The last thing for a horse

[SARG]

Big..Big difference in an injection that puts an animal "to sleep" versus shooting something you love in the head.

 

[MossRoad]

Big..Big difference in an injection that puts an animal "to sleep" versus shooting something you love in the head.

I have to agree with that. Plus, if you have kids, they will always have that memory of dad shooting the horse. You can explain it to them the best you can, but they will still have that memory. Also, IF something goes wrong and the horse starts flopping around and making all kinds of noises, dad may just be traumatized, too. Having put down a few dogs and cats at our vet's office over the years, I have never seen the vet "miss" a shot. Also, the animals did not appear to suffer. They just went limp and it was over. I helps to have a vet that you have had a good working relationship with over the years, too. We've had the same vets for over 25 years. Nice folks with the animal's best interest at heart.

 

[Soundguy]

yep.. our vet will only charge 50$ to euthanize a down large animal.. it's well worth the price to me anyway.

then ya just got to dig tht HUGE hole..

soundguy

 

[Dutch445]

I had a call 5 or 6 years ago from a good customer
whose horse was just put down, family pet etc.
They wanted to rent a backhoe, so we delivered
the unit, and they asked the driver "who is going to
dig the hole". guess who got nominated,

it was Feb, they wanted him buried under their covered arena,
where the ground was frozen for 30". got down 4' in the first
hole, hit bedrock, so had to do another hole and that one was
sufficient. the family was not there while we moved him, thankfully.

even that was hard enough to do for me. and it was cold, probably
single digits at the time.

 

[johns_dmax]

We had to put down our 17 hand Thoroughbred and 16+ hand Paint a while back. My wife is a vet but choose to use a 22 instead of lethal injection. There is a large amount that had to be injected IV and its tough to do even on a sedated horse. I don't recall the name of the drug she has.
She had one of the hands at the rendering plant do the shooting. She told him where to aim and it looked like he hit where he was supposed to. Both horses took multiple shots with the Thoroughbred trying to get back up the whole time.
When we have to do this again I will be doing the shooting and I will probably use a 38 with a soft lead bullet. I have read of using a 410 with #8 shot also. I want a quick end when the time comes.

 

[Soundguy]

ouch.. got up multiple times?

forget the 38, use a rifle.. 1 shot and be done with the poor thing... or at least a 'real' hand gun.. .357 or larger...

.22 is for positive kills on varmint sized animals...

soundguy

 

[Kays Supply]

I don't know all the details , but here in Illinois there is quite a flap about putting horses down. They fine you if they catch you doing it yourself. The "truck" no longer will pick them up either.

 

[Heywood Jannockitov]

There is a large amount that had to be injected IV and its tough to do even on a sedated horse. I don't recall the name of the drug she has.

Probably Euthasol. I believe it is fairly thick and vets sometimes warm it up to make it easier to inject. If I were the horse, I think I would prefer the general anesthetic/Euthasol shot over the 23 cent solution.

 

[MossRoad]

ouch.. got up multiple times?

forget the 38, use a rifle.. 1 shot and be done with the poor thing... or at least a 'real' hand gun.. .357 or larger...

.22 is for positive kills on varmint sized animals...

soundguy

Honest to goodness true story here. When I was a kid, my dad had set a mouse trap in our house and left. I was home alone and it caught a big mouse and the mouse was flipping all over the room with the trap stuck on its head. I took it outside and got it out of the trap. It still kept flipping around. I felt sorry for it, so I got my .22 and shot it in the head. The $%^!! thing kept flipping around. :shocked:

I ended up squishing it to put it out of its misery. I would NEVER use a .22 on a pet. I can't imagine having the poor thing look at you while you pull the trigger multiple times.

 

[MossRoad]

I don't know all the details , but here in Illinois there is quite a flap about putting horses down. They fine you if they catch you doing it yourself. The "truck" no longer will pick them up either.

Yeah. I believe they will charge you with cruelty to an animal even though you had all the right intentions of ending its suffering. Kinda a touchy subject.