Euthanasing your horse

When the time comes to euthanase a beloved horse, don’t ignore your responsibilities. There are ways to make the passing as humane as possible.

Euthanasing your horse
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Invariably, horse owners will be faced with the sad decision of whether to euthanase a beloved horse. Aches and pains in the joints of pensioned-off riding horses start to take their toll; worn down teeth can no longer chew hard, dry grasses. For some owners, it’s about economics.

The grazing is gone, there’s no money to pay for feed and no market for unbroken crossbred horses on a smallholding, or for outgrown, elderly ponies at a riding school.

Sometimes a horse is suffering and the veterinary and medication costs to cure them are unaffordable. The first decision is hard enough. Once you have decided, however, there are choices to be made regarding the way you want your horse to leave this world, and when and where it should happen.

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Don’t duck out of this responsibility and sell the horse to someone who you know is going to slaughter the animal. There are not many horse abattoirs in South Africa and a good few people involved in illegal slaughter.

Your horse is condemned to be separated from familiar surroundings, often loaded onto an unregulated transport vehicle, or kept in crowded conditions with strange horses. Often it’s bullied or badly injured in the last few days of its life.

A humane option
A far better option is to have your horse shot on your property by an expert from the game industry, or an equine practitioner using a gun or humane killer.

Racehorse vets are usually able to do this. It’s important that the person shooting the horse is experienced and we are fortunate in South Africa to have expert marksmen skilled in shooting wild game during culling operations. They are particularly useful if you need to shoot half- wild or feral horses.

Tame horses must be restrained in a crush before being shot, as they can behave unpredictably. Legal requirements for the use of a licensed firearms are essential. The correct calibre of bullet must be used and everyone involved must be a safe distance from the line of fire.

In horses not intended for human consumption, the first shot is through the medulla oblongata and the second through the cranium. This decreases exsanguination (blood spatter).

If the horse being shot is healthy, the carcass can be used to feed carnivores and owners of zoos will shoot the horse and take the carcass away free of charge.

Injection
Euthanasing by lethal injection is the most expensive option. It is also the logical option if a necropsy (post mortem) is needed.

The vet usually gives a small dose of tranquilliser intramuscularly to calm the horse, then 50ml to 400ml of a concentrated barbiturate solution is injected intravenously. This is basically an overdose of anaesthetic.

Some vets use about 20ml to 50ml intravenously to drop the horse, then the rest of the dose is given once it is unconscious. The process takes about 30 minutes, and the veterinarian must remain until all signs of life have left. Carcasses of horses euthanased this way are poisonous and must not be used for feeding wild carnivores.

Your vet will usually be able to arrange to have a disposal company available to remove the carcass immediately after death.

Current waste management laws prohibit burial of horses except at licensed premises and the cost ranges from R1 200 to about R3 000. Internationally accepted guidelines for humane slaughter of horses are available on the OIE website (oie.int) under the Terrestrial Animal Code.