Dealing with a dying horse.

Dealing with a dying horse.

Post by brian whatcot » Sat, 18 Aug 2012 09:03:24


It was my lot to help the final hours of an old black mare, who had been
abandoned to the stable's pastures for a year or two.
Large animal vets will come out to euthanize a dying animal - the local
charge is around $130.
People who have been tending horses are reluctant to put a bullet in an
animal's head - though I recall being advised (here) that the entry spot
at the intersection of lines between opposite ears and eyes, directed
towards the neck provides a humane death.

A backhoe  is needed to dig an interment - people I asked have used
between 3 and six foot depths. The shallower depth went with a lime
coating - in a case of suspect west  nile virus.

Brian W

 
 
 

Dealing with a dying horse.

Post by Diogene » Sat, 18 Aug 2012 12:29:28

On Thu, 16 Aug 2012 19:03:24 -0500, brian whatcott

Quote:

>It was my lot to help the final hours of an old black mare, who had been
>abandoned to the stable's pastures for a year or two.
>Large animal vets will come out to euthanize a dying animal - the local
>charge is around $130.
>People who have been tending horses are reluctant to put a bullet in an
>animal's head - though I recall being advised (here) that the entry spot
>at the intersection of lines between opposite ears and eyes, directed
>towards the neck provides a humane death.

My father (now deceased) was a large animal veterinarian in Kansas. He
once told me that the old tradition was a vet always carried in his
black bag a heavy-caliber revolver and a piece of chalk. Draw chalk
lines between the opposite eyes and ears, put the muzzle against the
intersection and the horse wouldn't feel a thing.

Quote:
>A backhoe  is needed to dig an interment - people I asked have used
>between 3 and six foot depths. The shallower depth went with a lime
>coating - in a case of suspect west  nile virus.

>Brian W

----  
   Diogenes

      The wars are long, the peace is frail
      The madmen come again . . . .