hey, i'm the one who had to put the animals down. this is very real. the horse was very old and got an infection, and had to be put down. now, you cant just take your horse to the vet, like you can with a dog or cat, you have to have the vet make a house call. so the vet came by prepared to uthanize the horse, Monster. before, going out to the barn, (yes, where we keep our horses, there is a barn, just not on the farm that we live, which is why the horses are not on our property, so no, that is not animal abuse), we went to the deckhouse, to discuss burial options, since it is illegal where we live to bury animals without a permit. we got to the house, to find one of the barn cats with a broken neck. now we have a doggie door in the kitchen for the dogs, but the cats use it to, since they are both indoor/outdoor animals. we are guessing that the cat went out to the barn, like they always do, and got to close behind a cow or horse, and got kicked. you never know, she might even have jumped off a high ledge, cats necks are very fragile. but anyway, the barn had to have the cat put down, along with us having to put Monster down. so the county wanted to temporarily shut down the barn for investigation, but pulled out, because there was nothing wrong with any of the other several animals. and to number 5, shooting animals is considered animal abuse, and even though my family owns guns, most around us do, we would NEVER consider shooting an animal, even if it was to put it out of its misory, unless we absolutely had to. hope that straightens everybody out, and thank you too all that were polite and didnt mock or laugh about our situation, and took it seriously. this is not a laughing matter.