Two days ago, I wrote that our April Bucket Fund rescue facility that took in Big Girl (the draft mare whose feet were worked to the bone) got an urgent call about 5-7 babies in Washington State. These foals were just recently born and on a feedlot. Their mothers were shipping in 24 hours. Since they specialize in aiding orphaned foals, they jumped into action, leaving at 4am to get to these babies.
When they arrived, another mare had just foaled in the horrific feedlot. So, they rescued her, too. In total, they put 7 babies in their truck and got out of there.
This is Thumbelina. She was only 24 hours old when she was ripped from her mother. She was rescued yesterday and crashed this morning. Thumbleina was rushed to the ER for plasma.
Thumbelina was only 48 hours old when she was ripped from her mother. She crashed this morning and was rushed to the Emergency Vet for Plasma.
BABIES NEED PLASMA, COLOSTRUM, ROUND THE CLOCK FEEDING…
Infant foals are expensive without their mothers. They need milk replacer (expensive), colostrum (expensive) and sometimes plasma (very expensive)…
Can we all pitch in and help!! Thank you in advance! Let’s right this wrong for their poor mothers whose lives were ended abruptly and painfully.
All donations are 100% Tax Deductible! Thank you in advance!
WHY THE MOTHERS SHIPPED… INFANTS LEFT TO DIE.
The mothers shipped because they were brought to a feedlot, pregnant. This is a feedlot that does not care about do-gooders who want to rescue horses. They are in the business of shipping meat animals. However, they cannot ship pregnant mares. So, as soon as the pregnant mares foal, the mares are shipped. The babies are discarded. They just die. Some feedlots will ship the older, self sufficient babies to another feedlot to be fattened up and shipped at 6 months. But the needy infants are simply left to die.
Luckily, a rescuer in Washington heard about all of these mares foaling this week and pleaded for help. This is how our rescue became involved. These babies were too new and would be simply discarded. That is why the rescuers hopping in their trucks and got there as the mothers shipped. They wanted to relieve the babies as quickly as possible.
This is Velma. She was already at Big Girl’s rescue – but because she is so young and needs round the clock feeding, she too, drove up to Washington to get these foals. Velma is healthy and familiar with humans. She is a mustang filly that was orphaned.
LAYOVER AT ROLLING FOAL HOSPITAL!
A big shoutout to RFH, Rolling Foal Hospital, for assisting in this rescue. The foals are laying over here to be stabilized and receive their Coggins certs to drive back to California.
Kari Robles from RFH with Thumbelina – after her plasma treatment! She looks much better!
THANK YOU! LET’S HELP THESE BABIES HAVE A FUTURE!
Susan: You are replying to a comment. I don’t know if this is true.
Gelding any male horse without anesthesia or antibiotics is both inhumane and extremely dangerous. There is no excuse for this blatant cruelty and there needs to be enforcement of all laws written regarding horse cruelty. It is sickening to see how our beloved horses are treated – all for money. I can’t believe the USA has sunk so low.
To ship the mothers of these foals to slaughter and leave the foals to die is so inhumane I can hardly believe our own countrymen would do anything so heartless and cruel. Those mares should have been left with their offspring. The USA needs to step back and look at itself and then remedy it’s attitude in Congress and end the slaughter of horses by passing the SAFE ACT.
Thank you, Horse and Man, for supporting horses in need. You do so much for so many. Blessings to the foals. May their mothers see from the Heavens that their babies are receiving help. Namaste.
You should also post about what these feedlots do to intact male horses who arrive at these feedlots. They are gelded without the benefit of anesthesia and without observance of cleanliness or sterile instruments. This is done to babies and even very old stallions dumped at these feedlots by uncaring owners. Many bleed out and die in the kill pens. Others quickly develop raging infections and die horrific deaths en route to slaughter. Supposedly this is because many slaughterhouse workers are of a nationality whose philosophies include not messing with anything fully “masculine.”
I don’t know why the border states do not make shipping for slaughter illegal. Even in Oregon, one step removed from the north and south borders, horses are shipped (mostly to Mexico) and they are still using cattle transports to do it. By and large state legislators are indifferent to any kind of animal cruelty or neglect – even where laws are actually on the books, those laws are not enforced.
Lovely and thank you.
I am donating for Zenyatta in memory of her precious, littlest prince, z16, who died just yesterday at three days old. It seems appropriate to me to add my drop in the bucket to attempt to save these 7 foals, newly born whose mothers were taken from them to be slaughtered. Maybe others will also decide to do this too. These foals are also so very precious.
In California we have a law that prohibits hauling horses for the purpose of slaughter. I’m assuming that the horses are hauled into Canada. We need border states to have laws to prevent horses from being transported to Canada for slaughter. Lets organize. Little baby horses that are up to speed with colostrum can be given goats milk to sustain them threw their early days, and later on you can even give them cows milk. We need to establish areas where we can take horses to, when the horses can be seized due to violated laws when crossing the border. Almost all Americans are against the slaughter of our horses and our heritage.