Heartbreaking but rewarding job for saviour

FOR 16 years Laura Stoikos has been saving racehorses from the slaughterhouse.
As president of the Cedar Springs Horses Inc, she has helped rescue about 5000 horses since discovering her favourite racehorse had been sent to the abattoir in 1991.
"But that is nothing compared to the hundreds of thousands that have been killed since we started, but every saved horse counts," she said.
After realising that most ex-racehorses were being put to death when they no longer served their racing purpose, she vowed to do something about it and to give these horses a second chance.
Cedar Springs takes the racehorses and gets them new homes across the country.
Some have been malnourished or mistreated but all are rehabilitated before being sent to new homes.
"The horses can be re-educated and they can make wonderful companions and can be ridden," she said.
"It is a very heartbreaking job but also a very rewarding job.
"I just couldn't sit by and watch these beautiful animals killed for no reason."
One horse was found starving in a paddock, another was simply "not fast enough" for racing.