Undercover investigation reveals little oversight at California horse auctions

Thoroughbred Racehorses in Stalls. Google image.

Cross-posted from CBS News San Francisco KPIX Channel 5

ELIZABETH COOK reports:

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.

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.

California horses, protected by law from slaughter, quietly disappear into the pipeline, simply by crossing first into neighboring states where exporting for slaughter is legal.

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.

“If they are lucky, they make it to an actual person that wants to help them and retrain them, but most times they go straight on to slaughter,” she said. Continue reading, watch video >>