SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) – Americans don’t eat horsemeat, but we do export horses for slaughter. Most end up on dining tables in Europe and China. While California is one of the few states that bans the exports, some activists have said the ban isn’t working.
By CBS SF Bay Area
We recently visited a Northern California Auction. Horses were on the block and selling cheaply; Prices were as low as $50 to $100, even former racehorses.
A horse known as Rino-U was bought by Tawney Preisner, who runs a shelter for horses.
“He was injured, he has a fractured knee, and he was no longer useful to the industry, so he was dumped,” Preisner said.
Just months before, the two-year-old thoroughbred was racing at Golden Gate Fields.
“It’s quite typical for someone to spend $150,000 on a horse, race it a few times, and if its not performing, just make it disappear,” said Preisner.
Preisner’s group, Horse Plus Humane Society, has rescued over 2,500 horses in the past decade – many of the animals were race horses that she found dumped at auctions.