" How is a horse any different than a cow? Do they have more feelings, or is their meat not as tasty? I don't eat either, or any meat for that matter, but I don't get it. "

" I can't even believe the things some people do. How could prople not have compassion for animals. This is beyond me. Some people should stop this. And that is the government. Anymore everyone looks toward the government to do something, and they either can't or won't. I have a feeling there are a lot of people who feel the same way. Why doesn't Lincoln, NE have a Animal Protection agency? Because in NEB. our govenment thinks the pretty bikes around town are necessary. If I had the money I would be more than willing to run and agency like this. I would make even live there to care for the animals. The people who have the money (Government) doesn't care. The prople who don't have the money have our hands tied. And this is our USA. God Help Us All! Including the animals. "

" As a horse owner I have to say I completely disagree with this woman's actions. Thanks to all these animal rights activists urging the closure of slaughter houses, more unwanted horses are being left to die from starvation. It sounds like the horse owner tried to find homes for these animals, but to no avail. What option did he have? Humane disposal of a horse is VERY expensive, not to mention the cost of burial (if possible) or calling an animal refuse service to remove the carcass. Slaughter house killings, though not pretty to watch, are much more humane than letting the poor horse starve to death. If you're going to take away the slaughter house option, another needs to be provided for horse owners, farmers and ranchers. While I deeply care for my horses I can guarantee you when the time comes that they’re old and can no longer live without pain and suffering, instead of sending them to slaughter I’ll be putting a bullet in their heads so some Animal Rights Activist doesn’t try to “save” them. "

" How ridiculous is it to have someone take advantage of the good nature of those who love horses. For what he is charging for sale of these animals is outrageous and someone should put a stop to it. I would like to know what side of the fence post his man fell off of? "

" 175 horses were taken away today for slaughter. They went in double decker trucks ANYWAY. Apparently it is easy to avoid the law by simply lying and saying the horses are going to another farm or a local sale barn. There are no horses at the local sale barn. I also wonder why this article was not printed in the print version and i only found this online in today's paper. There are still horses there and they MAY be spared if people get involved and help out! Send donations for these horses to those rescues (i am not one of them), if you have room to foster some of the horses once they have passed quarantine or if you want to adopt some of them, DO. They are not free and there will be fees associated. These horses DO NOT DESERVE SLAUGHTER. Contact Epona Rescue at eponarescue@msn.com . "

" We must embrace diversity. Some cultures like to eat horse meat. It's no different than eating beef or pork. What's the issue here? "

" Why did the woman have to pay $.71 per pound when the slaughterhouse only pays $.41? Seems like she could have at least been given the same price and bought another 4 horses or so. The "factory" breeding of horses for slaughter and profit is what has caused the surplus of horses. Horse estrogen is a big time product. Do you know how they get it? They keep mares constantly pregnant sometimes they abort the baby horses and othertimes they allow them to live, if female, to produce more estrogen. But, they end up with a surplus and send them to slaughter. "

" Yes, I'm an animal lover, but this is no different than trying to control the cat and dog population. Horses take a lot of feed- something that is in short supply because of the drought. The feed that is available is expensive and should be fed to the animals that feed us- namely cattle. Who can afford to throw that kind of money into hay for hundreds of unwanted horses? The cruelty here is what these so-called Good Samaritans are trying to do. There is no possible way to rescue all the unwanted horses. Imagine how many mouths there would be to feed in ten years if all the horses were kept alive. Where would America house them? Where are we going to house these? It's too bad that animal rights activists have gone too far and tried to eliminate horse slaughter facilities. As I understand it, there are now only four such places in North America - two in Texas, one in Mexico and one in Canada. Unfortunately because of the efforts of people like these horse recuers, even more unwanted animals are going to be left to die from starvation and disease. "

" In response to the article about the woman saving horses from slaughter, horse slaughter is inhumane and painful for the horses. Humane euthanization by a professional veterinarian is painless for the horses. Beef from Cattle is safe to eat, but Horsemeat is not safe to eat, I will tell you why there is a difference. There are some drugs used for horses and dogs that are drugs not to be used for Food Animals because they are toxic to humans and can make them extremely ill if consumed. Clenbuterol (Bute), Topical Nitrofurans, Wormers, Phenylbutazone (Bute), Medicated Feed, Dipyrone to name a few. These drugs are approved for the use in Dogs and Horses NOT INTENDED FOR FOOD ANIMALS. It says so on the labels if you read them. I commend this woman for trying to save those horses, maybe if more people would have known about these horses and there would have been more publicity about these horses needing homes earlier the horses would have found homes instead of being trucked off somewhere. "

" I see so many people say save the horses, save the horse yet for every 1 unwanted horse out there that is taking up hay some rescue group has tried to save and feed there are about 40 some odd horses that are wanted but the owner can't find the feed to feed them. When will these tree huggers get the picture. It isn't a beautiful thing to have a horse slaughtered. But what is the alternative? Having a horse stand out in a tiny lot starving to death cause the owner can't afford to keep it and can't sell or give it away? Oh yea that's real humane. Until someone can come up with a ( don't slaughter, instead do this) I think that slaughter is the only option. My gosh we slaughter hogs, cattle, sheep, goats. I mean my kids have pet goats, cattle, sheep and yet they know that is just a fact of life. I own horses and love them dearly but if I can't afford to feed them any longer and can't find homes for them what do I do with them? Let them stand and starve to death? Putting them down costs money and hauling them away does. Some can't afford that and so they leave them stand and starve. I do think there needs to be less people out there breeding horses just to get a cute little colt that will grow up probably unwanted or neglected. I still see the careless horse owner breeding molly out back who is just a brown plug that has no breeding and is a ugly as sin just cause they want a cute little colt to play with. "

" I am not against putting a horse down that is no longer wanted and/or is sick or crippled. And it is way too expensive. Slaughter is not humane euthansia. The horse meat market also puts a pressure on owners to send them off to slaughter because the prices are good. So you not only put your horse to death but you get some cash too! I only want there to be other options for owners and the horses. Death is a part of life and its not that they are trying to avoid death and saving them only to have them be in pain and agony is not saving them. Rescues do know this. but people do want these horses, you just have to put them in the right place with each other. Rescues can do this. The owner could/did not. Owners need education, breeders need to stop breeding unwanted horses. The cost for hay is skyrocketing an the costs of keeping a horse are NOT CHEAP and i think its mostly rural folks who think it is cheap and easy to park a horses or horses out in their pasture to rot. They think more highly than others do of their horses and when the prices they are asking are not met, they go to slaughter at the sale barn. "

" I am not against putting a horse down that is no longer wanted and/or is sick or crippled. And it is way too expensive. Slaughter is not humane euthanasia. The horse meat market also puts a pressure on owners to send them off to slaughter because the prices are good. So you not only put your horse to death but you get some cash too! I only want there to be other options for owners and the horses. Death is a part of life and its not that they are trying to avoid death and saving them only to have them be in pain and agony is not saving them. Rescues do know this. but people do want these horses, you just have to put them in the right place with each other. Rescues can do this. The owner could/did not. Owners need education, breeders need to stop breeding unwanted horses. The cost for hay is skyrocketing an the costs of keeping a horse are NOT CHEAP and i think its mostly rural folks who think it is cheap and easy to park a horses or horses out in their pasture to rot. They think more highly than others do of their horses and when the prices they are asking are not met, they go to slaughter at the sale barn. "

" This article is not about compassion for horses. It's more about giving a bully pulpit to an animal activist, who does not understand the animals they are trying to save. Wouldn't it be more productive to discuss why we need to have a way to humanely slaughter horses who are no longer a useful part of society? "

" As a long-time horse owner, I have to say I am always ashamed when I seen other horse-owners advocating slaughter as a humane way to end a horse’s life. I can only assume they have never had the opportunity to visit a slaughter plant and watch the process first-hand. I grew up in the industry, bred, raised, trained, showed, bought, sold and boarded horses. I’m not a tree-hugger, just an ethical, responsible horse owner for more than 35 years. And I wish I never had to “save” anyone’s horses. Blaming the rise in horse abuse and neglect on the absence of slaughter is ridiculous. Slaughter has been an option for 30 plus years and still is. The hay shortage is the current culprit. If you can find it, you are paying 3 to 4 times more for it than you did a year ago. Many hay growers have opted to ship their crop overseas because they made more money on it than selling it here. Add to that the droughts, hurricanes and heavy snows, well there you go. If you can’t feed your cattle, well I’m sorry, but poor planning on your part doesn’t mean that my horses should go hungry. As far as the prices on these horses, the killer buyers have a contracted price from the slaughter plants. In order to get that contracted price they have to supply a certain amount of horses based on their weight. These buyers are in it to make money, in many cases it is their sole source of income. Horses have the distinction of being livestock, but have never been raised as a food animal. Cattle and hogs are raised for food. It is really quite simple. The argument that we will be inundated with all these mouths to feed should horse slaughter be eliminated wears very thin with me. When you consider that 300,000 horses were being slaughtered every year in the early 90’s and just over 104,000 were slaughtered in 2006, we would now be faced with all those mouths to feed. When you look at the fact that approximately 1% of the entire equine population was slaughtered in 2005, some 94,000 horses, it is a number than can be absorbed within the industry. But I agree whole-heartedly that there are people out there breeding horses that shouldn’t be. My point is this, these horses don’t breed themselves, they don’t choose to fall in to the hands of someone who clearly isn’t equipped to deal with them, they are victims of circumstance. Many of these “unwanted” horses are just unlucky. I’ve bought horses out of sale barns with head-tossing problems, a $65 float eliminated. Some have had lameness issues attributable to abscesses and poor hoof care, a couple of months of soaking in Epsom salts and a few visits from the farrier cleared it right up. Still others that have bucked their owners off, more often than not, end up being a simple equipment adjustment issue. Rather than taking the time to figure out what is going on, they just ship them off to the old sale barn and their fate is sealed. Unfortunately, buying or owning a horse doesn’t necessarily give a person the resources or knowledge to care for them. It is a huge and expensive commitment. As long as horse slaughter is an option in this country, people will continue to breed for that cute little foal or breed 20 mares to get that one world champion prospect, not to mention an easy outlet for stolen horses. Horse slaughter does nothing to promote responsible breeding practices and ownership. And whatever you believe, approximately 93% of horses slaughtered in this country, according to the USDA, are in good condition, they aren’t all old and sick. I mean, you wouldn’t eat a downer cow, would you? "

" I commend this paper on one of the few and rare coverages of horse slaughter issues that is close to the truth. Thank you for having the honesty and humanity to publish what is real, rather than bought and contrived by those who wish to keep horse slaughter legal. "

" I am confused. Who is working on saving these horses? Heartland Horse Rescue claims them are working to get these horses? Now I read this. Linn is a better bet to save these horses, make them healthy and adopt them. I know her fees are much less thean Heartland Horse Rescue and the horses are in far better shape when they are adopted out. Also they are not adopted out until healthy from you Linn. Linn our donation is coming to you to help the horses. Many of us believe in you and what you do. There are some rescues (not yours) that need to take a close look at what kind of life they offer to these horses once they reach their rescue. It cost money to save these horses and it is not easy to understand why some people take horses who don't have the funds to do so. The horses just move to another place and suffer. "

" What-ever happened to people taking responsiblity for the animals they decide to take on? I live in a rural area just outside of Omaha, and I tell you there are enough horses floating around as "yard art" as there are metal sculptures of cowboys. The fact is, is that horses have spirits, they have personalities, they have a beating heart, and some become beloved friends. However, they count on us humans to take care of them. I think that the cure for this issue is education. People need to know that if they can't afford the general cost of caring for a horse, or dedicate the care and time it takes to keep the horse trained - they shouldn't have one. Granted there are a lot of reasons people want to have a horse, but if breeding them just for the "kick" of it is what you're after think again! It just breaks my heart knowing that our society has people out there who don't realy give a damn. Chances are they too are the people who don't give a damn about anyone but themselves. To James: Have you ever riden a cow? I don't remember in History books of anyone riding one. Wasn't the West all about the Horse? Have you ever looked a horse in the eye and let them talk to you? Obviously not, and maybe you should experience it sometime before you throw your hands up and say "you don't get it", it's worth it. "