What is the Destiny of Horses that Cannot Be Slaughtered in the US?

In 2005 the American Association of Equine Practitioners sponsored the Unwanted Horse Summit to focus attention on the problem of unwanted horses in the United States (US). As a result the Unwanted Horse Coalition was created under the auspices of the American Horse Council. In 2007 horse processing was curtailed by federal legislation in the US increasing the risk for a critical overpopulation of unwanted horses.

“Horses which are no longer wanted by their current owner because they are old, injured, sick, unmanageable, fail to meet owner’s expectations (e.g. performance, colour, breeding) or their owner can no longer afford them” are considered unwanted. The term has recently been associated with horse slaughter in the US because of the number of horses processed and marketed for human consumption in Europe. With the advent of public awareness of horse slaughter during the last decade, a political movement, led by animal activists and humane groups, successfully legislated closure of US slaughter facilities in 2007. [...]