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Colorado Horses Rescued From Slaughterhouse Have New Problem

EAGLE, Colo. (CBS4) - After getting rescued from the slaughterhouse, some horses in Colorado now have a new problem -- overcrowding.

The inflow of horses for the Mountain Valley Horse Rescue started a few weeks ago at an auction in Steamboat Springs.

"We went to that auction very prepared for the possibility that we may have to buy quite a few," Shana Devins with the Mountain Valley Horse Rescue said.

Out of 28 horses and mules, the rescue came back saving the final seven.

"We were up there as a safety net for those horses that might be sort of falling through the cracks of private buyers and ending up at a price point where they would go to kill buyers and be trucked to Mexico for the meat market," Devins said.

Three horses are still in the rescue's care as they recover.

"That will take a number of hoof trimmings over a period of a couple of months to get her feet back into healthy shape," Devins said of one of the horses.

Then all of the sudden last week more horses were brought to the rescue from a cruelty case out of Eagle and Garfield counties.

With winter already in effect in the high country, Devins thinks that it's just a matter of time before she rescues more horses.

"It's easy to have a horse when they can just be out in the grass pasture eating grass, but in the winter you have to buy hay and feed for them, keep them warm, keep the water from freezing; winter is a tough time."

Devins says 6,000 horses are unwanted in Colorado alone.

"I think we're only starting to see what will come out of the woodwork through winter."

The rescue is always looking for help so they can care for rescued animals. Visit the Mountain Valley Horse Rescue website to learn how to help.

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