Horse registration bill already bucked from Salem | KVAL CBS 13 - News, Weather and Sports - Eugene, OR - Eugene, Oregon | Local & Regional News

There isn't anything Fortean or paranormal about this story, just the sad reality for many horses and their owners:

Here in Oregon, as well as all over the U.S., horses are being abandoned. Owners can't afford to properly care for them, so they neglect them or turn them loose. In some areas, you can't even give a horse away for free. Lindy Minten wants a law requiring horse owners to register their horses, believing this will help stop horse traders from taking advantage of this sad situation.

Horse traders often present themselves as rescue outfits, but in reality, they sell the horses to slaughter houses.

Her proposal would have required horses to be registered with the state for a fee under $100. In that way, the animals could be tracked so anyone “flipping” them could be caught.

“They have a reasonable justification to expect that this horse is going to be cared for until the end of its life. It’s not going to get back on the slaughter track; it’s not going to end up starving in somebody else’s field,” she said.

Unfortunately, it's a typical mind-set that "no one's gonna tell me how to raise my animals." The other side of this are the concerns legitimate horse rescue groups have concerning the expense and the ironic outcome of trying to rescue horses, but finding oneself unable to do so because of the fees:

Wayne Geiger, the founder of the Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary which rescues farm animals, opposes any plan to create a horse registration fee. He said it would only hurt legitimate rescue organizations which already struggle financially to stay afloat.

“I do believe that a lot of the responsibility should fall on the original owner of the animals. It’s up to them to make sure that their horses, their animals are going to legitimate places,” he said.

It is the owner's responsibility, but there's also the reality of the fate of the horses. Which is the more critical: the principal of the thing (owner's responsibly) or the horses?

A tough situation. But as Minten believes, even if the bill is going nowhere, it's hopefully starting a dialogue and bringing awareness.

Horse registration bill already bucked from Salem | KVAL CBS 13 - News, Weather and Sports - Eugene, OR - Eugene, Oregon | Local & Regional News