not be ridden at that age, because their knees may not be closed, which I guess explains the breakdowns that we see all the time at the track. This also explains the amount of Of The Track Thoroughbreds that I am seeing going to slaughter.
I run two horse adoption groups on FaceBook, the Bolero Gaited Horse Adoption Network, and the Bolero Appaloosa and Spotted Horse Adoption Network. The groups are called Bolero for a purebred, registered Paso Fino that I personally knew as a young colt, who ended up in a kill lot and heading for slaughter in PA.
I almost fell off my chair when I saw a photo of this horse that I recognized! The photo was taken by one of the rescues that saves horses from going to slaughter. I networked this horse in every Paso FIno group I am a member of, and with the help of many caring people, Bolero was saved from a grisly death. The next day I started the Bolero Gaited Horse Adoption Network in his name.
Our members network horses for rescues and horses that are being given away or have really low prices on Craigslist and are in danger of going to slaughter. We are seeing this kind of thing ALL THE TIME–purebred horses dumped at auctions, bought by kill buyers, and sold for meat for human consumption in Europe and Japan. The horror they face in Mexican slaughter houses is the worst thing I have ever read, and many of these horses have been given drugs that are not supposed to be given to any animal who may be slaughtered for human consumption. The thing that haunts me the most about all of this is the piles of halters that are left after they are loaded onto the trailers; many have their names on them. One horse had a halter with I LOVE MY HORSE on the nose band! That terrified horse was bought out of the kill lot by a rescue in Pa.
Many of these horses are our companion horses who TRUST US, and yet so many unknowing owners sell them at auctions, or in Free To Good home ads, and many of them end up in the slaughter pipeline. We have seen entire herds of purebred horses sold into slaughter!
Last Fall there were 11 purebred Paso Finos that were seen by a photographer in a kill pen. Paso Fino owners were in an outrage, lots of people wanted to adopt them, over $8,000 was raised to save them, and New Beginnings Paso Fino Horse Rescue bought them from the Kill Buyer.
In February, over 100 Fox Trotters were sold at auction by the relatives of a horse breeder who had died. Almost all of those horses went straight to slaughter. The only ones left were about 20 colts and fillies that were taken from their mothers, some as young as 4 months old, and many of those foals died before they could be bailed. Two had severe head trauma. One died at the kill lot and one died after the new owner spent thousands of dollars to bail, transport and then vet her. What I was told by someone who was at the auction: these colts and fillies were too small to ship and were sold for $20 each to the kill buyer, who turned around and sold them on Facebook for over $600 each–with a profit margin like that, I really don’t see this blood-soaked business drying up and going away anytime soon–BUT SOMEHOW THIS HORROR HAS GOT TO STOP!
We all need to join together to get the truth out! We need MORE NEWS STORIES and some big horse loving celebrities to talk about this which is why I am writing a Tip in hopes that perhaps the New York Post could do an article to help us to get the word out.
From what we are seeing, there would be no reason for all of this misery if more people knew what could happen to their horses when sold cheaply at auctions or given away on Craig’s list ads. I think the biggest thing that needs to happen is EDUCATION of the American public on what is happening to over 130,000 to 160,000 horses a year that are shipped out of the US and to Mexican and Canadian Slaughter Plants. Over 70% are Sport Horses: and in that group are registered Quarter Horses, Standardbreds and Thoroughbreds.
Right now our Bolero members are working on educating horse owners concerning the safest way to sell their horses so that they do not end up on a death ride to Mexico, which is pricing them above what the slaughter plants pay for them: approximately .70 to $1.00 per lb. We are going to clinics to talk about this situation, and handing out brochures with simple instructions on the best way to safely sell your horse.
I do believe that many of us are on the front lines of change, but it saddens me how many horses will suffer a horrible death before that change actually comes. Please consider writing an expose concerning the horror and cruelty that is happening to young, healthy horses who are sold below the per lb slaughter plant rates.
Sincerely,
Tracy Stevens
Bolero Horse Adoption Network
https://www.spanishhorsetack.com/the-bolero-horse-adoption-network/
Letter to Ellen DeGeneres From the Bolero Horse Adoption Network:
March 7, 2016
Dear Ellen,
We desperately need your help in getting the word out about what is happening to our companion horses.
I started two adoption networks, the Bolero Gaited Horse Adoption Network, and the Bolero Appaloosa and Spotted Horse Adoption Network. We have a total of 1,837 members who network horses for rescues and those in danger of going to slaughter. We also educate people who are selling horses under the per lb slaughter rate (around 75 cents a lb) or in Free To Good Home ads, and we talk to friends and family about what is really going on with our companion horses, and how some horse registry associations actually support the horrendous murders of many young, healthy horses that are sold at auction and sent to slaughter.
We have seen entire herds of purebred horses sold into slaughter! Last Fall there were 11 purebred Paso Finos that were seen by a photographer in a kill pen. Paso Fino owners were in an outrage, lots of people wanted to adopt them, over $8,000 was raised to save them, and New Beginnings Paso Fino Horse Rescue bailed them.
Last month over 100 Fox Trotters were sold at auction from a breeder, and almost all of those horses went to straight slaughter. The only ones left were about 20 colts and fillies that were taken from their mothers, and many of those poor babies died before the could be bailed. Two had severe head trauma. One died at the kill lot and one died after the new owner spent thousands of dollars to bail, transport and then vet her. What I was told by someone who was at the auction: these colts and fillies were too small to ship and were sold for $20 each to the kill buyer, who turned around and sold them on Facebook for over $600 each–with a profit margin like that, I really don’t see this blood-soaked business drying up and going away anytime soon…BUT SOMEHOW THIS HORROR HAS GOT TO STOP!
We all need to join together to get the truth out! We need MORE NEWS STORIES and some big horse loving celebrities to talk about this which is why I am begging you to help us to get the word out.
I have NEVER CRIED SO MANY TEARS since becoming involved in saving these horses. I give money to rescues when I have it, and I am working nonstop on a huge project that will help fund 501C3 Rescues. I am also in the process of getting quality, humane horse trainers involved with our networking groups, so that these horses, many who have TRUSTED US AS THEIR CARETAKERS, can be saved and rehabilitated.
As an animal lover with a partner who loves and owns horses, won’t you please help us to get the word out?
Very Sincerely,
Tracy Stevens
https://www.facebook.com/groups/bolerogaitedhorseadoptionnetwork
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BoleroAppaloosaHorseAdoptionNetwork
Sponsored by SpanishHorseTack.com
Custom, Handmade Horse Tack for All Breeds
Our Bolero Horse Adoption Network Namesake:
One lucky, purebred, registered slaughter-bound Paso Fino horse
Who was adopted. and celebrated his 15th birthday with his new family!