CALGARY- Two dozen horses have been put up for sale at a livestock auction in High River, after nearly 60 neglected and malnourished animals were seized from a southern Alberta farm.
The Alberta SPCA seized the starving horses back in January, and some were so sick or aggressive that they had to be euthanized. 29 were sent to foster farms where they racked up $10,000 in medical and feed bills. But instead of being sent to forever homes, they were put up for auction—and potential buyers included those looking to sell horse meat.
“I’m very mad,” says Cheyenne Conacher, who helped rehabilitate some of the horses. “It’s a disgusting situation…it’s a waste of a life.”
In a last ditch effort to save a pregnant mare called Alice from the slaughterhouse, Conacher decorated her, hoping Alice would appeal to a big-hearted buyer.
Fortunately she was scooped up for $300 by three women, including a horse first aid expert, an equine massage therapist and a horse trainer looking to buy a horse for her young son.
It was a happy ending for Alice, but not for all of the seized horses.
Livestock dealer Ed O’Reilly purchased 15 horses at the auction. He will likely keep and train three of the foals, but says at least seven of the horses will not be going to a greener pasture.
“Good ones will get a new life and the other ones will end up at the kill plant. That’s the way it’s always been,” O’Reilly explains. “You can’t save them all.”
The SPCA’s practice of making rescue horses available to meat buyers has outraged some in the community. On Tuesday, the SPCA responds, in part two of this Global News exclusive series.
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