Rescue Saves Lives
Sadly, horse slaughter happens in Canada. It is a horrific industry full of cruelty, abuse and neglect. Unwanted horses are often taken to auctions where they are at high risk of entering the slaughter pipeline. If they aren’t purchased by either a rescue or someone legitimately looking for a horse for themselves, they will be purchased by “kill buyers” and who then eventually ship them to a slaughterhouse. But together we can save horses from this horrendous fate and give them a new start.
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The horrors of the slaughter pipeline and the slaughterhouses themselves are well documented. To learn more please visit the website of the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition.
Meet Deborah Battrum,
President & Founder
Deborah has been a trail blazer her whole life. Some 45 years ago, when she was looking to enter the field of dentistry, it was frowned upon for women. It was actually more acceptable for women to go into medicine. But that didn’t stop her. She completed her undergraduate degree in science and then dentistry at the University of Toronto. She subsequently went to UBC for her Master of Science, in dental science and then to the Baylor College of Dentistry in Texas to pursue a specialty in endodontics. When she returned to Canada she became one of only three women in BC to practice endodontics. Deborah served on boards at the Royal College of Dentists, the Canadian Dental Association, as a Dental Specialty examiner for endodontics and she remains the only woman to have served as President of the BC Dental Association.
But Deborah has always had another passion – horses. When she moved back to Canada she got her first horse Maxwell, an off the track thoroughbred. It wasn’t long after that Deborah got another horse, and then another. Finally she decided it was time to have her own property where they all could live. It also meant she could save more horses from the risk of being shipped to slaughter. Deborah bought a small acreage in Lake Country, BC that had been an organic apple orchard, where she also located her own endodontics practice.
In Kentucky, there is a special place called “Old Friends”. They provide a dignified retirement for thoroughbreds who have finished their racing and breeding careers and aim to raise awareness of the importance of equine aftercare. Too often unwanted horses are at risk of entering the slaughter pipeline. Deborah was inspired by their work when she visited in 2010 and in 2012 she started Old Friends Canada. Since then Deborah and her team of volunteers have rescued and cared for over 50 horses.