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Horses Donated to Vet Colleges.

3K views 17 replies 9 participants last post by  tinaev 
#1 ·
Has anyone ever donated a horse or pony to a Veterinary College? Does anyone know what happens; a vet student, or a friend has done it, etc?
I understand that well trained horses may be used in riding programs, but what about the others?
I have to assume horses are euthanized. There is a lot to be learned; how to perform a necropsy, what is normal, what healthy joints, or any internal structure looks like. I want to know the usual process. Are the horses treated with respect, what is the process they (the horses) go through?
I want to know before I consider donating a horse.
 
#2 ·
At my college I studied Equine Health and had horses we used for dissection. The horses we usually had were the horses that were sadly eaten up with cancer. My teacher was a vet also and had a running practice. So some of his clients offered the horses to be used. We didn't get the horses till the day before. Where they got a nice warm cozy, stall with hay, water, and feed.
 
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#5 ·
That is kind of a tough thought, putting a healthy animal through the pain and stress of multiple surgeries.
Students need to practice, to gain expertise, before becoming vets. It's just tough to think about what that means.
 
#4 ·
The college you want to donate to should be able to answer your questions. If its a public college you should also be allowed to inspect the campus and watch the processing. Might be graphic but watching first hand will definitely answer your questions.
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#10 ·
The college you want to donate to should be able to answer your questions. If its a public college you should also be allowed to inspect the campus and watch the processing. Might be graphic but watching first hand will definitely answer your questions.
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That's true and my intention, if I decide I might actually do it.
The pony in question, I rescued from a neglect situation 10 years ago. He was 5 years old at the time and a stallion. He had not ever been exposed to any mares. He was gelded asap. At 12.2 hands he's too small for an adult and I just let breaking him to ride slide by. He can be rather aggressive to other horses/ponies. For most springs and summers he either has sweet itch or hives. I have not been able to control it and have wondered if it wouldn't be best to euthanize him. With his issues I can't imagine being able to rehome him.
I'm 56 and feeling the years. I'm not old, but have come close to death before. I'm bothered by the idea of what would happen to the horses/ponies if anything happened to me. I'm not married and care for my 81 year old mother. The animals would be at the mercy of people who don't have the bond I have with them.
Perhaps a college could use his allergies to teach in that area and maybe even fix him. Since I have had the thought of euthanasia cross my mind, even if that happened, at least his death would not be in vain.
I feel like a bad person thnking about such things though, I don't know.:-(
 
#7 ·
It would make sense to practice on animals that actually had the problem though. Say, offer the services for people who would otherwise not be able to afford it or who would put the horse down anyway.

My vet didn't agree with the way vet programs work which inspired her to start a program for vet and vet tech students who need hands on experience but don't agree with the way they do it in school. SHe helps the local rescues with their horses as well as taking some into her own program and the students are allowed to treat their medical problems and take an active part in rehabbing them. It's a pretty cool program.
 
#8 ·
My vet school does not do painful survival surgeries solely for teaching purposes. The only horses that had surgery and were woken up after were horses with legitimate medical problems we were trying to fix. Donated horses varied in their use depending on the horse, its condition, and our need.

My school has a herd of about 30 mares they use for teaching purposes- the herd horses were used to teach non-horse familiar vet students basic horse handling and husbandry, in addition to basic physical exams, palpation and mare reproductive exams. When not being used for teaching, they live in small groups in pastures with 24/7 free choice hay and shelter. Not a bad gig, really. If the mares were difficult to handle or were stressed by students to learning those things on them, they were transferred to another use/purpose. The mares who are calm about it pretty much have a 'job/purpose' for life. They also keep a few geldings who have good examples of non-painful problems, (HERDA, an obvious heart murmur, etc) for students to learn.

Horses that are difficult to handle and most geldings became part of other programs. Some, usually those with painful or difficult to manage problems, would be euthanized and necropsied. Some would become part of a terminal surgery lab were the horses are never woken up. Others would be used in feeding, behavior, or exercise physiology studies. Occasionally a horse with an interesting but potentially fixable issue would be signed over by the owners to be used as a case study (with no guarantee of outcome) and adopted back out later if it went well.

We had one teaching mare who had been part of the herd for more than 15 years while I was there. She was in her 20's, really starting to have problems, and euthanasia was starting to loom large- it really upset everyone since she had been such a great teacher and part of the school for so long.

I can only speak for one place, but we made sure to discuss the probable outcome and use of a horse when someone asked about donating. We didn't want there to be any secrets or surprises.
 
#12 ·
While I understand the need for vets to do research I would only donate a horse of mine if it was going to be euthanized immediately in my presence - but that's just me. If I had a horse with some illness etc I wouldn't mind them using it for research as long as it was aimed at a recovery with euthanasia if there was no success but I wouldn't want to think it was going through unnecessary suffering and stress
Euthanasia is best done at the place the horse feels safe and secure in but its not cheap and neither is the disposal of the body if you can't bury on your land so a college might be a good solution if you can have a real agreement with them as to what they do with your horse
I will add that now I've seen euthanasia with lethal injection I would always go with the bullet again in the future, it so much faster.
 
#13 ·
I know of two horses that were donated to Purdue.

#1 The sire of one of my horses developed emphysema and was eventually sent there. They used him to experiment with different meds. Once he got really bad he was euthanized. Can't remember how long they kept him alive but I'm thinking maybe a year.

#2 Was the thoroughbred my husband used for his departments horse patrol (the horses were owned by the deputies not the department). Once hubby retired he sold him to a lady who kept him until he was around 20 and then donated him. They used him for their therapeutic riding program.

In neither case do I know of how they were actually kept. I have been to their horse facilities because we had to take one in for surgery and it was immaculate. A horse pooped in their stall and there was a student there to immediately clean it out. At least with my horse I know he got some walks and loved on time while he was there.
 
#18 ·
Both Nick and Rio were horses that were donated to the veterinary program at our local community college.

This college had never had a large animal program so they were both kept at the college for a couple of months while the students learned how to handle large animals. They were given complete exams, xrays on injuries, teeth were floated, vaccines given, etc. Nick has a knee injury he sustained as a cutting horse so the students learned all about that type of injury and what to do to treat it. Once there was nothing more to learn about them they were re-homed with us.

They had other horses there too. One young mare with a heart problem, a retired police horse with lameness issues, and one normal horse that they couldn't find a home for. Unfortunately money for the program was very dependent on donations so when the young mare with the heart problem developed a serious infection she was euthanized. The third horse that couldn't find a home was also euthanized. The police horse is still there are will be their only teaching horse.

The vet in charge of this program would not ever do something unethical for the purposes of teaching. The horse is given the care it needs and each new class that comes through performs a new exam, learns xray techniques on him, and about lameness and arthritis and how to treat it. When the time comes that the horse is in chronic pain he will be euthanized.

This vet has a very kind heart and left his practice primarily because he was tired of euthanizing animals he knew could be helped. He takes their care very seriously. However, I highly doubt that he would accept an untrained pony or horse into the program. It would be too dangerous for the students to learn on.
 
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