Hanch, this is one of the most IDIOTIC, IGNORANT questions I have seen on here in quite some time, but I'm going to answer it anyway. First of all, I'm going to give you a few FACTS about euthanasia, or the " happy green shot" as you call it. These facts are rather graphic, so I hope you don't have a tender stomach. The reason you DON'T see people coming to haul away a horse that's been euthanized for meat is because THEY CAN'T- IT'S AGAINST FEDERAL LAW. The United States has FEDERAL LAWS which PROHIBIT ANY ANIMAL which has been euthanized from EVER BEING USED FOR FOOD, either for other animals, OR for PEOPLE, Hanch. I'm a medical coder in addition to being a horse owner and horse professional, and part of what I get paid for is to KNOW and FOLLOW these laws in my work. The REASON WHY these laws exist is simple: EUTHANASIA SOLUTION IS POISONOUS, plain and simple. If it can KILL an animal the size of a horse, it can KILL US, TOO. REMEMBER THAT the next time you start romanticizing about how painless and inexpensive euthanasia supposedly is. When euthanasia is performed on a horse, regardless of the reason why, the meat from that horse can never be fed to another animal, because it would KILL that animal. There are WARNINGS which state this plainly, in SIMPLE ENGLISH, on EVERY BOTTLE of euthanasia solution which is sold in this country, and this too is REQUIRED by FEDERAL LAW. I KNOW this is true, because I have actually HANDLED and worked with euthanasia solution at one point. I worked in an animal hospital for a while some years ago, and one of the things which I got called upon to do on occasion was fill syringes with euthanasia solution for the vets when clients would come in with sick or old animals ( pets) which needed to be destroyed. Because this stuff is so toxic, I had to be extremely careful how I handled it, and it too had warnings about its toxicity on the label. That was not a pleasant experience, believe me- and WOULD YOU have been strong enough to do that, Hanch? Somehow, I doubt this, especially from the way you've worded your question.
Most horse owners are people who would rather DIE themselves than send a horse to slaughter, Hanch- but like me, there are some who recognize that it's a necessary evil on occasion. Consider what the situation is in this country vis a-vis horses at the moment. Since slaughter was outlawed in October 2007, the number of horses being put on trucks for the ride across the borders to Canda and Mexico has QUADRUPLED, and it may even have QUINTUPLED in some parts of the country. The reasons for this are many, and I'm only going to mention a few of them, in order to save space. FIrst on the list is the economic downturn and financial crisis, which is causing people to lose both their homes and their jobs right and left, especially these days. When a financial crisis of this magnitude hits, the horses are the first to feel the impact, because they are considered by most people to be luxury items and playthings, rather than the LIVESTOCK which they are legally classified as in all 50 states. To put this another way, when people are forced to choose between feeding a horse and feeding their kids, or between feeding a horse and paying the mortgage, rent, or credit card bills, the horses are going to LOSE, big time. While euthanasia might seem like a good option in this situation, the reality is that it's NOT, Hanch. When was the LAST TIME YOU REALLY INVESTIGATED what it costs to euthanize and dispose of a horse in your community??? Where I live, in central Delaware, it costs upwards of a $1,000 or more to euthanize a horse and have the remains either picked up for rendering or creamated. You can't just simply dump a dead horse in the ground and forget about it, either- most communities these days have laws which expressly FORBID this, for reasons of public health and safety, and to protect groundwater supplies from contamination. That's part of the reason why farms in states like Kentucky and Maryland ( our neighbor) have cemetaries on their properties. This allows them to conduct home burials when required, without the danger of causing health problems to anyone else. The average horse owner, however, has NO SUCH luxury, nor does he or she have access to anyone who could provide it. I don't know what state you are in, Hanch, but before you go criticizing people who have made the agonizing choice to send their horse across the border, why DON'T you find OUT what it would really cost them to euthanize the animal at home first?
As for selling horses, that's a crock. The bottom dropped out of the domestic horse market a couple of years ago, just about the time the last of the slaughter houses closed, and ever since then the situation has only gotten worse. The ban on slaughter, in fact, has been a DISASTER for the horse industry in this country. People can't afford to feed their horses because of the high costs, and they can't sell them because there is no market to do this in. As a result, horses are now being ABANDONED in RECORD NUMBERS nationwide. To make matters worse, most of the prime hay producing areas in the country have suffered a severe drought during the last couple of years, resulting in crop failures and a massive hay shortage. Even when people want to keep their horses at home, a lot of them can't afford to buy hay for them, because it's expensive and scarce. Spending another $ 1,000 to euthanize and dispose of the horses isn't going to help anyone. Selling a horse to a meat dealer means that at least the owner will get SOMETHING of a return on his or her investment- horsemeat is a sought after delicacy in much of the world, and there are plenty of people who will pay big bucks for horses in good health which they can send overseas as meat.
The " Happy Green Shot" isn't so happy, if you ask me. Horses are suffering and dying because people can't afford this, any more than they can afford to feed their horses.