Over the past week or two, a message about 52 horses in Ohio needing homes "went viral" in the horse world. These horses were said to need homes within in few days or they would "go to slaughter."
Ummm. Not so much.
Here is a snippet from a post written by someone who actually took time to talk to the family:
{The horses' owner} was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure about 6 months ago and at that time, they began to find homes for all the horses, knowing he would not be here much longer. They have all been placed, but it was not a hurried or concerning situation, by any means. They all went to homes that were picked by the family.
At no time, were they EVER in danger of going to a slaughter house.
Now, this is not the first time something like this has happened. On the contrary, its a regular occurrence. I have no idea why people feel the need to add threats and emotional blackmail to the mix when they hear news of a group of horses needing new homes. Isn't the current number of horses needing places to go enough of a problem without adding melodrama to the issue?
Frankly, this type of reaction makes those working in "horse rescue" look like a bunch of fruitbats and impacts our credibility as a whole.
The habit of screaming "slaughter, slaughter!!" every time a horse is advertised as needing placement is a reason TREES does not publicize or forward this type of post unless we have personally talked to the owners .
Please -- when you get an email like this, or see a post on a forum, RESEARCH it, before you pass it on to 5000 of your closest friends. I feel fairly confident in saying the owner would rather get one call from you than a hundred calls from said closest friends. If you can't take the time to call, don't take the time to pass it on.
