A local animal lover who opened a luxury dog rescue sanctuary in King City last fall has come to the rescue of more than a dozen horses.

Danielle Eden raced to an auction at a location she won’t disclose to save 14 horses, a mule and a donkey from the slaughterhouse Tuesday.

Eden, who with husband Rob Scheinberg owns Dog Tales Rescue and Sanctuary at 19th Sideroad and Dufferin Street in King City, opened the lavish pet adoption and safety home last fall.

Some 500 people attended the glitzy opening that included performances by Grammy winner Jewel and Juno winners Sam Roberts Band. The sanctuary cost “well north of a million” to build, according to Scheinberg.

Eden has made it her mission to save dogs and horses and sprang into action on Tuesday to save the 16 animals when it became clear they were bound for the slaughterhouse.

“A lot of them have bad scars, some of them are bleeding and one of them was limping,” Eden said Tuesday evening as she returned to the sanctuary where she lives with Scheinberg and their school-aged daughter. She won’t name the location of the auction because she wants to continue to drop in to bid there.

She said she was bidding against horse meat buyers.

“It’s very sad. Most of the horses would be slaughtered, they sell them by the pound.… I usually save the heavy ones. I can’t save them all. I know they’re going for meat because I can see the meat buyers there (at the auction).”

She said the last time she rescued a number of horses, one had to be put down after two months. However, another horse was pregnant and now there is a foal on the farm.

Eden said she’s concerned about horse breeding, which she claims is uncontrolled in Ontario.