What to do with used needles?

One of my families horses stepped on a nail, and after the powder antibiotics didnt work we had to give her shots of a stronger antibiotic. Now we are left with the used needles that have been sitting around the house. What should be done with them? Can we throw them away in the typical trash or should something else be done? Thanks in Advance.

Do the needles come with covers? You might be able to just put those back on then throw them away. If not, I dunno. Using my imagination here, but maybe an empty paper towel roll with the ends bent and taped up? Surely someone can come up with something better! Lol
Is your horse vaccinated? If it's not, PLEASE call your vet and get the vaccinations! A nail in the foot can cause tetanus, which is deadly for a horse. They do have a treatment if they catch it early enough, but it costs about $2,000, and is only about a 50/50 chance of the horse surviving.

Yes she is vaccinated. They do have covers so we can do that.

I don't believe there is a haz mat issue with horse blood. The reason its considered hazerdous in hospitals and clinics is the human blood factor.
I use syringes to put flea stuff on the dogs (I buy it in bulk). I just break the needles off and toss them. Then use the measurments on the side to guide how much to put on each dog. The end without the needle is great for parting hair for applications too.

What we've done in the past is either:
- take them to our local hospital or GP clinic for safe disposal
- put them in a coke/cordial/juice bottle etc and screw the lid shut and place in garbage. Then no one can get a needle stick injury from it.

BTW I am not sure whether or not you can get infections from a needle used by a horse, but if someone gets a needle stick injury, how are they to know that it was used for a horse, not a human? They will be subjected to blood tests and immunisations and a lot of worry if they got a needle stick injury from a discarded horse needle.

You beat me to it Lauren!!! I don't give my horses their shots but I do vaccinate our dog and I put the used needles in a 20oz coke bottle with the cap and throw it away.

Go to walgreens (or your local pharmacist) and purchase a bio-waste container...used for folks who have diabetes. It only cost like $3 and we have at least 100 needles in there...not even halfway filled up yet

Once it's full, we drop it off at my doctor's office...the first one they looked at me kinda weird, but now they don't care

Definitely dispose of them properly. If a trash collector gets poked by a needle from a trash bag, they have no way of knowing whether it was something that was dangerous to them or not. (And neither do you...they could be severely allergic to something you gave your horse.)

You can recap needles after using them and then carry them to your vet for proper disposal. Or as mentioned, pick up a sharps container from a local pharmacy and put used needles in there and then take it to your vet or doctor's office when it's full.

I never thought of a trash man getting poked. We take our own trash to the dump. Country life at its worse