A lesser-noticed indicator of bad economic times: a sharp rise in the number of abandoned horses left to starve in the Central Valley. The Central California Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals tells the LA Times it went from rescuing a handful of horses a year to taking in 60 that were abandoned in the last 12 months. Why?:
Drought and incentives to convert crops to ethanol helped double the price of hay to as much as $20 a bale. It reached a point where even a purebred horse sold for less than the cost of feeding it for a year.
Image: KSEE 24 Fresno-Visalia
Animals,
California
