California Rescue Saves 100+ Horses From Slaughter

What started as a frantic phone call about a two-year-old filly headed to slaughter became a rescue operation that's saved more than 100 horses from death.

D.J. and Mike Osborne never planned to run an animal sanctuary. In 2017, they bought nearly 100 acres near Tecate, California, to build a quiet home for themselves and their four horses. But in 2022, D.J.'s mom called about a filly just 45 minutes from a Mexican slaughterhouse. They bought her immediately.

That single rescue changed everything. By July 2022, Tecate Horse Rescue became an official nonprofit, and the couple started pulling horses from auction houses where healthy animals were being hidden and funneled to slaughter.

The numbers are staggering. In 2023 alone, kill buyers shipped nearly 18,000 horses from Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas to Mexican slaughter plants. Though California law prevents horses from being directly exported for slaughter, buyers exploit a loophole by shipping them to other states first.

D.J. and Mike drove to the Bowie Auction House in Texas, one of the largest kill pipeline facilities in the country, which profited over $4 million in 2022 from selling horses to slaughterhouses. They brought home 64 horses in a single rescue mission. Most survived the journey to health, and many now live in loving forever homes.

Today, 34 horses, ponies, mules, and burros live safely at the Tecate sanctuary. The rescue recently agreed to take four more horses from another shelter closure and continues accepting owner surrenders from local residents, preventing animals from entering the slaughter pipeline.

The Ripple Effect

The rescue isn't just saving horses. It's transforming human lives too. Tecate Horse Rescue developed programs that pair rescued animals with people who need healing. Veterans struggling with PTSD work alongside horses in therapy sessions. Children on the autism spectrum learn communication skills through hands-on equine education. Families in crisis rebuild their connections in the peaceful ranch setting.

The Ranch Academy welcomes students completing volunteer hours, adults seeking vocational training, and anyone looking for nature-based learning experiences. These programs turn rescued horses into teachers, giving animals saved from slaughter a second purpose beyond survival.

Each horse costs roughly $400 monthly for veterinary care, farrier work, and feed. A dedicated community of volunteers and donors makes the mission possible, but the rescue always needs support to keep expanding its life-saving work.

From four personal horses to a sanctuary protecting over 100 animals while healing countless humans, the Osbornes prove that one phone call can spark a movement.