Laws on putting down a horse

Here in Michigan I believe its against the law to take the horse and put him down the old fashsion way and then bury him. Just wondering if all states are like this or just here. Vet wants $150 to come out and do it but my dad used to do it in the old days and it just cost the pennys for the 25-20 shell. What do you all think is more humane? Just seems like it was done with a gun for 100's of years like that but hes my pet and theres no way I could shoot him.
Your opinions? Think might just pay the vet?
Thanks for your input.
Ryan in northern mich
PS hes almost 30 years old and the cold weather makes all his joints have pain, doesnt walk around much and muscule mass on 1 leg is really gone.

Dig the hole first & get him next to it , then do him in.

Pay the vet, $150 is cheap for a pet you've had close to 30 years! Having someone else shoot it for you is the same as if you pulled the trigger yourself and isn't a humane way to do it at all. I'm certain the vet would know who to call to take the horse away after too. Dave

Already dug the hole with the backhoe and have the dozer there waiting to back fill.

Remeber the three S"s. Shoot, shovel, and shut up.

The less that the guberment knows about your business the better off you will be.

I'm thinkin I'm gonna pay, just wondered about the laws in other states about people puttin horses down the a gun. It would bug me for years if I didnt use the vet, still remember 20 years about my dad putting one of my old dogs down and still is in my head!

Do what is best for the horse first and then what is best for you. If calling the vet makes you feel better than do that. I don't think we have a law here in Texas.

Ryan in your case it is best to call the vet. The thing that I don't like is the fact that people who can't do it themselves have gone and got laws passed that make it a crime for me to put down my own animal. If I have a female dog and she has a litter of pups I would be in deep dodo if I did what my parents and Grandparents did. that is my rant for today. Bob

I have had to put a few pets and dairy cows down and it is never very easy. I do what is best for them, not me, and keep it to myself. The inhumane part would be allowing them to suffer.

Watched a vet put a pony down once. Said then that it'd never happen on our place. Had to put 2 horses down since and gave them both to the butcher. Most humane and dignified thing available here.
never easy.

Dave

When I was a kid, my dad was the one all the neighbors called on when they needed a horse or cow put down, or had hogs or beef critters to butcher. All he ever used was a .22, but he seemed to have a knack for hitting them just right so death was almost instantaneous. But that's been 60 years ago.

He always said, just draw an imaginary "X" from each ear to the opposite eye and aim in the middle of the "X".

No laws as such in Mississippi that I know of we ususally just put the animal down take the backhoe and bury them.

My dad told me the same thing and it does work. Bob

If you know someone who is willing to help you and is good with a gun shoot, shovel, and shut up. If not, have a vet do it. My neighbor has done two for me, and my brother did one. Said he"d never do it again. Neighbor said any time, but he knows just how to do it so they are dead before they hit the ground.
As far as burial, just keep it to yourself.

Have you tried giving him MSM? It has anti inflammatory properties and is frequently very effective on joint pain.

I would never be able to shoot one of my horses. I've taken several animals to the vet to have them put down. Every time, it was immediate and humane. I insist on holding them while the vet gives the shot and they died peacefully. I managed to hold the tears until after the shot so my pet wasn't stressed.

Of course I can't hold a horse, but I'll be there when its done to make sure they aren't frightened or stressed. God help me when that time comes.

Better to let the vet do it. Working around horses for the last 20 years we have had to put 3 down. 2 I had to hold. Yes its never easy, but nessary. Our vet injects them with a high dose of potassium, and they go peacefully.

Hey if thats good enough for the armed forces, its good enough for me.

This is NOT legal advice lol I deny ever having said it, somewhere out in cyber space it all came together.

One should make sure it was a high powered rifle and a correct placed bullet such that its humane as possible, thats if some dude were going to do such a thing......

Ol John T

I was with my dad when we butchered a hog, he said it was important to hold the gun barrel perpendicular to the skull bone, so the bullet goes straight in and does it's job. There is no way I would pay $150 unless the vet hauled the body away.

That advice is very sound. I've had to put down a few beef cows over the years for various reasons, and if this method is used they don't even know what hit them. .22 does ok, but .243 is an instant.

I had to put a horse down a month ago and I made the mistake of calling the vet. $ 207!!!
I've shot cattle to butcher and I'm always impressed how instantaneous it is. I'm convinced it is more humane than messing around getting a needle into a neck vein then pumping in the juice. The horse nearly went down on the vet too so safety is a consideration. With cattle draw an imaginary line from horn to eye, horn to eye and where the lines cross pow. I'm told with a horse it's ear to eye, ear to eye though I have not done it. I don't have any near by neighbors to worry about.
I think these laws are partly the result of vet organizations staking out work only they are allow to do like preg. checks.

It's your animal, your responsability to feed and care for and put down when the time comes. To heck with the Govmt.

A friend of mine has a brother that had a horse get struck by lighting several years ago, this is in Michigan too, south of Lansing. They called the Vet, it costs money. I guess its the law, I dont know for sure I dont own horses, dont ever plan to.

I agree that 1 rifle bullet, .30-06 should do it.

But......Then you have to dig a large enough hole to bury it. If the vet charges $200 do they take away the dead horse?

Can the Horse carcass be sold for something? Glue? Horse hair? Grind them up and sell them for something? What a waste.

As a veterinarian I can tell you putting down a horse or any other animal is one of the things I enjoy least about my job. Its not a matter of the vets passing laws so only we get to do it, probably more like the government monitoring the drugs that are used to do the deed and who is buying/using such drugs. I have to keep a couple dispensing/pharmacy liscences to purchase the meds and the last renewall was around $500 just for the liscence. I have no problem with the rifle route if that is what someone wants to do, I just advise the folks doing it to have good aim. I knew a couple other vets that kept a rifle in the truck for such purposes, I just stick with the needle and syringe. A puncture wound with a needle is much neater than a hole in your pets head, also goes over much better if you miss.
Ive been there enough times to put the critter down and have had all sorts of things to contend with. . . bawling owners, crazy horses, all kinds of weather, all hours of the day/night. . . sometimes the horse wants to fall in the hole, sometimes he/she wants to go somewhere else (like on you). Unfortunately it takes experience to know what is going to happen and what can happen. Getting more and more difficult to find vets willing to do large animal medicine, fella I work with will be retiring and I have no one lined up to replace him.
Veterinary Medicine is a business and honestly we are finding it difficult to justify the expense of the truck, drugs, tools, cost of education, liscencing, etc for the average $100 farm call. Factor in the amount of time it takes to drive from farm to farm plus the potential of getting injured each time you get up next to a 1000lb animal; Id say $150 (more or less what I charge) is a bargain.

Just my Two Cents.

I know what you mean about it being your pet. Around here we help our friends and neighbors out. I have been asked to put down numerous animals by fiends that didn't want to do it themselves. But when my beagle and last couple of cats had to be put down, I took them to the vet.

But that wasn't a horse, and they didn't charge hundreds either.

But I am out of my league a little here as a horse wont fit in my truck toolbox. The Kountry Life folks will get it.

Good luck, Sorry about your horse.

Gene

If I read the Kansas Animal Cruelty Law correctly it would be allowed in Kansas.

K.S.A. 21-4310 --exceptions in subsection b specifically #5 & #6 and maybe others.
K.S.A. 21 4310 Subsection B for exceptions.

Was already wondering how big your toolbox was..........'til I read the 3rd paragraph.

Russ,

I know what you mean about holding the gun barrel perpendicular to the skull bone when shooting a hog. When I was a kid my dad let me shoot one for butchering with the 22. I hit it in the right place but was shooting down instead of straight in to the brain so it took off. I got my azz chewed all the while we went after it and finally got it. Dad then told me that I had the wrong angle on it but he could have told me that right away in the beginning as he watched me shoot it. )

I am in Michigan, and I don't think there is a law against it. There are anti cruelty laws - you must do it humanely. What will get you in trouble is shooting the horse 20 times and still not killing it. I had one die, and it cost me $150 to have the backhoe guy come over and dig a hole & drop him in. And that was 10 years ago. $200 + wouldn't surprise me now.

The law here specifies what the hole has to be, but it doesnt specify the procedure. We had to put a horse down back in the summer. Lady sold him and didnt tranquilize him before trying to load him, crazy high strung thoroghbred. He ended up breaking both front legs in the trailer. Non of us were inclined to watch him suffer for an hour while we waiting on the vet.

I'm sure if I had one that needed to die I'd be real QUIET. There is no market for slaughter horses any more and it's a shame. Anyone with half a brain knows they can't live forever.

A bullet to the head is plenty humane. Boom. It's done. I'd actually argue that it's more humane because it's done quicker than with drugs. Last thing we need is to have the idea set in that it's not humane... then we'll have another raft of stupid laws.

Rod

A shot to the head with a 357 revolver will do the job.I had to put down horses, cattle , dogs and cats.Not easy but ir had to be done.For my dog I would have a friend do it.When a horse is blind and has a rupture its time to do it.Maine law says you should use a gun of large caliber.

Do what your Dad did, it should be done by now.Don't worry about the snivel lebertarians, they live in cities.

my vet uses a 357mag now after being sued by a pet owner who's dogs died from eating a horse that he put down with drugs. The horse owner failer to bury the horse.

I believe it is now illegal in NY, but I do not know the details in regards to the law.

I had to put one down on Sept 10th of this year, was one of our best jumpers, maybe 8-10 years old, he had a tumor on his left hind quarter that was just taking the life out of him, vet could do nothing, they get $250 I believe, to do the procedure.

This fellow was brought over to a small hill side, sedated, I was above him, for safety reasons with someone holding the lead shank away from bullet trajectory. A properly placed .38 caliber bullet from a snub nosed revolver, is as humane as it gets, he dropped and died instantly. It's not for the weak of heart, but when you have an animal that is suffering with no chance of recovery, it is an ugly part of the responsibility. Our vet was on the premises for another horse and absolutely agreed that done properly like I did, was as humane as any other method, off the record stating, it'll just cost you if I do it, and I will if you need me to, but regardless of the law, these things we do as we see fit. No animal is to suffer, what has to be done is done.

You must take care to make sure the shot is placed properly, sedation is necessary in my opinion, there is no suffering, they just drop. You have to be mentally prepared and be able to do it without hesitation, you just don't have any other choice sometimes, what happened to this particular horse we have only seen one other time, in 40 or so years, the other one recovered, the vet did everything possible and we kept him going til it was time. We have someone who takes the carcass, they place them in a manure compost pile for over 1 year, they are a legit business and abide by the state laws to provide removal services. I find that when one goes away, I build something in his memory, for him it was a small table for our tack room with a rough sawn plaque for his nameplate, it helps me deal with it, and the horse has something dedicated in it's memory, silly as it sounds, it is what I do.

I've got 2 others, one with a fracture, dumb@ss help mistakenly turned him out with another that had hind shoes, something we just don't do period because of this, looks like a kick did it, and he's healing nicely, but it could have gone the other direction, been 2 months now, but one wrong move and there would be no time for a vet to come, shameful part this horse was coming along nicely, all the riders adore him, great personality and ability. He's on stall rest but it's like walking on eggshells, you just hope you can get past the danger, or he's done.

The other we can't yet figure out, vet thinks it is neurological, and has treated him as best can be done, it was suggested that he be put down, he's sound again, but now just tossed a shoe and screwed up the hoof, he too was coming along nicely, excellent jumping ability and confidence, not the easiest going personality, but smart as a whip and confident. It appears to be some very odd occurrence as to the lameness which was intermittent.

It's all part of the game, we are very fond of the string of horses we have, we provide the best we can for them, so it is very difficult when one of them has to go, and I'd admit that with a few of them, it would appear to be very difficult to do this myself, unless it was a situation where an injury took place, causing suffering, I'd not hesitate. Someone has to do it without hesitation, in some cases it may be best done by the vet, regardless of cost because a person does get attached to these horses, it's not easy no matter how you look at it, I sincerely wish you the best of luck with your situation.

I dont know were in NY you are, But we use Hogans deadstock service for rendering. If we had a backhoe we would bury them.

Thats exactly how we do it down here. Works every time.TSG.

Kind of off the subject, but 45-50 years ago my mom cut shoes for Wolverine. They cut a lot of cow and horse hides for boots. Now it's all pig skin. She had her boss "second" a pair of perfectly good "Birdshooter" insulated hunting boots for my 14th birthday. Great boots; I'd still have them if I had stayed out of the concrete work.

Larry

I have used a 357 revolver.The last one was a 6 month old heifer that had hip problems.She was gone in 10 seconds.A shot to the forehead did it. I found the bullet under the skin where the neck joins the body .I use Hornady XTP bullets.I dressed her and used the meat.The cost to use a handloaded round is 30 cents.If you keep animals its up to you to care for them from the beginning to the end.A 30-30 head shot will do the job if you dont have a revolver.

We had a similar situation. Vet wanted $300 to put the horse down, I said forget it. I don't what the laws are but I never asked. I had a friend come over and do it with a .44 mag. I told him make sure to do it right, the horse instantly went down, no suffering, thought it was a lot less dramatic then watching the vet do it.

I think you are right, I had an old girlfriend in the U.P. and the vet told her to just shoot the horse rather then make it suffer while hauling the horse all the way to the vet and he gave us instructions on how to properly place bullet.

Having some one else do it is best.I have put down old cattle.After they spent 25 years with me I wont send them to slaughter.Once an old cow is down and stops eating you have to do what is best.I did see a bit about English farmers shooting their Border Collies when the cattle or sheep were sold off.Its a poor man that cant feed a dog or two.I would share my last bit of food with my dog.Herding dogs earn their keep and should get good care as long as they are breathing.My Border Collie go every where with me.He loves to ride in the truck.Smartest dog Ive had.

Thanks for all the input. Had it done yesterday. Only proplem I got now it the clay pile froze and the dozer was having a hard time back filling, got a couple of feet of dirt on him but waiting for the 30 degree weather this weekend to finish back filling.
The horse is kinda mine and my niece, she and I are making a tomestone this weekend to put at his grave site. Already have 2 other horses from years and years ago there and one of my dogs I had for 14 years, made them all tomestones when they died and just reuse the form and change the lettering.
Reason I went with the vet is I can remeber when my grandpa was alive at butchering time, he would use a 22 and put it a few inches away from cows head and pull trigger, worked all but 1 time. Grandpa shot, cow layed down then got up and walked away!!! Dad had to use the 30-30 which did the job but is a bit much, after that grandpa always used the 25-20 kinda inbetween a 22 and a 30-30.
Last pig I butchered a few years ago I had to call my dad to pull the trigger, I can watch but I just get attached to all my animals, cows, horses, pigs, goats, donkeys, dogs, and barn cats. When you feed them everyday and I kinda talk to them when feeding them they are like family too me being I have no kids. Doesnt bother me when its time to put a steer or pig down cause I know the whole time their growing its for meat but just cant pull the trigger myself!
Just hate loosing a pet!! But its part of owning them and after 30 years of a good life the horse is in a better place with no pain.
Ryan

Just a technical question here. It seems to me that to get a shot into a horse perpendicular to the X on his face with the X based on the ears to eyes, you would have to stand on a ladder or halter him up and get him to drop his head. Just wondering how to do it practically if the angle makes a difference to where you might miss the brain? Horses are smart but I'm not to sure they have much brain mass and don't know where it begins and ends.

Reminds me of the time I hit a deer. It had broken rear legs but still managed to jump the fence and land on its haunches. I pulled out the .45 to finish it off and stood directly in front of it with the barrel about a foot away. Just as I was taking careful aim, it lunged at me and scared the heck out of me. Stood further back after that.

To get the horses head down just have a bucket of grain.

Hi Jay,.... I reside over here just east of Troy, 98 acres worth of fun, but we have a place just east of Charlton, 50 acres or so, 2 barns and a large indoor arena, nice 30 mile ride to work, dads health is not the best so I've been up there awhile to help out, anyway, Muck Movers came by and took him away, was a tough day, dad just came home from a hospital stay and few hours later it was time to put this horse down. Well now he will help someones crops grow. Years back we did have access to backhoes as we sold them at our ford dealership, those were the days, really kinda need one again. We used to have a C series Ford tilt bed with a winch, that came in handy for carcasses too. I forget but you are not too far away yourself, I recall we both have fords on spreader duty with the grills missing if I remember right ?

BC, it does work as you suggest, you should sedate the animal near the place you will euthanize it, wait until it takes effect. Yes, you absolutely must have a halter on and someone holding the horse, but not in front of the muzzle, this is the hard thing because the person with the firearm has to stand directly in front of the horse to hit the mark you have made on the horses head, with someone controlling the horse with a lead shank from the side, with the shank over its nose. I forget the dimensions, good idea to be precise, but common sense applies, make sure the person holding the shank is out of trajectory, and to get some height we take em over to a small slope, when the horse is still, and the person holding is not in harms way, time to shoot, properly done he will drop, let out a big puff of gas out the back and probably drop some manure, his vitals may linger a bit longer. It is a good point because something tall like a draft horse, it would be difficult to stay perpendicular on the correct mark. I do not believe the skull is hard to penetrate, using a sufficient caliber, we have done it with a .22, .38 is much more preferable I think. I do not like any kind of point blank discharge of a firearm, I still say there can be risk, because a ricochet is very dangerous thing, though I believe the skull is not thick enough to withstand it, you really don't actually know do you, just like us, we're all different.

Always keep your distance, shooter has to be concerned if the horse stands up, you don't want to get struck, but like I said, done correctly, it is over instantly and is humane as it gets, just like you said, you have to be sure and hit that mark, or just have the vet do it, there is no in-between in my book.

True, but they kind of move around, you know how some of them are at feed time in their buckets, but it may or could provide an opportunity and that is all you need, smart thinking, I think we used an apple wafer for this guy, in addition to the hill. It's a tough subject no matter who you are, but I think one has to be prepared in case it needs to be done, because at least you know exactly what to do.

Butchers wipe out a lot of animals everyday with one of these. It's in German but you can see where you are supposed to hit and how the thing works. I believe the charge is a 9mm blank.

Dave

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlachtschussapparat