Who Wants To Eat A Sick Horse?

Horses purchased at Crowley's auction by known trader/kill buyer barely saved from slaughter.

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Brenda Hemphill isn't saying how two thoroughbred fillies from Florida ended up at her notorious farm in Maine.  But what we do know is that horses who are unlucky enough to land there often end up on a one-way truck to a Canadian slaughterhouse.  And if it were not for emergency intervention by Pure Thoughts Rescue's Florida Thoroughbred Rehab & Placement, these young horses would have met the same fate.

Heaven's Host, a 3-year-old thoroughbred filly saved from slaughter

Pure Thoughts Horse Rescue

March 16th,  Pure Thoughts founders Brad Gaverand Jennifer Swanson were tipped off that the former Florida horses were in harm's way at the Hemphill farm.  They became alarmed after having read a recent Boston Globe article in which Brenda Hemphill admitted that she makes her money by marketing horses for meat.

The people at Pure Thoughts knew they didn't have much time to save three-year-old fillies Heaven's Host,  who'd last raced at Calder Race Course, which has instituted a no-tolerance, anti-slaughter policy, and Ilithyia, an unraced daughter of successful sire Siphon (BRZ).  The slaughter truck was arriving in the morning, and if they didn't secure the horses' safety before then, both fillies, and Derby Trefaire, a nine-year-old gelding who had competed at Suffolk Downs, would be goners.

As Pure Thoughts scrambled to raise the funds to free the three thoroughbreds, Brenda Hemphill upped the ante.  Realizing that these horses had suddenly become valuable commodities, she put exorbitant prices on their heads.  "She knew who we were and what we wanted, so we knew she would put us through the ringer," said Jen Swanson.  In the end, Pure Thoughts paid $850 for Derby Trefaire, and $1300 apiece for the fillies.