06/18/2026
💔
The Cost of Doing Right
Roger's auction price was $700.
That's the number people see.
That's the number people debate.
That's the number people use when they say, "You shouldn't buy horses at auction."
But life doesn't end when the bidding stops.
For Roger, it started there.
$700 purchase price.
$1,005.60 veterinary exam and diagnostics.
$240 Soft Ride boots.
$120 in squish pad glue-on shoes.
Five or six farrier visits at $60 each as Eva tried every trick she knew to help keep him comfortable.
Soon, there will be one final veterinary bill, likely around $500.
Transport and burial were $400.
Before feed.
Before hay.
Before supplements.
Before bedding.
Before the stall he occupied every day.
Before the hours spent cleaning, feeding, grooming, treating, medicating, and simply sitting beside him.
Before the tears.
Before the heartbreak.
The financial cost of Roger's rescue will exceed $3,000.
The emotional cost is immeasurable.
Because rescue isn't about buying horses.
It's about accepting responsibility for what comes next.
It's about looking at an animal whose body has already been broken and saying, "Your life still matters."
Sometimes that means rehabilitation.
Sometimes that means adoption.
And sometimes it means spending thousands of dollars, hundreds of hours, and every ounce of hope you have trying to save a horse that cannot be saved.
Not because it's financially sensible.
Not because there will be a happy ending.
But because suffering deserves compassion regardless of the outcome.
Roger didn't leave us because we stopped trying.
He left us because we reached the end of what medicine could offer and chose to give him the one thing we still could:
Peace.
The cost of doing right is rarely measured in dollars.
It's measured in sleepless nights.
It's measured in difficult decisions.
It's measured in the weight rescuers carry when they choose a horse's comfort over their own desire to keep them.
If you've ever wondered where your donations go, this is where.
Not into miracles.
Into mercy.
And for Roger, mercy was the most important gift we could give.
If our commitment, drive, compassion, and pain move you to support this vital and critical work, donations are tax deductible.
whoasaves.org/donate
paypal.me/whoasaves
venmo @ whoasaves (no dashes, dots, numbers, special characters, or spaces)
Mailbox:
4325 Commerce St
Ste 111 Box 432
Eugene, OR 97402
Tax ID 84-4758970
