BUYING VERSUS RESCUING

Recently we were called out on social media – we were told that a horse we referred to as being rescued was indeed not rescued.

We were told that because we bought a horse we had not rescued that horse.

What’s your definition of rescue?

Is buying a horse ever rescuing a horse?

Well, some don’t think so.

They think that in order for a horse to be “rescued” it needs to be surrendered by his or her owner.

But others like us say we’ve rescued a horse when we outbid a “dogger” AKA meat man or kill buyer at an auction, someone who is buying horses to send them to slaughter.  Or when we convince a dogger to sell us horses in their possession, horses who would otherwise go to slaughter.

The team at MOHM tends to shy away from putting ourselves out there on social media. Not only have we been threatened by those in the racing industry and doggers, but we’ve also learned how it feels to be criticised by a few of those within the rescue community.

One person on our team has for the last 15 years visited the premises of various doggers AKA kill buyers and purchased multiple horses who would otherwise go to slaughter, she’s then either kept those horses, offered them sanctuary — or placed them in homes.

She’s then gone back and done the same thing over and over. Quietly, without fanfare – and self-funded most of those purchases, along with providing vet care, feed, trimming services, etc.

To us buying horses destined to be slaughtered is rescuing horses.  What do you think?

There are some people, including those who call themselves a rescue (we don’t really consider ourselves a “rescue” even though we do rescue horses regularly) who complain and criticise stating that we are helping doggers who buy horses to be slaughtered profit when we buy a horse or horses from them.

We get that, we definitely understand how and why they think that way.

Here’s how we look at that…

We don’t pay any more for a horse than that kill buyer AKA dogger would get at a slaughter facility.

So when we buy a horse for the same or less than the dogger would get at an abattoir or knackery, the dogger does profit but NO more than if that poor horse was subjected to being crammed on a truck and hauled for hours without food or water – only to be slaughtered.

In both cases the dogger profits but at least in the case of us or someone else buying a horse from a dogger versus the slaughter facility buying that horse from a dogger, the horse lives.

We do our best to never outbid a private home at auction but when we are able with finances and space available we will always do our best to outbid those at auctions who are buying horses to ship them to slaughter.

Again we will do our best to prevent horses from being jammed in leg-breaking trucks, to prevent them from experiencing long hauls in extreme weather along with the terror of arriving at a kill facility – and the barbaric inhumane death that follows.

What do YOU think?

Join the conversation on our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/@NoAussieHorseSlaughter