A fellow rescuer on Facebook asked:

‘Horse World’  friends …(And foes)
What do you feel is the THE leading cause of horses ‘ending up’ in auctions and kill pens?

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The more common answers ranged anywhere from Negligence, Greed, to lack of knowledge. The less common answer was a change in Tax Laws.

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Bad situations where a horse could not be kept and people would “save a horse from the kill pen” rather than buying it from an owner in an unplanned tight spot- leaving them no choice- put them down is easy to say, but it often costs several hundred dollars (or more) to bury or dispose of the body plus an expensive vet bill for euthanasia!  If someone is in a bad situation this may not be an option!

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Every horse is one home away from a pen, every single one, is at risk the moment they are born. I’ve seen horses bred in the purple (royally bred) end up in pens simply because a horse lover passed away and the family rehomed them to a “loving person” look at the whole Fallon Blackwood incident, or the 52 TB incident. Look at Ferdinand, any horse can end up in a bad situation, for any reason.

Create a plan, include your horse’s/animals in your will reach out to a local rescue, create a safety net for them.