Abandoned Equines are Also Victims of US/Mexico Drug Smugglers

Source: Various/KatyM, Barnmice News

In the last year, reports have been coming out of Arizona about horses and sometimes donkeys, emaciated and in appalling health, found wandering in the desert. The authorities who round them up say they were used in the drug trade. With disgusting sores on their backs from carrying 3-400 pound loads of marijuana, rescuers deduce the use they were serving before they were abandoned in the desert.

Border Patrol, Customs, and Drug Enforcement agents find the animals starving, often with injuries they incur in the rugged terrain. Drug runners buy or steal pack animals in Mexico, then lead them through mountain canyons across the border and up to the deserts outside of Tucson - when the drugs have been off-loaded, the animals are set loose. They have received little in the way of food or care during the arduous journey and are left with nothing once they've served their purpose.

When found, the horses are turned over to the state agriculture authorities where they are screened for various diseases. Some end up with rescue organizations for rehabilitation while others are sent to auction. Ironically, the horses that are in better shape and sent to auction are most likely purchased for slaughter back in Mexico.

Rehabilitation is time-consuming and costly. The animals need to recover, not only physically but also mentally. Once their nutritional needs have been met, their wounds healed and hooves repaired, they must be taught how to trust humans again after the abuse they received from the smugglers.

Some of the horses, when they have fully recovered, have gone on to become mounts for the border agents themselves. It gives those involved in rehabbing and rehoming these terribly abused animals great satisfaction when the horses' new jobs involved searching out the smugglers who were responsible for their plight.

For more information, check out thehorse.com, the Arizona Daily Star, and the NY Times. This article discusses the gang murder of a Mexican horse-breeder who apparently sold pack animals to the wrong smugglers.