Horses on sale

There was a case an hour of so from where I live, where the local animal control had been to this man's house on several occassions telling him he needed to clean up after his animals, after several months of warnings they took all the animals from the property, they took 49 dogs, a cat and a pony, the pony was outside(the temps in the last couple of weeks have been down as low as 3F some nights and only in the 20'sF, not fit for man nor beast to be outside length of time), they said his hoofs were actually curled all the way over and the poor thing was standing unstably on these curled hoofs some people are so cruel, plus the poor thing was almost starved, none of the dogs had been socialized and were terrified of human contact, they were living in their own excrement in the house!

It is so sad to hear stories of neglect. :(

What is animal control like in Holland? A horse is a much bigger responsibility than even a dog or cat, more upkeep and care. It should be that when a horse is sold, even for a small amount, that animal control officials should make certain it has all it's needs well cared for, long term. Maybe an annual visit or probably even more regularly?

I think horses are fairly expensive in the US.

There is ofcourse control carried out by the inspection for animal welfare, but there is much room for improvement. They are talking about introducing a licence so people truly understands what it means to take care of a horse.

I was surprised to learn you can buy a horse for that amount, I think at any rate the prices should be higher.

Licensing sounds like an excellent idea. Unfortunately, people often only value or care for things for which they have paid an investment - in either time or money, or both. You'd hope people could realize a nearly free pet was of as much 'value' as an invested one. But I understand how you say this does not seem to be happening, which is such a shame.

Vigilant neighbors that don't just look the other way is a great deterrent as well! Let's face it: Who wants to live in a police state with somebody controlling our every movement? But if everyone who saw a neglected animal reported it to the proper authorities, there would be less sad cases, I assure you.