Euthanasia methods

[MsM]

Just had a near miss with a horse at the barn where my horse is boarded and it got me to thinking about the topic of methods and what to do with the body.

I am in a fairly densely populated state. Happily, there are quite a few equine vets to call in an emergency. The one horse I have had euthanized was treated and gone within 90 minutes. I was fortunate at the time to have him at a place that would bury him. I no longer have that option.

The vets use chemical means. While I know people with guns and even a couple with experience dispatching sheep, I do not know of anyone with experience using a gun to dispatch a horse. Aside from that issue, the suburban nature of many barns make it problematic.

I have seen information on using a penetrating captive bolt and then KCl, but I have never heard of it being done near me. Does anyone have a vet who does this?

If the body is to be composted or buried it would seem better not to have the chemicals from the euthanasia drugs leaching out. The captive bolt method is approved as humane, (with KCl or exsanguination) and avoids some ecological issues. The other option for the body is cremation but that is quite costly around here.

[Tarlo_Farm]

I just put one down about a year ago for the first time with the captive bolt. The horses need to be sedated first so they don’t flinch at the last minute. It was quick, effective, loud, and there was…blood residue. I can bury here, so thank god for that. I don’t know what I’ll do next time. All three of mine are over 21. Agh…!

[Bluey]

Vets here used, may still carry captive bolts.

Here burying carcasses of any kind has been frowned upon for decades now, it contaminates the ground unnecessarily.
Waiting to bury when chemically euthanized also poses a threat to any that may consume parts of the carcass, vultures, rodents, other wildlife or pets.

Here we have a service that takes dead livestock away for a small fee, right now 75$ per horse.
Vet clinics use them or the landfill takes those, but you have to take them there or use someone that does.

Have you asked these questions of your veterinary clinic?
They may have some answers for you that fit your horses and region best.

[MsM]

No landfills around here any more. I have not heard of any dead stock companies. Only option I know of is the crematory service. AFAIK those with livestock either bury or have woods they drag it out to (almost never chemically euthanized)

[Bluey]

@MsM

No landfills around here any more. I have not heard of any dead stock companies. Only option I know of is the crematory service. AFAIK those with livestock either bury or have woods they drag it out to (almost never chemically euthanized)

How does your veterinary large animal clinic handle their dead?

[NancyM]

Since I live semi remotely, and there are several ranchers and trappers nearby, the gun has been used here more often than anything else, and there are a variety of people who are skilled and experienced that I can call. The scarcity of veterinarians also contributes to this. It is the “quickest” way for the horse, there is no “preamble”, very little waiting if you have an emergency, and no issues with drugs of any kind being used (which is incredibly important IMO).

Before we moved to this semi remote area, we preferred to use a local pet food company, who used a small caliber gun to dispatch horses. And they did a “stellar” job with it. The gun they used was not loud, no one nearby would notice the pop it made. They would come to your farm with a truck with a big box on the back of it with a winch in the front of the box, shoot the horse, winch the body into the truck, and take it away for dog food. The whole procedure took about 10 minutes. No drugs, fast service, very little blood or mess involved either. Not “nice”, but no way is “nice” to watch. Death is part of life, and must be faced by horse owners. This company also had a “deadstock” pick up service, all farm animals, if something died unexpectedly in the field or stall. You could also ship your horse directly to their facility, and they would shoot it there after you had left (if the horse was able to be shipped). “Blue Goose” also has this service in many areas (has advertised locally), but I do not know if they can shoot animals for you (Blue Goose is throughout North America- a cattle and land holding company that trades on the Dow Exchange).

What is important is from the horse’s point of view, not the human’s. Have seen horses “going down” from a veterinarians drugs, fighting it, thrashing, very “not nice”. And the tainted meat that is the result is a major problem if not being cremated.

[chestnutmarebeware]

Rendering companies will pick up horses (although I strongly suggest letting someone else supervise the pickup for you).

I’ve never had one ask whether chemicals were used to euthanize.

[Bluey]

@chestnutmarebeware

Rendering companies will pick up horses (although I strongly suggest letting someone else supervise the pickup for you).

I’ve never had one ask whether chemicals were used to euthanize.

They ask here, vets are aware of which euthanizing chemicals are acceptable to rendering companies and which ones to avoid.

[MsM]

Only one large animal clinic in the State that I am aware of. It is on the other side of the state from me and I dont know what they do - the only horse I know that died there was cremated (ordered and paid for by owner)

[Russinka]

We shoot and half bury/compost here which is not ideal but has to be done. Agistment owner will scrap out a hole as deep as the sandstone veins will allow, put horse in (having added a few holes in the abdomen to stop it bloating) and then cover with sawdust, lime, a thick layer of dirt and then either rocks or concrete scrap to prevent anything from breaking in. He used to have a piggery onsite and minus the dirt/rocks/grave aspect that was how the dead pigs were disposed. It’s closish to town though, so when it inevitability is turned into subdivision I feel like the people clearing the land are going to be in for a shock as 60 odd years of horses/dogs and 30 years of pigs come to light in the grave yard.

[walktrot]

For years I knew I could bury him at the edge of the hayfield. That is iffy now, so I decided to have him cremated. One challenge is that you get a box with 50 lbs of ashes and it’s expensive. We now have a place that composts the bodies. I didn’t consider that until I realized that’s what happens in the grave.

Our vet of 20 years retired a few years ago after 50 years in practice. He published a book earlier this year: Goodbye Old Friend: the Euthanasia of your Horse. He wrote it because he got so many questions over the years whenever he did a presentation. It covers everything in short essays of real-life experiences. Available on Amazon, David Jefferson, DMV.