Jamie Castano is stunned by the quantity of animals in need as he visits a cattle auction business.
“You’re standing in a warehouse, and you see hundreds of people who will be slaughtered today, and it nearly makes you wonder, ‘What are you doing?'” The Dodo spoke with Castano, the founder, and president of Freedom Farm Animal Rescue.
Castano and a few shelter staff went to an auction three weeks ago to gather images and recordings of what was going on, not with the intention of saving any animals.
Castano’s preparations were thwarted when he observed a horse with the number “25” tattooed on its neck.
Castano explained, “I really got the number 25 tattooed on my arm as a tribute for my uncle who passed away.” “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ when I happened to see her.”
According to Castano, she was in a “direct ship” pen, which meant she was being slaughtered as soon as she was sold. Joanie’s legs had a series of holes on them termed “pin firing marks,” which he noticed.
Castano explained, “They feed them to racehorses.” “It’s almost like taking an acid shot to freeze the tendon or muscle.” This is designed to make them not feel that region when they have an injury or aren’t functioning at their best. ‘Perhaps four or five-pin firing marks are nearly typical,’ my vet stated, but she had 18 on each leg.”
Castano and the other sanctuary staff wrote a post about Joanie on Instagram, and through this, they managed to raise enough money to buy Joanie’s freedom and take her home that very day.
“We backed up the trailer to her quarantine field, and as soon as we let her out — we didn’t even take the stickers off her butt yet — she walked right out and started rolling,” Castano said.
Joanie had another brand on her that helped Castano figure out where she came from, in addition to the “25” tattoo.
“She was born in 1999, I believe in Illinois, and her name was Gias Eternal, and she allegedly won a lot of races and a lot of money,” Castano explained. “I imagine when she came to the point where she couldn’t race anymore, they retired her.”
Joanie was sold to another owner and exploited as an Amish buggy horse instead of receiving the retirement she deserved.
“She’s lost hair on the sides of her face where she used to wear the buggy equipment,” Castano added.
Then, for whatever reason, her last owner decided to sell her to the auction house, and from there, she would have ended up at the slaughterhouse.
But now Joanie is safe, and she’s finally enjoying the retirement she deserves at Freedom Farm Animal Rescue.
“When we initially came up to her at the auction, I exclaimed, ‘Wow, she’s lovely,'” Castano recounted. “When I reached out to pat her, she shuddered and flung her head back, as if she was scared of me – she didn’t want me to even approach her.”
But now that she’s been in quarantine for three weeks, you can walk up to her and feed her, and she’ll run-up to the fence and scream at you. She’s well aware that she’s no longer on her way to be slaughtered.”
Joanie gets out of quarantine today, and Castano is looking forward to introducing her to the other rescue horses at the sanctuary.
“She’s just an absolute sweetheart,” Castano said. “If we’re in her field, she’ll follow us all around. To go from a horse that was on her way to a slaughterhouse to following us around the pasture — that’s incredible.”
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