Comments on: More Horses Left Behind: Blame the Economy
By MJ Wilson on 01-30-09
Absolutely the Truth! Thanks!
By freedom on 01-31-09
Just another example of the lack of “human” in humanity.
By Fonda Ghiardi on 01-31-09
Good article that can be confirmed by the FACTS. Horse populations in the US trippled in the last 10 years. People bought horses and houses they could not really afford in the great booming economy and the breeders had a hayday. With over 9.2 million horses in this country, and and average of 100,000 going to slaughter, that is slightly over 1% of the total horse population. That is not going to reduce or hardly make and impact on the problem caused by overbreeding and irresponsibility in a down economy. And if the state of ND would save their $100,000 they are paying for a feasibility study on starting a new slaughter plant, with the world economy down the demand for a high cost delicacy like horse meat should also go down. (Slaughtered horses are not feeding the poor or pets). Local goverments need to work with humane rescues and develop disposal sites in their current facilities for euthanazation of unadoptable horses so they can be euthanized and have a humane ending. Euthanazia is not expensive, disposal of the carcas is the problem. Perhaps with the doen economy people will start have to face reality and start being responsible about horse ownership and breeding. The cheapest part of a horse is the purchase price and you may be making a 30-40 year commtiment to wornership. LET’S GET REAL AND MORE HUMANE.
By Thomas on 01-31-09
I find this article biased and uninformed.
Who say’s it’s unamerican to eat any meat you want to eat? It happens all the time. True enough horses are less efficient to raise for their meat alone, but often humane slaughter is the best use of 1) and old or infirm horse 2) an unmanageable or mean horse 3) a horse whose owner has fallen on hard times and for whom there is no market.
Hay is cheaper and more plentiful than one year ago.
Fuel is cheaper and more plentiful than one year ago.
To blame this situation on the economy alone, is simply ridiculous and dishonest.
Ban on horse slaughter in the US is not the answer. Humane horse slaughter in the US is far more sensible. It makes no sense to ship a horse from West Virginia, for example, to Canada or Mexico for slaughter. Further, the cost of such shipping results in terrible conditions that have to be endured by the horses. This is unacceptable, and cruel.
Horses are being abandoned everywhere. Just subscribe to a Google news alert on abandoned horses and read about it daily.
As a long time horse owner and lover, I find the attitude expressed in this article very selfish. Clearly the writer has an agenda that is self-centered and has no regard for the welfare of horses. It smacks of the radical animal rights agenda of organisations such as P.E.T.A., whose real aim is to make vegans out of everyone, through misportrayals of reality. Give in to this pap, and next it will be “unamerican” to eat a hamburger.
The bill mentioned will do far more harm and cause more suffering to horses than it will do good. Call your representatives and urge them to REJECT that bill, if you give a hoot about horses.
By Cattlemen on 01-31-09
Horses are food animals…just not in this country. We need to reopen the IL and TX plants and open more new one. We use to put horse meat in dog food until they took their grinders out. Now, we have dog food full fo grains and that is a very bad diet for dogs. Dogs need meat, not grain! Horse Meat is very healthy and nutritious. As for the humane treatment of horses in a processing plant….they are killed very humanely. The same way cattle andhogs are killed. It is ALL USDA inspected!
By Done the research on 02-01-09
Catttleman, Thomas, horses are not food animals in this country and they were never killed humanely. Our cultural taboo against eating horse meat goes back to the 8th Century to a decree by Pope Gregory III. Even the Tax Man knows it - you pay sales tax on feed for companion animals - dogs cats horses - but feed for food stock animals is sales tax exempt.
Horse slaughter is cruel, even when it happened in the US. Saying USDA inspection guaranteed otherwise is nonsense and the evidence proves that beyond all doubt.
One example: Dr. Lester Friedlander (Former chief USDA inspector, professor of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts Veterinary College) has written and spoken about what he witnessed as a USDA inspector at horse slaughter plants: “Due to the inherent differences in skull structures of bovines and equines, each species reacts to the captive bolt differently. The brain of an equine is further back in the skull compared to a bovine. The equines regain consciousness and are not insensible to pain shortly after they are shackled and hoisted. Therefore, they are very much aware of being butchered alive.” Does that sound humane?
Please call your Congressperson to support an end to this barbaric treatment of American horses to profit non taxpaying offshore foreign corporations. Banning the slaughter of horses has nothing to do with cattle, that’s another false argument pushed by the offshore foreign horse slaughter lobby that’s making a fortune of the suffering of horses ... and our lack of awareness of the truth behind American’s dirty secret.
By Thomas on 02-02-09
You ignore all the aspects of the issue but the ones for which your propaganda can be used to generate hysteria to bring about a public reaction that is disproportionate to the realities, skirts the more appropriate solution, and results in the increase in the amount of unwarranted pain and suffering of thousands of horses who are being starved to death, even while people are skipping meals to try to make ends meet.
The arguments against humane horse slaughter are ill advised, ane even absurd.
Banning slaughter of horses based on some 8th Century Papal decree and citing physiological differences between cattle and horses does not amount to research that can serve as a basis for rationalizing such a ban.
If the religion you follow forbids eating horse meat, that’s your business. You have no civil right to enforce your religion on me. It’s unconstitutional in the US, so if you want to talk about unamerican, you could take a look in a mirror and give yourself a good talking to.
The physiological differences between cattle and horses as an argument fall into the category of non-sequitor. These differences can easily be factored in to improvements in practices, where a considerationm and I personally am in favor of inspection oversight to accomplish and improve those practices. There is no reason to ban slaughter, however, if the practices can be improved to solve the problems you claim.
Invoking nationalism to further whip up the hysteria is also a tactic of propaganda for those who seek to promote an underlying agenda that skirts common sense solutions, and has the result of helping to increase the suffering of thousands of horses.
People who truly are concerned with a humane solution to the problem of degrading the lives and the increased suffering of horses due to the pervasive spread of poverty recently will see that instituting procedures in horse slaughter facilities to assure the most dignified and humane practices possible can be employed, rather than forcing horses to starve to death, the P.E.T.A. way.
That’s exactly what the bill mentioned in this article will accomplish .. degrading the quality of life of many thousands of horses, and increased suffering.
By Fan of Barbaro on 02-02-09
Thomas, I feel you are very ill-informed regarding horse slaughter in the United States. I have permission from Alex Brown to quote from his upcoming book and have provided a link for your benefit, Please read Alex’s wiki and understand the horrors of which you condone.
“The horse is a flight animal unlike other livestock animals, such as cows and pigs, which are more docile. The process of slaughter is not designed specifically for horses, which have longer necks and typically balk away from something they fear. And horses sense fear. This makes the actual slaughter process less precise and there are many examples cited of horses not being rendered senseless by the first hit by a captive bolt gun which is the most common method used in North America during the slaughter process (see the report from the Canadian Horse Defense Coalition for examples: Black Beauty Betrayed: The Slaughter of US and Canadian Horses). Unfortunately, the captive bolt gun requires accuracy for effectiveness. While the veterinarian groups of AAEP and AVMA advocate that horse slaughter is humane, many veterinarians disagree. Dr. Nick Dodman has been outspoken on the inhumanity of horse slaughter. Dr. Hogan has provided testimony in Congress in 2006 in support of HR 503.
The process of collecting and shipping horses to slaughter is also inhumane. Horses in the US go to slaughter via kill buyers, due to the large geographic area of North America. Individual horse owners would find it very costly and time consuming to bring horses themselves to slaughter and some slaughter houses do not accept “owner drop-offs”. Slaughter-bound horses are put through auction after auction, into kill pens grouped with many other horses and then shipped to slaughter over long distances in crammed conditions. The entire experience is alien to most horses which have been well looked after their entire lives. While this experience is exacerbated by the ban on domestic slaughter, even with domestic slaughter, the US is so large that unless slaughter can be localized the collecting and shipping process will always be inhumane. It also is important to note that when the horse slaughter plant in Illinois was open, horses were being shipped to Canada for slaughter from the New Holland kill auction. Thus, we have always shipped horses to Canada and Mexico for slaughter. Exporting horses for slaughter is simply happening more so now with the elimination of domestic slaughter.”
and
“There is a perception that there are too many unwanted horses and if we stop horse slaughter this number will only rise. This concern is exacerbated by the pro-slaughter lobby which plants stories in the media to attempt to tie abuse and abandonment cases with the lack of domestic horse slaughter.
The reality is we will always have unwanted horses, with or without horse slaughter. And sometimes horses will be abandoned and neglected. Perhaps moreso in a tough economy. The number of horses that are abandoned and neglected is far, far smaller than the number of horses that are slaughtered and to justify slaughter as a means to eliminate horse abandonment and neglect is a false argument. It would also be foolish to argue that if we did eliminate horse slaughter entirely, we would not see additional abuse and neglect cases. However to justify slaughtering about 120,000 horses per year to avoid a few cases of abuse and abandonment is self serving.
We have also seen large fluctuations in the numbers of horses slaughtered from year-to-year (300,000 to less than 70,000). To argue that the number of unwanted horses fluctuates similarly is hard to explain. We also do not see a negative correlation with neglect and abandonment cases with fluctuations in slaughter numbers.
This is simply not a valid argument.”
http://alexbrownracing.com/wiki/index.php/Chapter_horse_slaughter
By Thomas on 02-02-09
Barbaro, I have said on two occaisions I favor oversight and improvement of humane slaughter practices for horses, but your bias apparently does not allow for such a common sense solution. Simply enacting a ban on all horse slaughter because of faulty practices is not a satisfactory option, and is leading to increased suffering of horses, nationwide. As a horseman who works daily with horses 7 days/week, year round, and has done so for many decades, I see clearly what is happening, from a perspective that is informed by experience.
You can ignore the sensibilities of the situation to try to advance the radical animal rights agenda, but that does not change the facts. Ban on horse slaughter is increasing suffering of horses, not decreasing it, unless you consider starving horses as somehow humane. And that is very regrettable, for horse lovers, placing also an unnecessary burden on local officials who have to deal with the increase of abandoned horses, which translates to an unnecessary and expensive public nuisance at a time when all jurisdictions are under pressure to provide services.
One current example from today’s news:
“http://www.register-herald.com/local/local_story_032224039.html”
It is the total ban on horse slaughter that is inhumane, and uninformed, and simply not practical or sensible, in my opinion.
By Fan of Barbaro on 02-02-09
Your link does not work. I am sorry you do not recognize that horse slaughter is inhumane, not the ban. You’re darn right I am biased - I’ve been to New Holland and witnessed what happens at auction. That is more than enough for me to be biased. The answer to your “unwanted horses” is to curtail breeding and promote responsible horse ownership, not to keep slaughtering. Perhaps you should view how horses are transported and “humanely euthanized” in the slaughterhouse:
http://www.animals-angels.com/Animals-Transport_Movies,545.html
According to federal law, horses must be rendered unconscious prior to slaughter, usually by captive bolt. However, some are improperly stunned, even with repeated blows, and are still conscious when shackled, hoisted by a rear leg, and cut across the throat. With their long necks and aversion to anything approaching their foreheads, many horses require multiple strikes.
This is the reality of horse slaughter. Congress has reintroduced the Conyers-Burton Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act of 2009 to ban the slaughter of American horses for human consumption overseas, as well as the export of American horses to other countries for slaughter. We are not tree huggers, We love horses.
If you favor oversight and improvement of humane slaughter practices for horses, I would be interested in your common sense proposal to achieve that end.
In regards to your position on horse slaughter, I do not buy your hyperbole.
By Thomas on 02-02-09
Cut and paste the link into your browser, then. It works. If you were interested in reading it, you could read it. If your mind is closed, you won’t.
You write: “We are not tree huggers”
Who is “We”?
What does “tree hugger” have to do with anything? Is there something wrong with “tree huggers” too? Sheesh.
I think it’s clear to casual observers that there is a blindness among the over-zealous here. The result is, those who are foaming at the mouth for a BAN on horse slaughter are holding up obtuse arguments to deny that their agenda has increased horse suffering, rather than reducing it. Shame on them.
It’s sad for the horses. Hopefully for the sake of humanity rational people will reject the hysterical rantings of the selfish, in favor of a more balanced approach in difficult times.
By Fan of Barbaro on 02-02-09
I regret you resort to personal attacks, therefore, I will not rise to the bait.
By Thomas on 02-02-09
The only way anything I have said could be interpreted as a personal attack would be if someone’s feelings were hurt when they realised they aren’t a universal hero for persuing a course of action that is promoted as reining in suffering of horses, but in actuality contributes to increased pain and suffering of horses, while horses starve and suffer abandonment.
That is exactly what is happening now with the horse slaughter ban.
It cannot be blamed exclusively on the economy, as the article suggests. Organizations that have persued the radical animal rights course are also responsible. They should face that responsibility, rather than look for scapegoats in an effort to divert attention from the results of a flawed campaign gone terribly wrong.
By Freedom on 02-03-09
Again I will jump in. Why are we allowing the breeding to continue? If we have horses that are not wanted and being shipped to slaughter by the thousands, isn’t it about time we come to our senses? How far does this stupidity have to go before something is done to stop it. But then I guess baby breeding (human) for money is being done every day isn’t it? Why should it be any different for dogs and horses?????
By thomas on 02-03-09
I think you ask good questions, Freedom.
I can give you an answer from my perspective to some of what you ask. I am a small family farmer who farms with horses. We also use horses as transportation, nearly 95% of the time.
Across this country and the world, local agriculture where smaller family farms are concerned are transitioning in increasingly larger numbers daily, from fossil fuel driven machinery to animal power. This is a part of the movement away from corporate farms and the unsustainable model of monopoly agriculture, toward diversity and sustainability.
Oxen, horses, mules and donkeys are playing an ever-increasing and very important role in this transition, as modern family farmers seek to eliminate unweildy off-farm inputs (expense) in order to enhance the prospect for sustaining farm commodity production .. food and fiber .. in their communities and nearby urban areas.
In this context, horses are a necessity, not a luxury.
One of the primary advantages to farmers, loggers, and others who engage in horse husbandry as an intergral part of their livlihood is that successive generations of offspring replace aging and retired animals.
So in answer to your question, “Why are we allowing the breeding to continue?”, the question can in part be answered that breeding work animals is an important and increasingly valued part of the human food supply.
A second part of the answer has to do with your very handle .. “freedom”. If the radical animal rights agenda that has helped create more suffering for horses through the ban on horse slaughter is who you refer to as “We” in your question, is successful in further damaging horse husbandry to the extent that farmers are not free to breed their replacement stock, or any other horse for whom there might be a market to provide essential farm income, then I think we can expect more of the same type of disasterous outcome as regards the effect that such an unbalanced agenda has already had on both horses and the quality of life of horses, but also farmers, farm families, and communities that rely on the productivity of their local farms, already struggling to sustain themselves.
I am all for treating animals with kindness and respect. We need more of that on the planet, in my opinion. Through a more moderate and balanced approach to problems that arise .. as they invariably will from time to time, as they always have .. solutions can be found. Maybe not all solutions will appease radical factions on both sides of the issues, but common sense condiderations that arise out of honest dialogue will likely be the best way to go, as opposed to caving in to one agenda or another, depending on which side can organize the best witch hunt.
By Freedom on 02-04-09
Thomas, this is an intelligent and thoughtful response, however, I would point out that the MAJORITY of horses being bred in this country are not for the uses you are explaining. If they were I don’t believe we would have the problems we have today. Perhaps with your help and others like you this can all change. However, when I personally watch individuals that have no business having horses putting them in their back yards for no other reason than to be able to say “I have a horse” and “take pictures” of how “cute” they are it makes me sick. I have some very good friends and a couple of relatives that are exactly like this. I have been around horses all my life but if I cannot ride that horse for any reason (too old or scared now…hahaha) I do not believe it is in my interest or (especially) the horses interest to be there. What is interesting to me is the ability of people to bring an animal into their home (including back yard) and life, keep it until it is boring and then move on to others. Animals (whether cat, dog or horse) should be accepted only on a lifetime basis. That is the problem with our country and others. We believe as humans, that we have the RIGHT to do what we want with these animals. Why not look at it as it is, AS WITH YOUR OWN CHILDREN, THIS IS A PRIVILEGE NOT A RIGHT! You have been given the privilege of having the child or animal as part of your life. You do not own them and you do not have the right to dump them on the side of the road or slaughter them when they no longer are useful. We need to be the leaders in the world on intelligent management of our animals, resources and CHILDREN! If my 17 year old dog is able to continue to walk and even play, should I put him down because he is almost blind and forgets to go outside to pee? I am sorry but I have seen people keep their dogs in the garage and locked outside in the dead of winter because they didn’t want “hair” all over. Why did you get a dog? Why would you chain a dog? What is the point? I have personally gone to a neighbors house (not here) and released a black lab that was locked in a storage shed and her puppies were left outside and the people MOVED OUT!I have seen show horses with extremely painful contraptions used on them to make them look “prettier” or step “higher”. Check it out…Tennessee walkers, arabs, and many more. These are the breeders that I am talking about. Many horses are fads and when they run the course the horse becomes dogmeat. That is reality!!!
By redhawk on 02-04-09
If the person with “a horse just standing in their backyard” takes good care of that horse, the horse is fulfilling a useful function. I have several friends who love their horses but can no longer ride, and they own some happy camper horses! Freedom, you may not be able to understand that horses don’t need to be ridden to be useful. My friends love watching and caring for their horses, and the beauty and companionship of them. Now, abandoning them is a different kettle of fish entirely, but with the economy tanking many people are being forced to make tough choices.
I have been around horses my entire life, and love them. Racehorse and show industry horses are often not suitable for ranch or family life, and those industries should be held accountable for the animals they produce. Humane euthanasia or humane slaughter is still a fact of life for infirm, genetically unsound, or vicious animals. The problem with chemical euthanasia is that the drugs used are toxic (ya think!) and are going to the landfill to be eaten by wildlife or leached into groundwater.
Aesthetically unappealing as it might be, that horse is approximately 600 pounds of protein in a starving world. Humane slaughter is possible. Knacker trucks used to come to farms, kill livestock on the spot, then transport the carcass to be processed. Banning regulated slaughter does not help the population of horses who need to be put down, it just means more horses will suffer.
By Thomas on 02-05-09
I appreciate your opinions, and your measured way of presenting them, freedom.
If what you say about the “majority” of horses is true .. and a great deal would rely on definition, if it is .. then an outright ban on humane slaughter would be a way of punishing a minority .. in this case farmers, ranchers and other horsemen and women of good conscience who do not fall into the category of backyard breeders and owners who have horses as pets to enhance their “status”, or something, and end up not being able to avoid allowing their horses to meet a miserable end.
In my world, that type of pseudo-horsemanship is the minority. But .. whatever. There are other points you raised with which I will also disagree.
First, a “right” and a “privilege” reduce to the equivalent of one another. There is nothing mutually exclusive about these two terms. Responsibility is another matter.
2nd, horses are not children or pets on working farms or in sporting environments or educational situations. Rather, they are, in what I consider to be optimal conditions, well respected and loved four-legged co-workers, for whom the two-leggeds bear a great deal of responsibility for assuring their comfort and welfare. Also, as a parent of a son who after a long career as professional athlete will now spend much of the rest of his life dealing with physical pain, I might not be the best person to talk to about “treating horses as you treat your children”. But that’s drifting into off-topic zone.
Further, on a purely legalistic level, horses are livestock, and property. Clearly for lesson stables, farms and ranches that use horse (pony, mule, donkey, oxen) power, transportation, racing, rodeo, circus and show .. the idea of “adoption for life” is anathema to good, sound and acceptable husbandry and use practices. In other words, buying and selling or otherwise trading of horses at various stages in their lives where they are no longer able to fit in well with a given program, and would be far better off retiring from work to a different environment that suits their stage in life better is crucially important to the horse’s wellbeing and dignity.
The outright ban on horse slaughter puts a severe crimp on the possibility of maintaining the wellbeing and dignity of many more horses than it helps, by reducing the alternatives to what we witness now .. starvation and abandonment of thousands of horses, even as Food Banks nationwide (worldwide, too) are unable to meet the needs of those who seek their service, as the economic collapse continues to cascade downward.
Redhawk is right on, in my opinion.
I understand that there is real abuse of animals here on our planet, and I can also imagine the trauma it evokes when one encounters such abuse, as is very reasonable to expect, as only natural among caring humans. I would just caution the animal rights agenda promoters, however well-intentioned they may or may not be, that the situation is far more complex than apparently is realised, based upon how it is presented in the PR blitzes and legislative initiatives promoted, and that the hysterical remedy advanced as a part of this agenda ... to wit: Ban on horse slaughter ... has become a part of the problem, not a solution, unless the real agenda is to shut down farms, ranches, riding stables, racing, showing, transportation, etc. ... all of whom rely upon all facets of husbandry, including the responsibility of humane rendition when necessary and appropriate.
I’m all for improving the lot in life of animals. It’s a priority of mine. So instead of promoting this BAN, how about we get together and work on a more realistic solution???
Redhawk just made a really good suggestion, in my opinion.
By Freedom on 02-05-09
I concede that Redhawk made a really good suggestion. I have had to put down two horses in my life due to several physical ailments and I had one die in the back yard (she was buried where she died) and they are memories that break my heart. Perhaps there is no real answer to this problem.
By redhawk on 02-05-09
There are answers to the problem. The real problem is that people who have never seen a horse are led by hysterical sentimentality to pass laws without considering real life consequences. It’s left wing or right wing mentality, when in all actuality the middle of the bird is most important.
I have seen people injured by rescue horses that were congenitally vicious or in pain. I’ve seen people stuck with an unusable horse, when they would have been better off rescuing a sound animal. I’ve seen way too many horses in excruciating pain because a human just couldn’t bring themselves to do the right thing and let the animal go. A dignified and pain free end to life is important and so is our environment.
As far as using horses for meat, I have signed my organ donor card.
By Chris on 02-06-09
For the record I am anti-slaughter…now. The last horse I owned was 20 years ago and she was humanely euthanized by lethal injection and buried at 30 years of age. The last horses our family shipped to slaughter was 30 years ago. I grew up on a small beef farm and we also had about a dozen horses over the years I lived there. Approx 5 years after I left our farm, I got my horse I had left behind shipped to me and boarded her until her death. We shipped two of our horses to slaughter as they were ‘dangerous’. In retrospect we were the wrong owners and the horses unlucky. One horse was a 2-3 year old quarter horse that we purchased from the equivalent of a puppy mill farm. Unhandled, unbroke and purchased by the wrong people…us. In addition we had the means to humanely put down both on the farm… a gun, a backhoe and the property, but of course we got money for disposing of our horses, so why not right?
In 30 years I’ve barely given it any thought. Then a few months ago I went sent a facebook group to ‘ban horse slaughter’ and of course my initial thought was ‘what’s the big deal, so a few horses get sent to slaughter for dog food.’ We all know that what was revealed was so much more… foals, PMU mares, race horses-both slow and WINNERS, rodeo horses, show horses, pregnant mares, broke, wild, young, old, healthy, sick, injured, abused, pampered, etc, etc. Absolutely no horse is safe from the slaughter pipeline. Then the sheer inhumanity from the auctions, horse tripping, transport, feedlots and then the slaughter. When the slaughter houses were open in the States, they were even then sending horses to Mexico and Canada, now there is just more of them. The pro-slaughter contingent in the States is pushing to return slaughter to the States where it was ‘humane’ as opposed to Mexico. They didn’t seem to care then about horses slaughtered horrifically in Mexico. On a personal note, I can’t get my head around the fact that this is done for human consumption…overseas! There is a small market in Canada in Quebec, but the majority of this abuse is so that we can meet a demand in Europe for horsemeat. I think if they want horsemeat, they should ‘produce’ their own. It has become a way of life for North Americans and an extremely easy way to get rid of an ‘unwanted’ horse, regardless of the reason. To make the process humane we would have to get rid of the kill buyers, kill auctions, transportation, feedlots and slaughter using captive bolt. So saying all that, am I anti-death and believe that horses should only die a natural death? Absolutely not. Here are the current options - sale / donation / rescues / chemical euthanasia and rendering or burial (where allowed) / firearm euthanasia and rendering or burial (where allowed). Other carcass disposal options are landfill (where allowed), composting (where available and allowed) and cremation (where available and is extremely expensive… wouldn’t be something I would or could personally consider). I have some suggestions… don’t know how feasible they’d be, but it’s a place to start: First the number of ‘unwanted’ horses needs to be reduced. The excessive breeding must come to an end… which will happen naturally when easy financially beneficial disposal is no longer an option, the racing industry must step up to the plate and take care of their own through retraining/rehoming/retirement or humane euthanasia, the PMU industry must be made extinct…ladies use alternative HRT therapies, horse associations use some of their fees to help horse owners who need temporary assistance through hay funds or to help with euthanasia costs and of course individual owner responsibility. Know and plan for the disposal costs. Then develop mobile euthanasia/rendering trucks… they could come right to the farm, and depending on whether you want the carcass to be used or not, either shoot or use injection. Mobile euthanasia/rendering available at auctions. If the horse doesn’t sell, the owner can then have the horse humanely euthanized at the auction and the carcass removed. Slaughter houses in every State to expand and be retrofitted to include horses and offer their services.. maybe one day a week, by appointment? These horses must be brought there by their owners, they are to be shot with an appropriate firearm, then depending on the owners wish, either the body put into a rendering/compost pit (for a small fee) at the slaughter house, or if they agree to have the horse used for zoo animal food, they get a small flat rate? Maybe the zoos could even run the mobile euthanasia vehicles. . I don’t know how zoos work when it comes to the meat they acquire… do they buy it? is it donated? I also don’t understand why Americans are against zoos feeding horsemeat to their carnivores. I personally would prefer my horse to be eaten by a lion then a rich European. Zoo animals depend on human caretakers to survive as much as our horses do. Plus, I think everyone needs to start working on a Plan B because horse slaughter for human consumption is not a right or a service to horse owners, it is a business and they are in the business to make money, as much money as they can. Has anyone given any thought to what would happen if the horsemeat market dried up? There is a world recession. Horsemeat is considered a delicacy. What if the people who purchased it can no longer justify the cost? Sales will go down, the price will drop so the sales would hopefully go back up, restaurants, etc would then not be willing to pay the slaughter houses as much for the meat, the slaughter house will make less money, maybe not even enough to cover costs, they will shut down… remember, they are not there to service our needs, they are they to earn a profit. The horsemeat market is currently being flooded… by Americans losing their jobs, Canadians, Irish, British, Australians. What happens when there is a glut of anything on the market? The value goes down… right now it is a buyers market for horses, not a sellers. I read that there are horses at auction that not even the kill-buyers are bidding on. It’s not because of the costs… that hasn’t changed. Maybe it’s the sales…maybe the demand is already lessening. What then? What happens to the horses then?
Also for the record, I don’t understand every decision some of the rescues make either. I think their hearts are in the right place, but there are just too many horses to save. I think NorCal is doing it right… assessing and euthanizing when needed and holding euthanasia and gelding clinics. There was one rescue that spent thousands of dollars fitting a horse with an artificial leg… why? Please, just euthanize the horse. If a private individual wants to do that and spend their own money, go ahead. But to ask for donations…no. There are just so many good useable horses out there.
And finally…I too have signed my organ donor card, but I’m assuming I won’t be sent to slaughter to have them harvested and purchased by the highest bidder…I’m hoping to have them rendered after my death and given to the neediest.
By Chris on 02-06-09
Hard to imagine after that long post above, I forgot anything, but well I did!
One thing I forgot to mention is that slaughter for human consumption is also very much a current option.
Also was remiss in giving kudos to Fans of Barbaro. I think what you people are doing is great. I know that in recent months the racing industry has really stepped up to the plate in terms of helping their horses avoid the slaughter pipeline.
And finally, this whole issue has rekindled my love of horses and I’ve decided to take English riding lessons at a nearby stable. I have decided to spend some of my hard earned, disposable income on live horses. I do not plan on spending even one penny on any organization that is for the slaughter of horses for human consumption. I refused to join a provincial equestrian organization, would cancel any magazine subscription if I thought they were proslaughter, refuse to attend rodeos or race tracks until they step up to the plate. I refuse to set foot in a local casino that is attached to a horse race track until they impose an anti-slaughter policy at their track, etc., etc. I have donated $ to horse rescues and I will never knowingly financially support the slaughter of horses for human consumption in any way.
The views expressed in the comments section do not reflect those of the Beacon.