By Suzi Hansen

The HSUS

HSUS's Suzi Hansen with Magic, one of the Miracle Horses.

April 2, 2007, started out as a typical Monday morning at the HSUS Northern Rockies Regional Office until the phone rang with news of a situation involving 30 horses whose miracle rescue would earn them the name the “miracle horses.” 

These horses had been in the kill pens of the Cavel International slaughter plant in DeKalb, Ill., a few days prior. After the plant shut down, they were moved to Cheyenne, Wyo., and were in need of our help.

Within 48 hours I was on site at the Cheyenne stockyards, joining members of an HSUS equine rescue team to help process and identify each of the horses.

We got to know each of the individual horses, noting their personalities, quirks, veterinary needs, handling abilities. We gave them their own names—not only as a means of documentation, but also to signal our respect. Every horse is special in his or her own right, and this lot of “unwanted” horses certainly had their own special traits.

Shorty, for example, is a young bay quarter horse mare who delighted us with her Mr. Ed routine. And Sweet Pea is a two-year-old Arabian filly who made friends with everyone.

In addition to HSUS staff, volunteers from Wyoming and Colorado—whose backgrounds range from professional horse trainers to accountants, military personnel, and law enforcement officers—worked side by side to care for this amazing group of animals. After initial treatment and assessment, the horses went to six sanctuaries where some—such as mother and daughter Mariah and Sahara—would spend their lives. Others would be placed for adoption.                  

It’s been two months since Operation Miracle Horse began, and I’ve been privileged to visit many of the horses since they left Cheyenne. I’m happy to report that there have been numerous adoptions and happy endings.

Your contributions and support of The HSUS has allowed this miracle rescue to happen. Thanks also to the six organizations that took in the horses: Front Range Equine Rescue, Horse Protection League, Denkai Animal Sanctuary, Fund for Animals Black Beauty Ranch, Fair Dinkum Farm Equine Rescue and Return to Freedom.

The Horses Still Need Your Help

Illinois passed a ban on horse slaughter for human consumption with the full support of the governor and the Illinois Department of Agriculture. However, only a week after the victorious passage of this state bill, the owners of the horse slaughter plant in Illinois filed suit to overturn the law.

Despite the temporary setback, this tremendous victory underscores the urgent need for passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 503/S.311). With horses being slaughtered in Illinois—despite passage of the state ban—and a flow of American horses to Mexico and Canada in brutally long trips that end in a grisly form of slaughter, the need for federal legislation has never been more urgent than it is today.

You can take action to end horse slaughter for human consumption in the United States permanently and prevent the export of horses for slaughter in other countries. Ask your U.S. representative and senators to support the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 503/S. 311).