Not too long ago, there was a 15 year old girl working her first job. She was saving every penny to buy something she had long dreamed of: her first horse.

Jennifer Turner of Lynchburg, Virginia retells the story like it was yesterday.

"I was taking riding lessons at the time, and I saw the horse in a field, grazing under a tree at sunset. It was beautiful."

Jennifer approached the owner, and could only think of one thing to say.

"How much?"

The lady replied that Jennifer didn't want that horse. It had been abused.

So every day for six months, Jennifer went to the horse with a bucket of grain, a little hope, and a lot of determination.

"Finally, she came to me," said Jennifer, "I was the only one she ever let ride her."

The pride in her voice is fresh as she relives the moment in her mind.

And so began a lifelong love of horses, and more importantly, rescuing them.

Jennifer Turner currently has 5 rescued horses, ranging from 9 months old to 7 years.

When she got the 9 month old, it was in poor health.

"It had full pneumonia, worms, and was severely malnourished. It took around $2,000 to bring back to health."

And that's just the tip of a very large iceberg.

Turner says that people get in over their head and can't take care of the horses they own, resulting in them selling to a "kill buyer".

And unless they are rescued, their fate can be dim.

100,000 to 120,000 horses are slaughtered every year that don't get rescued.

Instead, they are transported to Canada or Mexico to be processed into food.

Of course, one could ask why it isn't a problem to slaughter cows, or other "traditional" American food providing animals.

The answer isn't really simple.

Some horse rescue advocates see horses as being closer to a dog, which of course is "man's best friend."

Others would be ok with it if the horses were just not treated so inhumanely during transport and the slaughtering process itself.

And one thing they all agree on is there are some extremely inhumane conditions that many of these horses face.

There are many stories, pictures, and videos on the web documenting these cases of abuse, and if you are inclined to look these things up, be prepared to have your heart broken.

There are reports of transporters who don't give the horses food, no matter how long the trip is, which has resulted in dead horses upon arrival at their final destination.

Mix in with that the fact that current regulations don't oversee the horse grouping (meaning that horses of all sizes and dispositions can be mixed together), dangerous double-decker trailers can be used, inadequate floor space and ramping, USDA budgetary restraints and understaffing for inspections and numerous other unenforceable guidelines or easily falsified certificates, and you begin to see a larger issue.

And then there is the slaughtering process itself.

Many slaughterhouses use the "captive bolt" method of slaughter, which is a method designed for cows that have a much shorter neck.

Horses are guided into a small stall area where a captive bolt pistol is placed to their head and discharged either by air or blank round.

The bolt then strikes the animal and, if done correctly, stuns them so there is no pain during the process of butchering.

Due to a horse having a more "gangly", long neck, sometimes the bolt is not effective as the animal swings its head to and fro.

Chemicals can't be used to euthanize because that is prohibited when dealing with animals to be consumed as food.

Lisa Draharod is the event coordinator for "Another Chance for Horses", a non-profit horse brokerage in Marlton, New Jersey, and says that the whole process is unnecessary.

"One of the big myths about stopping horse slaughter is 'Where would all the unwanted horses go?' The truth is only 1% of the U.S. horse population is slaughtered each year. If we cut back on horse breeding, the problem would go away by attrition," said Draharod.

Until then, she is trying to save as many horses as she can.

A Chance for Horses, along with a network of other rescues including Forever Morgans, Save Your Ass Rescue, Curly Horse Rescue, New England Equine Rescue, the thoroughbred tracks that have zero tolerance policies in effect, and Voice for Horses, save on average 40 horses per week.

She says they have shipped horses all around the country to the individuals who purchased through them, and even shipped one to Germany.

When asked how anyone can get started in rescuing horses, she hesitates.

"First, you need to educate yourself," she says. "It's a 24 hour, 7 day a week job. There is no reward other than the satisfaction."

She also mentioned frustration, which is something Jennifer Turner had mentioned as well. Frustration at the lack of donations, frustration at the time it takes to heal some of these horses, both physically and mentally, and frustration that so many horses are needlessly slaughtered.

"90% of horses slaughtered are in good condition. 80% are under 10 years of age. 74% are perfectly sound, no lameness or crippling issues," says Draharod.

And when you juxtapose those kinds of numbers against a poll conducted by Madeleine Pickens which revealed that 76% of Americans are against horse slaughter, you have to ask why this is still an issue at all.

"It's alarming how many people don't care," says Pickens. "The funny thing about human nature is that the general public tends to shut down when confronted with the graphic video and pictures."

Pickens, along with her husband Boone, has been instrumental in getting the message out and getting reform accomplished, her work leading to the closing of the last horse slaughterhouse in the U.S.

But that doesn't stop kill buyers from shipping across the border, so it must still be profitable.

To get a sense of the money involved, I asked Pickens for some numbers.

And the example she gave was very interesting.

She had gotten a chance to view some tax records from one of the last slaughterhouses to operate in America.

Total taxes paid for the year of 2004?

$4.

"If you had a company that only had to pay $4 in taxes, your company must not be doing very well, wouldn't you think?"

I had to agree, until she followed it up with the fact that they took in $12 million in horses, then shipped them overseas to another branch of their company which in turn sold the horses for $60 million.

The math is obvious.

Still, there is progress being made.

H.R. 6598, which is a bill co-sponsored by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), has recently been re-introduced after failing to be passed into law previously.

It would "amend(s) the federal criminal code to impose a fine and/or prison term of up to three years for possessing, shipping, transporting, purchasing, selling, delivering, or receiving: (1) any horse (i.e., member of the family Equidae) with the intent that it be slaughtered for human consumption; or (2) any horse flesh or carcass with the intent that it be used for human consumption."

Also, Madeleine Pickens has purchased land in Nevada to be the site of a wild horse sanctuary, preventing many from roundups that would lead them to a food processing plant.

She hopes it becomes a tourist destination just like our National Parks, where people can witness their beauty.

Pickens urges people to get involved.

"Go to my website and sign up. Send letters. Join the Pony Express. We are going to deliver your letters while riding horses in person to Washington, " says Pickens.

Just researching this article, I ran across numerous places that give information on the horse slaughter issue and ways to help and participate in horse rescue.

There are many, many people of all religious and political backgrounds involved on the front lines of this issue.

People like Jennifer Turner.

It's a rainy Tuesday afternoon back in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Through a window Turner is watching "Gotta Lotta Soul", a rescued horse who happens to be the 4th Great Grandson of Secretariat, the legendary racehorse who won a Triple Crown while setting records in two of the races.

He seems to be enjoying himself in the drizzle, shaking his head and fanning his tail, living up to his name.

"It's on a day like this that I wish I didn't have horses at all!", she laughs, referring to the need to go out into the rain to feed.

Through the phone I hear a big smile, and I suspect that couldn't be further from the truth.

For pics of Jennifer Turner's rescued horses, please visit our Facebook here.

And for more of our coverage on this issue, please visit the following links:

Horses Sent to Canada for Slaughter

Horse Transportation for Slaughter Examined

Horse Slaughter: A Lawmaker's Thoughts