I have to admit, when solving this I was waiting with baited breath to see "the real message" or something. I was half-expecting that when you arranged the letters in 0-9 format, that they might spell a word or something. How cool would that be?
Like, for example: (Yes, I know this doesn't work)
HARES+RATS+GRASS+EAGLES=EGRETS+GIRLS+ANTS+RAISINS
Which, would result in:
52310+3240+93200+129610=193140+97360+2840+3270780
Which, when you arranged the numbers:
1234567890
And re-translated, you'd get:
EARTHLINGS
I'm too lazy to come up with one that works, but it'd be pretty neat!
DaveE