Woman rides horses in L.A. to protest slaughter

The only time someone is likely to see a pack of horses in downtown Los Angeles is during filming of a movie. But now, people can see three horses posing for photographs with tourists, trotting up and down Vine Street and grazing outside yoga classes. Their owner, Karin Hauenstein, says she's on a mission to protest domestic horse slaughter, and rode her horses from rural Santa Barbara County to L.A. at a pace of 3 miles per hour to make a statement, reports Nita Lelyveld of the Los Angeles Times. (Times photo by Arkasha Stevenson)

A five-year ban on U.S. horse slaughter was lifted in November when Congress allowed the U.S. Department of Agriculture to resume inspecting domestic slaughter plants. Among the rationales are that horses are hard to care for in these economically shaky times, and with no bottom market price for horses, they are often left to wander until they starve to death. Some are conflicted on the matter. Others have spoken out against it, citing cruelty and a loss of collective respect for such an iconic animal.

Hauenstein camps at night in L.A. and leads her pack during the day, riding her Thoroughbred Glory, with pack horses Smoke and Coley following behind. Google Maps helps her find open meadows and valleys where the horse can graze, though overgrown medians in the city provide some meals. Though horse slaughter is banned in California, she said she wants everyone to know it's happened elsewhere in the country. She doesn't try to force the message on people, though Coley's packing some boxes painted with a message: "END COMMERCIAL HORSE SLAUGHTER." When challenged, she says horses can be humanely euthanized for less than the cost of a month's feed and board, and should not be sent to slaughterhouses. (Read more)