Living My Dream- Becoming A Vet: Helping America's Unwanted Horses

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Helping America's Unwanted Horses

What is Christmas break for, spending time with your friends and loved ones, catching up on some lost relation time? For me it's that and writing essays for Vet School. I am writing a paper for my veterinary ethics and law class in addition to writing several scholarship essays. One of my scholarship essay prompts is "Concisely describe your activities related to decreasing animal overpopulation. Include the specific activity, your role and date(s) of the activity." As I began writing, I thought deeply about what had really encouraged me to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. It was because I realized I had a deep passion for helping animals. I have always wanted to take part in decreasing unwanted animal population in this world. With the economy the way it is, people are forced to feed their children or their pets, they are forced to seek cheaper veterinary care, and in the worst case scenario, people are forced to give up their pets. This issue extends not only to small animals, primarily dogs and cats, but also to horses. The equine industry was hit fiercely by the end of horse slaughter in America. Horse rescue organizations began filling fast as America's economy sloped downwards. People have been letting their horses free in hopes to give them at least a chance for survival. One of my dad's friends even found strange horses waiting in his trailer after returning from a trail ride. People are dumping their horses because they have no other choice.

During my vet school interview, I was asked what I would do with the current overpopulation of horses. It is a difficult question that our society, and especially people entering the equine veterinary profession are currently faced with. I answered that I believed horse slaughter was a necessary evil, but should not be the sole option for unwanted horses. Some horses ought to be rescued and found new loving homes, but unfortunately not every horse can. One of the main reasons America needs horse slaughter is because the current situation makes it more difficult for horses bound for slaughter. They are trucked long distances to Mexico or Canada and face conditions at slaughter facilities that are out of our control and regulations.

Rescue organizations can only handle about 13,400 horses a year, but with an unwanted horse population of roughly 100,000 horses, we have a major issue. So what do we do about this growing problem? I think the only thing we can do until horse slaughter returns to the US is educate horse owners and try to reduce the number of America's unwanted horses. If people are educated on what it takes to own and care for a horse, maybe there will be less people having to relinquish them.

As an emerging veterinarian, I hope to become involved in combating this growing problem in the equine industry. I hope to volunteer my time with equine rescue organizations like the Grace Foundation of Northern California. In addition to helping horses, I volunteer at spay and neuter clinics to reduce dog/cat populations. I feel one of the best things I can do is to focus on educating the public on these problems.