After narrowly escaping death at the DeKalb, Ill. horse slaughter plant earlier this month, two horses arrived safely today at their new and permanent home: the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch, a 1,300-acre animal sanctuary operated by The Fund for Animals.
Monitored by rescue workers from The Humane Society of the United States to the ranch, Mariah and Sahara—a mother and daughter pair believed to have been together since the younger one's birth 17 years ago—will find open pastures to roam, plenty of food and proper medical care.
The rescue of these two horses and 28 others came after The HSUS and The Fund for Animals won a court ruling closing down Cavel International, the last operational horse slaughter plant in the country. The horses had been offloaded and were queued up to be slaughtered when news of the court decision reached Cavel managers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture pulled inspectors from the plant.
|
Operation Miracle Horse |
|
Watch the Slideshow: See the recovering horses.
Donate: Support the care of the Miracle horses and other equines rescued from the slaughter industry and other cruel situations.
Take Action: Tell Congress to prohibit the slaughter of American horses for human consumption and the export of live horses to Canada and Mexico for slaughter. |
At that point, the horses were reloaded onto a truck and returned to the stockyard in Cheyenne, Wyo. where they came from. After the owner contacted The HSUS for financial and logistical help, he relinquished ownership and the process to find them new homes began.
While these horses were transported to safety, the majority of the horses caught in the slaughter pipeline that day at Cavel were routed to feedlots en route to slaughterhouses in Mexico and Canada.
"Fortunately for Mariah and Sahara, theirs was a happy ending after suffering days of misery on their way to the slaughterhouse for dinner plates overseas," said Richard Farinato, director of the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch. "They richly deserve to live out their days as healthy and content as possible."
"With the foreign-owned slaughter industry effectively shuttered, it's time for Congress to pass the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act to keep American horses from ever going to slaughter here or across the borders to Canada and Mexico," said Michael Markarian, executive vice president of The HSUS and president of The Fund for Animals.
