TURLOCK, CA - Despite a California law banning the sale of horse meat for human consumption, a herd of horses in Turlock may wind up at a Mexican slaughter house.
Tracy Wheelock was excited when about 40 horses, including a mule and some mustangs, showed up in a Turlock pasture at Mitchell and Clayton Roads. She thought someone had rescued the animals.
But she learned the animals would soon face death when she talked to the property owner.
"The gentleman (said) these horses are headed to slaughter," Wheelock said. "Even though we've sold a few of them, we're going to put (the others) out to pasture so we can fatten them up."
It's a common practice around the U.S. according to Jennifer Fearing, the California Senior State Director of the Humane Society of the United States. She said hundreds of thousands of horses are shipped to slaughter houses in Mexico and Canada every year.
