Rescue & Adoptions

Trapped inside a dilapidated 20-by-20 feet shed for more than four years, Clyde had nearly lost all hope by the time help reached him. Here, the approximately 20-year-old stallion stood in place on several feet of his own manure-suffering through the pain caused by his severely overgrown and cracked hooves. Isolated from the only other horse-his mother-on the upstate New York property, Clyde was denied much-needed companionship, pasture to graze in, and freedom to engage in the most basic behaviors.

Though Clyde was barely visible amidst the protruding wallboards of the collapsing structure, an observant passerby recently noticed the horse and contacted us for assistance. After learning about Clyde's predicament and condition, Farm Sanctuary's Cruelty Investigator, Dan D'Eramo, responded-coordinating a meeting between local law enforcement and veterinarians to determine what could be done for the stallion. But despite the desperation uncovered at the scene, the fact that Clyde had food and water meant that his case would be dismissed by authorities-who, under state law, could not officially label the abuse as neglect. Clyde's "owner" was instructed on trimming the horse's hooves and improving his shelter; she, however, did not want to provide for these basic needs and agreed to release the horse into our care.

Clyde's story is far from unique-the sobering reality being that if he hadn't been relinquished, he would still be living in misery right now. Horses-who are generally granted more legal status than livestock, but still less than cats and dogs-frequently endure injurious treatment under the lax hand of the law. In states with the most protection for horses, an individual who maliciously inflicts pain or death upon a horse may be charged with a felony, fined and/or given jail time, and prevented from acquiring animals in the future. But for less extreme cases of disturbing and blatantly damaging forms of abuse, little to no aid is lent to helpless victims like Clyde.

One would think that horses, cherished American icons, would be treated with more dignity in the U.S., but as current controversy over the slaughter of the nation's horses for human consumption reveals, these animals are in more need of increased legal protection than ever before. According to the USDA, more than 100,000 horses were slaughtered on U.S. soil in 2006. Though the three U.S. slaughterhouses once in existence have closed, tens of thousands of horses are still exported to Canada and Mexico, where they are brutally slaughtered for