Wow, I think it was about $60 + farm call fee when I had my mare put down in June. I’m lucky, we have the equipment and the place for burial at the farm, so no cost there.
$250 is extremely high for euthanasia. The vets in my area generally charge about 50-75 for the drugs plus the regular farm call fee.
Most university’s who have veterinary programs will euthanize, necropsy and dispose of the carcass for under $100.00. Equine clinics are generally in the $200.00 range for euthanasia and disposal is included.
Where are you located? I might be able to direct you to someone who can help.
Have you checked to see if burying a horse is allowed where she lives? If so if you can find someone who knows how to kill a horse with a .22 caliber rifle its cheap, very effective, and not messy. Then if theres someone with a backhoe you can hire to bury it it won’t be so expensive.
I had this question half-formed in my head and now, sadly, its answer may become necessary. A filly belonging to my friend and horse partner has been seriously injured and may need to be put to sleep. If you can spare a jingle or two that we do NOT have to face the equine grim reaper, that would be awesome. But my question is a little bit different.
Our vet quoted a price of $250 for euthanasia not including disposal of the body, though she said that (the disposal) would be the costly part. I’ve heard it quoted around here at $300-500 itself.
Are there any humane options? If it comes to that for this filly, it will be because surgery for her injury will run $5000-7000 on top of what my friend is paying right now to treat it pre-surgery, with no guarantee of success. Financially, that would not be possible. Would it be worth calling other vets to see if anyone would take the filly for free and treat her? Would a vet hospital euthanize her (no experimentation!) to use the body for student work? What about feeding zoo animals? I’d be interested in these options if it were my horse, not only for cost but also because it seems much more holistic and might actually benefit someone or something. Any thoughts on these or other options?
I re-read the above and it sounds pretty cold to me but please believe me it’s killing me to even think about it – the filly may as well be mine, all our horses are family members. It’s very hard to think clinically or even logically about this, but since we are trying everything we can afford to keep her alive, it does afford a bit of time to think and plan.
I had to put down a rescue horse afflicted with HERDA a couple of months ago. He was boarded at a facility with young children, so in order to spare the family having to have a dead horse on the property or deal with the removal of the body, I hauled the horse to our local vet hospital, where they put him down and took care of the rendering. The cost was $350 - but the cost does vary based on the weight of the horse (this was a very thin pony stallion).
Another word about the open eyes things. Their eyes do not close. If you try and close them, they will open back up.
When I put my mare down this spring I had her up at Cornell for treatment. I donated her for them to do an autopsy on after she was dead. They still charged me $250.00 to put her down, even with the donation.
Then to add insult to injury, they mailed me back her halter 3 mos. later. That started the waterworks all over again. 
nettiemaria- The OP asked for the options. There is absolutely nothing malicious about what is being said. No one said anything about chasing a horse down in a hunt. They said shot in place and fed to the hounds. I have a friend that is a great shot and I will have her shoot my favorite mare. Others will go to the Un. of Illinois to be put down. Cost is $90 for putting down and disposal.
For those of you who want to know what to expect during the euthanasia process, there is a video of the process available here…
Unfortunately, there is a lot to think about before euthanizing a horse. The arrangements to be made for disposal of the body can be quite challenging- I am speaking from experience. Long-story but involves an Appaloosa with a fractured leg, a home in sub-division, a refusal from the boarding facility to bury and limited access to land…
Back to the subject at hand…
Are you located near a veterinary school? You may look into donating the filly. Dependent upon her ailment, they might be able to utilize her for teaching purposes. Rest-assured that she would not suffer through “experimentation”. Trial treatments, yes… inhumane, weird-science type suffering-no. She may end up being humanely destroyed, or she might end up at another home (enter my current event horse). My current mount was a vet-school donate. He was used as a blood donor, then underwent arthroscopic surgery in order to allow the resident to practice the procedure. He has suffered no ill effects from his tenure at the college.
I wouldn’t look to a private veterinary hospital to take her for free and treat her. There is entirely too much cost involved with little to no benefit to the private practitioner. Unfortunately, veterinary hospitals do have to make a profit…or at least try not to lose money. Bummer, eh?
I hope this discussion is of absolutely no use to you! Meaning… I hope she recovers and you don’t have to face the ominous process…
Ummmm, based on talking to my vet about this, it’s a .22 not a shotgun. Also, after talking to my vet, I’d trust him with this responsibility.
OTOH, my small animal vet will not come to your house to perform this service. It sounds like sometimes they need to be at their facility (and I chose not to go into details as to why).
I also paid around $130 for the euthanasia. My lovely old lady is buried in an equine cemetery. It was $250 and that included pick-up burial, grave marker, and a nice little funeral service. 
Jingles for the filly.
When my retired foxhunter was at the point she needed to be released from her suffering, I also went to the local hunt. Seemed a “circle of life” sort of thing. She’d chased after the hounds for years and had a good life…she was now going to feed the hounds. She was also shot, so no suffering.
Sorry about your youngster.
<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-title”>quote:</div><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-content”>Originally posted by Procella:
why a fly mask? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I found looking at his open dead eyes heartbreaking.
I was so fortunate in that Willem went down without a fight. Of course, I’d given him a full tube of Banamine while waiting for the vet, plus we gave him a sedative in the stall before taking him out, and another before we did the Big Shot.
My friend BBer Pinkerdo had her finger on the vein the Big Shot went into, and kept her finger pressed in until three syringes full went in, so it was blissfully quick.
BTW, for those who suggest that it is better to do it with a bullet, remember that by law many of us do not have that option. I am in a public equestrian center in a good-sized city, so it’s not like I can whip out a shotgun.
This is a difficult decision. Be aware that if you donate your horse to the local hunt or zoo (which I think is a great idea), that chemical euthanasia is generally not possible as the “consumers” can easily get affected by the drugs as well.
Nettiemaria
The hunts people are referring to are foxhunt clubs, not big game hunts. You have your horse put down by bullet then they will come and take him away, for free, and feed to the foxhounds. Or zoo animals, or whatever. The horse is dead. It doesn’t really care. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The cycle of life and all that stuff. In hunting circles (fox, not big game) it is considered the only way to go. Non wasteful, humane, something you yourself can control and assist (to a point) and responsible.
We have Rolling Hills Animal Preserve right here in Kansas, about 8 miles from where I board my horses. I’ve given it great thought, and when the time comes, I’m going to ask them if they could come and send my mare’s spirit free and use her body to feed their big cats. Somehow, that just seems right. I’ll just take her on a walk in the pasture, a stranger will step up and put a bullet right where it needs to be.
I held my sweet 29yo mare while she was put down by a vet. You could call it a lot of things, but peaceful it was not. She KNEW what was happening, and her last look was into my eyes–I will NEVER forget the terror and sudden understanding I saw there. That absolutely haunts me…
So, BIG bullet right to the sweetspot.
This may be a more expensive option but even here in Jackson Ms, we have a Pet Crematorium. I have not gotten a price from them but know of one person who had their horse put down at the crematorium to save money on hauling the horse’s body.
I have also heard of universities providing disposal services and I would think your vet would know most of your options in your area.
When I had to put my filly down we called the town road superintendent (in NH) and they volunteered a back hoe so it cost me nothing to bury her. I don’t remember what the cost was to have her put down but I remember it was not much, definitely under $100.
I have not heard of a Hunt, what is it exactly?
