Why are you for / against horse slaughter?

Question

Why are you for / against horse slaughter?

Answer 1

My biggest gripe is with live transport for slaughter. Horses travel in horrendous cramped conditions with no water, no rest, and no space; some of the lorries carrying them are nothing short of disgusting.



Yes horses are cute and fluffy and sweet, and we all love our own horses very much. But there aren't the facilities to rehabilitate and rehome every unwanted animal; politically, socially and economically there are far bigger fish in the ocean than the poor little horsies and they simply cannot all go to live out their days in rescue centres. There are no resources for that to happen.



If you tighten up the abattoirs and regulate transport, a heck of a lot of suffering will be eliminated. Personally I would always have an unsound horse put to sleep rather than sell it or send it off to an uncertain future via auction - but then I am a realist, and if circumstances dictate I will remove all doubt and have the deed done at home by my own vet.

Answer 2

I am a horse lover of 47 years, a Vet Tech and a horse breeder ( small scale only) of 20+ years, and I support slaughter and believe that it needs to be re-instituted in the United States. I am pro HUMANE slaughter for all of the reasons you have listed as well as some others.

1) Not all horses are savable for either health, soundness or mental capacity reasons. I've both met and owned many horses that would be better off dead: better for the horse, better for the owner, better for any poor soul that has to deal with the horses that are miserable, wild, vicious or unsound and in serious chronic pain. I've been there, I've done that and I have the scars to prove I've been on the battle-lines. I've saved some very worthy horses from the "kill-pen" and I've taken some very unworthy ones back there. There is simply not enough room or places for all of these animals to live out their lives "naturally" and for many, to make them do so is in itself inhumane. In a world of shrinking resources it makes the best sense to save the horses that are worth saving, who can have a purpose, or a job and/or who can live pain-free, and destroy the ones that are crippled, unusable, unhappy or mean/vicious and untrustworthy. Those who don't agree with this ought to have to take in 3-5 nasty, unsound/unusable, untrustworthy and/or chronically painful or ill horses, and care for them ( including the vet costs!) until the end of their natural lives...that includes all the Hollywood freaks that have never owned a horse, and have no idea of what that entails, but who feel free to tell me that I should have to!

2) I'm not a vegetarian, my dogs and cats aren't vegetarians, and though I obviously don't eat horse meat, I don't suppose that I have any right to tell people in other countries what they may or may not consider as an animal to slaughter for food. Do the Hindu tell us that we may not eat or slaughter beef? No...so why should we cop some sort of "moral high ground" and tell people in France, Japan, China and Belgium that eating horse meat is wrong, and that they need to stop buying our horses for meat. Simple point...if you don't want your horse to go for meat, then have your vet come out and euthanize it when that time comes; Don't tell me what to do with mine!

3) I also agree that burying a 1500# carcass loaded with drugs isn't a great thing for the environment or for any wildlife that scavenges off of it, or eats the smaller critters/bugs that eat the poison carcass ( not to mention putting nasty chemicals into the ground water.)

When it comes right down to it, Horses are prey animals just like many others that we routinely eat and think nothing of it. They are not smarter or more noble than pigs, they are no more lovable than cows or even chickens depending on who you talk to...that's a matter of opinion. They have no more claim to fame as being crucial to the advancement of humankind or the development of America than any other species of livestock...in fact, many would say that cattle have that pretty much locked ( Oxen moved the wagons, not horses, cattle provided meat, milk and hides to keep the pioneers alive and moving and clothed. Horses helped, but much less than cattle! And horses weren't domesticated until long after sheep goats, chickens, cattle and swine...so the claim that they made possible the advancement of civilization is waaaaay overrated)

Anyway...if you look at it without all the sentiment and B.S. that the PETA people and other animal rights people shove at you, there is no good reason not to slaughter the excess horses in the US, and about 90,0000 (annually) good reasons to reinstate humane slaughter.

Answer 3

I feel that it should be legal in America, personally. I've owned (and own) horses and pigs, and I must say, pigs are probably the smarter of the two (although horses, by no means, are stupid).

The main reason people don't feel bad about eating pigs, however, is they simply aren't "lovable" (even pet ones, imo); they squeel constantly, are fairly messy and are never "in your pocket" or cuddly.



If it is a matter of intelligence, then pigs should be illegal to slaughter as well, or horses should be legal.



That's one side of my oppinion; another is the sheer amount of horses, and how much you can get for them. Contrary to popular belief, the decline in horse prices is NOT entirely the economy's fault; you simply cannot get rid of a horse easily now, due to slaughtering being illegal. The horse market is declining due to overstock and good people who made some or all of their livings are losing here. Yes, part of it is over breeding, but the same rednecks that breed mutt horse to mutt horse over and over are going to do that, no matter what, usually because they don't want to pay for two pastures OR gelding a horse.



And finally, I feel that with how many good horses (some of whom need a bit of work) there are that need homes, I don't feel rescues should be wasting their time on cases that can probably never be saved; horses on death's door, horses who will probably always be aggressive.



Not all horse meat dealers are "heartless", either.



I buy some of my animals from a man who searches the auctions for good horses who need some TLC, and then sells them (almost at cost) to better homes than they'd probably get at the auction anyway.



A horse I recently bought, who is sweet as can be and dead broke, was bought by this man's friend, who is a meat dealer. He bought her for the saddle she had on, and because she was very thin. Upon actually interacting with her though, and seeing that she was friendly and incredibly broke, he sold her to the man I bought her from.



Why? Because he mostly deals in horses that ARE lame, and can NEVER be ridden again, and "crazy" horses. He doesn't kill good animals.

Answer 4

I was for years anti slaughter i even wanted the bill to pass that banned slaughter of horses in the USA and now i see what a BIG MISTAKE that was... now all i see and hear about is horses suffering weather it be neglect,abandoment of being shipped to mexico horses were alot better off when we had the option to Slaughter here in the USA were we have rules and regulations in mexico they dont even knock the horses out before they start sliceing them up at least here we have either the gun or the skull hammer which at LEAST knocks them unconcious then we slit there throats which kills them instantly before we start hacking them up. I am all for reopeing horse slaughter not as a excuse to get rid of horses that are not perfect but as a way to humanely kill a injured,sick or lame horse and i Belive that the meat should be given to the less fortunate becuse belive me when your broke you will be thankful for any meal!! been there done that

Answer 5

I'm sure I'll get a bunch of thumbs down... but I am FOR horse slaughter in the US and here are my reasons:



1. In this difficult economy, people are having a harder time affording companion / pet / lawnmower horses. So, many of them simply end up starving to death. While slaughter isn't exactly a perfect way to die, it sure beats starving to death in some shed in the dark somewhere.



2. Another economic reason: livestock transport and slaughter facilities are places where people can get jobs. You don't need a degree. Just a tough surface. When this industry was removed from the US, we lost an untold number of jobs. I cannot find a source that will give me an exact number, but even if it is only a few thousand people, those are a few thousand people on unemployment having a hard time feeding their families.



3. Another economical reason: most Americans aren't into horse meat. Most of it was exported, or made into dog food. Exporting horse meat affected our Gross Domestic Product. Meaning, this is a product we shipped out, and got money into our country for. Unlike products which we pay our money out to other countries for.



4. It's wasteful. What else should we do with crippled, or very nasty horses? Euthanize and bury? What a waste! There are countries which have alost no acces to protien foods like meat at all. People are starving to death out there. And we have no problem burying 1,000 lbs of meat?! What a waste. (Some of you will say that there are no "bad" horses. But actually there are some very abused neglected animals that are NOT rehab-able. I've seen them. Too bad they weren't slaughtered to begin with.)



5. NOW with the transport bans, horses are left neglected for longer periods of time at the Mexican border. The slaughter horses just end up in Mexico now. I can ASSURE YOU our laws about slaughter, cruelty and cleanliness are much stricter than Mexicos. Who knows what happens to those poor horses after they leave the US.



6. Finally.... horses are LIVESTOCK. Like a cow. Why is it okay for the average American to eat McDonalds all day long? Why is the live of a horse worth more than the life of a cow? These aren't animals that live inside your home and curl up on your lap. They're LIVESTOCK.

Answer 6

Some of my riding friends were talking about this recently and they asked my opinion. Both of them were shocked when they learned that I am not necessarily against horse slaughter. There are a few reasons for this, my main one being that I am not a vegetarian and so I don't feel like I have the right to say that one kind of animal is OK to eat, but another one is not. Unless you are vegetarian or vegan, it is extremely hypocritical for you to be against killing an animal for meat just because you like that kind of animal.



That said, I would never eat a horse for the same reason that a pig owner probably does not like bacon. And I would definitely love to see regulation in the meat industry. There are horrifying videos of not only horses, but other livestock animals being slaughtered in ways that you could not even imagine.



And of course, there are cases like yours where it may be in the animal's best interests to be killed. In that case,we may as well give the corpse as much use as possible (glue or meat being some examples).



And then we get to the fact that just because horse slaughter was banned in this country, it hasn't stopped. People are just shipping these horses over the border, oftentimes to Mexico where it is much harder to regulate the meat industry.



I would rather that horses are slaughtered domestically and in a humane way than across the border in Mexico. So yes, reopen horse slaughterhouses in the US. But regulate them so the horses (and all other animals) do not suffer needlessly.

Answer 7

I am against the way it is done.

I have done several college research projects on the subject. In fact, I'm doing one right now for my Public Speaking class. So I've done my research.

I find that most people (especially on here) read on article and develop a very one-sided opinion. They don't take the time to read credible articles written by people who have actually done research on the subject. So many people make false assumptions on the way horse slaughter is done. The most common false assumption, is that it is quick and painless.



It is both slow and painful. Many horses are conscious while they are being hung upside down and bled out. Many have stab wounds or gun shot wounds from where the person with the gun/knife missed their spine or head. It's a gruesome and long death. And they suffer for days before they are finally killed.



It wasn't any better in the US. Their killers were still inadequate in actually killing the animal before it's butchering. The animals were considered condemned, so there were/are no laws stating they deserved food or water. So they went days without. For most, their denial of food and water begins the second they are sold at auction. The lucky ones end up on feed lots before they are shipped to the slaughter house.





I have come to terms with the fact that horse slaughter will probably not end in my lifetime, but I am absolutely AGAINST the way it is done. There needs to be more regulations put on the treatment of these animals. They deserve food, water, and a quick painless death. This goes for ALL meat-bound animals, not just horses.



So in short, I'm not against slaughter. But I am thoroughly against the way it is done.



There is nothing humane about it.

Answer 8

The story of the lady you describe is one from a person who had never actually gone to a slaughterhouse and experienced the reality of what she would have found. The only way her scenario would be remotely connected to reality would be if her vet came and shot the horse at home, and then she dropped the carcass off herself. I have had the unfortunate experience of visiting the US slaughterhouses more than once over the decades before they were shut down. Nothing like this woman's imaginings would ever have happened there. PETA is off base in many ways, but there is nothing phony in the videos of horror and abuse that was routine in those places. I would never send a horse to a slaughterhouse as they were run here in the US, much less to a foreign run one.



I appreciate your views, and I am not against slaughter. The elimination of our slaughterhouses has only led to another can of worms and worse conditions for the poor horses whose owners have discarded them. But a huge clean-up and light years better regulation of these places was needed before I would consider them to be in any way a humane alternative. Any process that requires mass transport of horses to slaughterhouses remains inhumane and barbaric. If indeed owners could bring their individual horses to the slaughter, and expediently have the horse humanely killed without all of the horror that actually precedes death in those places, then I'd be on board if regulatory controls were substantial. I didn't see that happening when they had the chance before they were closed down.



Most people I know are not against slaughter. Most are against abuse and torture which has been a part of horse slaughter since the first slaughterhouse was opened. PETA may be radicalists, and closing down the slaughterhouses may not have been the solution to the problem, but so far no solution has been good enough where the welfare of the horses is concerned.



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Add.......on the issue of euthanizing drugs rendering horses unfit for consumption, I have a problem understanding how any domestic horse that has been receiving multiple medications that often precede the trip to the slaughterhouse can be considered fit for consumption? The argument against use of euthanizing drugs makes zero sense when I know that none of these horses should be being used for meat. How many horses that reach the slaughterhouses have received any drugs that should prohibit their use as meat? I would say most. Many of the drugs remain in the tissues for long periods of time, and the older the horse, the more that is the case. I can guarantee that nobody is at the slaughterhouse testing for metabolites of all of these drugs before the horse is killed. They don't have a "safe for meat" section and a "not safe for meat" section.

Answer 9

Actually, horse slaughter is not illegal in the U.S. Yes, legislation was passed that resulted in our last three horse-slaughter plants closing but it did not actually ban the act itself. There is currently legislation going through the state of Tennessee to open a horse slaughter plants and there are several processing companies scouting for locations out west. On April 26th of this year Hardin, Montana passed legislation banning commercial slaughter to prevent a large company from opening a horse processing plant within its city limits, citing environmental concerns. Read about here: http://rtfitch.wordpress.com/2010/04/26/hardin-montana-says-no-thanks-to-horse-slaughter-plant/



As an environmentalist it might pique your interest to read up on the impacts of large-scale horse slaughter on the environment. Horses not only have larger carcasses than other commonly slaughtered animals which poses a disposal problem, but also contain twice as much blood as a beef cow. This results in a severe strain on the ecosystems of the towns and areas where these plants operate, which is mainly what the legislation targeted to close our plants. Many of these companies (Dallas Crown in particular) are known for ignoring the environmental impact and practicing illegal disposal methods of the unusable parts of the carcass. With the shear volume of waste from large-scale horse slaughter this wreaks havoc on environmental systems, sewage and waste water plants and creates hazardous living conditions for the residents of these areas. More information here: http://tuesdayshorse.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/when-horse-slaughter-comes-to-town-environmental-impact/



Slaughter in Europe is quite different from over here from what I understand and is quite a bit more humane. In North America it is all about quantity over quality and what you see in the Mexican and Canadian plants is quite the norm. In the Canadian plants horses are inaccurately hit with .22 rifles or captive bolt guns and clean kills are not always the norm. In Mexican plants the horses are stabbed in the back repeatedly to sever the spinal cord, then hung to have their throat slit and bleed out while still alive. The only laws in the U.S. regarding what can or cannot be shipped to slaughter are 1. No blind horses, 2. No dead-lame horses and 3. No pregnant mares or mares with foals at their side. Note there is nothing protecting European consumers of American horse meat from the drugs we treat our horses with. The laws we do have are frequently ignored, with 3-legged lame horses, blind and pregnant horses a common sight in the lower-end auction houses and kill-pens that slide under the radar. I also personally know of disreputable feed-lot owners that have pulled foals off their dams and shot them or left them to starve to ship the mare for kill. Slaughter is an ugly, ugly beast over here and unless you have witnessed the brutality a horse suffers not just at the rendering plant but being shipped through the pipeline, as rescuers call it, it is quite difficult to understand. No, I have never been inside a plant but am all too familiar with all aspects of the pipeline that gets them there. Many times it begins with a horse not racing well, coming up lame or overall not performing. It begins with free CL ads from people who got a horse with no thought of how to care for it, or bred them with no thought of how to train them. People rewarding their faithful old mounts that are no longer useful by dumping them on auction grounds, or trying to get that last $50 out of a crippled horse or one that just proved too difficult for them to train. Some people are just clueless and hand their free horse over directly to the meat buyer blindly believing their story of needing a nice old mount for their child or pasture mate for their senior. (Yes, the meat buyers use this ploy all the time). Even horses rescued from the kill pen by legit rescues or online groups such as the infamous "Friends of Barbaro" sometimes find their way back to the kill-pen, I know of two FOB "bailed" horses pulled from Eunumclaw this year.



I am whole-heatedly against slaughter as it is practiced in North America, but do not blame the industry. I blame us, the horse people. WE need to hold ourselves accountable for what happens to our horses. WE need to stop being so cheap that we will send an old or crippled horse to a kill auction to get that last $50 from them instead of having the vet euth them. WE need to stop being too gutless to euth an aging or crippled companion, either with the vet or from a well-placed bullet, instead of giving them away blindly or auctioning them off with our heads buried in the sand telling ourselves someone will take them and love them till they die. WE need to hold our breed organizations accountable for encouraging large-scale breeding with no accountability for what breeders are producing (AQHA, I am calling you out in particular on this one, allowing N/H horses to be registered, awarding mass-breeding operations and being openly pro-slaughter). WE need to end the backyard breeding practices that run rampant throughout this country. WE need to stop breeding horses with genetic defects (HYPP, HERDA, LWO carriers, etc), poor conformation, or just breeding everything to everything just because we can. The only thing that accomplishes is full double-deckers headed for Canadian and Mexican rendering plants and aguaranteee they will stay full for years to come. WE need to start being responsible horse people in general.



More good reading:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5175642.html

http://www.hsus.org/pets/pets_related_news_and_events/missouri_accident_horse_slaughter.html



Okay, rant over. Sorry.

Answer 10

I think personally, you are looking to others for reassurance that you made the right decision, to what could have been a not so great outcome. There are many arguments for and against horse slaughter, and I think had i been in your decision, I probably would have done the same. This person seems to have unfairly put a lot of pressure on you.

I am neither for or against it, but what I am against is horses being transported cruelly, without water, cramped and hot conditions to slaughter houses. Yes they may be headed to their death anyway, but there is absoloutley no excuse or reason to mistreat them whilst they are still alive, even if it is for such a little time.

Answer 11

I'm against it, though I realize that it being banned in America is not helping, because they just get shipped over to other places. I hate it because it's not like they just kill the horses, which would be bad enough, they get tortured, and then killed. There are three big reasons why they are slaughtered (none of which I agree with).



1. Horse meat. A lot of people eat it so that's a leading cause, which is really stupid because apparently, killing cows and birds and various other animals isn't enough for some people.



2. A horse is "crazy". I'm so sick of hearing this one. If someone doesn't have the brains to handle a horse, it's labeled as hopeless horse and shipped off to slaughter, when in truth, young kids say that want a pony so the parents get them whatever they want and when something bad happens due to their ignorance the horse is blamed.



3. A horse just isn't good enough. If a horse has "bad conformation" or isn't the right color, most of them get slaughtered because a lot of people want purebred TBs or some kind of fancy breed and so the others get tossed to the side. Now please don't get me wrong, I'm not saying TBs are bad or that people having preferences is bad, I'm just saying that some people can be nasty about it and so a lot of horses are killed.



So I think that it being banned in the US isn't going to help. It needs to be banned in more places, and then people need to spend a few buck and put their horses down if it's ABSOLUTELY necessary.



Sorry if this turned into more of a rant. I'm not trying to offend anyone I'm just giving my opinion. So in summery, I'm against it because it's not needed, and it doesn't magically help the horse. I have seen videos where they are hung, stabbed, beat, shocked and worse. If people would stop being stupid, it could all be avoided.

Answer 12

No, I'm not against it. There are 60 to 90 thousand unwanted horses every year in the united states. So if the price of feed is going up, and more people are selling their horses because they can't afford to feed them that number is going to sky rocket. If people don't want them, and can't afford to feed them they're going to be neglected. Left in a field somewhere to starve. Or killed inhumanely and disposed of. At least when the slaughter houses were open the horses were kept from suffering from starvation and neglect for years. In an ideal world people would keep all the horses they buy (forever homes), wouldn't breed horses that are 'worthless,' and would be more responsible about who they sell their animals to. But this isn't an ideal world and I think it's better to have the slaughter houses open than have all of these animals starving. It's already starting to happen, I can't even count the number of horses I've seen at auctions half starved to death. Only there's nothing I can do about it! Because the price of feed is really high and I can barely afford to feed the horses that I've got now.

Answer 13

I for it but AGAINST the way it is done. I would rather have a horse who is in pain, mentaly unstable or god knows what else be put to sleep with a bullet. End of story, they are dead and gone in one shot and probably felt little pain. THat is the way I would like to see it happen. No letting them slowly bleed to death while hanging by their feet or whatever. THat is the way I would like to see all livestock be handled. One quick shot in the head (proper place and all that )and they are gone. That in my eyes would be one of the most humane forms of slaughter. I hate, HATE the way livestock (yes, I am including horses as livestock) is treated in meat places. It is inhumane and not worth it. I know that the carcass needs to bleed out so do it while they are dead, not alive. As an environmentalist that would be a good option too. No decaying and releasing more CO2 into the atmosphere. I have no clue how they treat the horses and animals up here in Canada but i'm sure they aren't pretty (Mexico is worse from what I have heard...).



So to sum it up I am for horse slaughter but absolutly AGAINST the way it is currently being done, anywhere, period

Answer 14

I am for the idea of horse slaughter but against the execution of it.



Horse slaughter in America should be re-legalized; right now, horses are being packed onto trucks and shipped to canada. The journey is not humane at all. If slaughter were legal, we could control the transport of the horses.



Horses are shot up with things like bute all the time - a product that clearly say "not for animals intended for human consumption". They should regulate this more.



The actual slaughter houses are usually not humane for the horse. They can't inject the horse to euth, but their rifle doesn't cut it in a lot of cases. Many of the horses suffer before dying.



It should also be moderated - kind of like what I think of abortion. I am all for abortion, but I don't think it should be another birth control method. You shouldn't be coming in every other month for one because you didn't want to use a condom. Likewise, you shouldn't be able to breed and acquire horses willy nilly knowing that you can just dump them off at slaughter for at least a bit of money if you can't sell them to the general horse population.

Answer 15

As much as it makes me sick to think about horses being slaughtered, I'm for it.Where I live in Utah, people that can't take care of their horses anymore turn them loose in the desert here, where most of the time, they slowly starve to death. ( That's if they don't go to a slaughterhouse outside the country).They think it's better than facing the horrors of a Mexican slaughterhouse. Maybe they'll get lucky and fall to a predator before enduring months of starvation. At any rate, the horses that would have been sold to slaughter in the US more than likely still get slaughtered but in much more horrible conditions than they would have here. After getting shipped sometimes thousands of miles first. Closing the US slaughterhouses ended up being a terrible thing for slaughter bound horses. I'm against slaughtering horses and would never eat horse meat, but re-opening US slaughterhouses is definitely the lesser of two evils. PETA doesn't help animals and they are no better than terrorists. They euthanize so many animals themselves to spare them the "suffering" of being pets. The world would be a better place without them.



I haven't heard one logical or well thought out argument for keeping slaughterhouses illegal in the US. The reality is that horses WILL go to slaughter. They're better off in an American one. Yes, we need to quit breeding and I agree that the AQHA is a big contributor to bad horse breeding practices and is largely responsible for overbreeding. But lets be realistic, we aren't likely to affect the change at the level it's needed. What we can do is provide a better alternative than the Mexican slaughter. Reopen the US slaughterhouses and at least make the slaughter a little less horrible for the poor horses condemned to it. I just have to say that Utah is saturated with QH's that are selling for very cheap, going for free sometimes, and are STILL being overbred! AQHA registered horses with long fancy names on their papers going for $100 OBO. Doc O' blah blah, Peppy what's his face, Dash for Cash, Little Lena, so and so and so with great confirmation, a great [insert your favorite discipline] prospect, in all your favorite colors and for the low low price of $100-300 or trade for hay, tack, whatever. Some even come pregnant! I'm in the market for another horse and look online on our local ads several times a day and this is what I see. Sorry for the rant, I just get so mad. We wouldn't be so in need of these slaughterhouses if it weren't for people being irresponsible. OK rant over.

Answer 16

I think that slaughter needs to be reopened. Horses are livestock- not pets- and they need to be treated as such. The argument that horse's shouldn't be slaughtered by a group of horse people would not be that much different than a group of diary cow farmers getting together and saying that cows shouldn't be butchered anymore. Just because most horses have jobs and such, there are dangerous horses out there and horses being abandoned all the time because there is no one to take care of them.



I know people think that it is abhorrible- the thought of your horse's hindquarters ending up in a butchers shop- but I have a feeling most of you would complain if the dairy farmers all banded together and made it illegal to slaughter steers and cows, or the chicken farmers made it illegal for chickens to be raised for anything other than eggs, or sheep farmers decided their sheep were too cute for lamb chops- there would be an uproar!



Face it, although horses usually have jobs, there are horses out there that are still living that really shouldn't be because they are dangerous- whether it be through injury or bad temperament. I once worked with a horse that was horribly disobedient and was a truly evil horse. Blame as much of it as you want on me and everyone who touched that horse at one point or another, but that horse was literally attacking people from the second he arrived on my property, even kids. His breeder was even advised that he should be put down when he was born. Would it really be so bad to see a horse like this end up on someone's dinner plate? I don't really think so.

Answer 17

Wow, Maria's answer was a good read and had lots of good links.. Thanks for those!



Anyhow, I am for horse slaughter, although I think it needs to be re-written here in the States. We've done a lot wrong, and one extreme-- poor hauling and slaughtering processes or nothing at all-- is not the way to go. Horses are livestock, and have been part of man's diet for a very long time and were originally considered a game animal before anything else.



Many of us, however, consider our own horses pets. I'm no exception, but if I have not had a horse for long and a situation comes up where I have not become attached and processing the horse was an option whereas selling it to someone is not, I have no qualms with sending it along. Or if someone has the stomach to send their horse away, I'm not one to judge. If you're one to cry about your horse going to slaughter, don't put your horse in a position to go there. I'm sorry, but if you're going to whine about the next owner who doesn't have a problem with it, you didn't screen your buyers too well.



I come from a family that raises beef cattle, dairy cattle, hogs, and goats. We do all of our own processing. And many of our dairy cattle have achieved 'pet status,' although, when they are no longer milking, some are processed for burger. Most of our animals are show animals and are extensively handled, but if you know what they're for in the end, you should eventually be able get over that sentimental feeling and see the practicality of slaughter with regards to sustainability.



As a food source, horses are not practical to actually raise for large-scale slaughter for human consumption like cattle are. They are not very efficient grain-- meat converters, so there is more waste than with cattle. So I am definitely opposed to the US specifically raising horses for food like some other countries. However, horse meat is very healthy, especially compared to beef. It is low in fat, calories, and cholesterol, but is a good protein source. It also has a taste I honestly like, not that I'd ever consider eating my own horses though, which are my pets. Horse meat becomes better with age too I've been told, compared to eating hogs or cattle at younger ages. I've eaten horse abroad a number of times and feel no regret over it as someone who raises cattle, hogs, and goats.



We need to see a big change in the industry. Plants need to be set up specifically for horses, and special care needs to be taken because horses are generally more reactive than your average cow. A different way of hauling needs to be taken up. I've toured numerous plants-- usually set up for cattle-- and I have yet to see one I didn't think could use some improvement. It isn't just horse slaughter that needs some fixing. But slaughter which is regulated in the US would be much better than hauling across borders like we are now. It would create jobs too, in all honesty and I don't see much wrong with that.



Regarding PETA.. I remember when the Illinois plant was taking its last horses through, and a large load came directly from PETA people who realized they did not have the knowledge, nor could they afford to care for some "rescue" horses. PETA is worthless, even at their own game. I actually went with a driver on this route and saw this myself. They're hardly worth mentioning.. ha ha

Answer 18

I don't go an yell "GO SLAUGHTER! YES! PLEASE! OH YEAH! KILL THAT BEAST!" but I'm not against it. I mostly am, but if they were killed more humanely, like just a simple gunshot then it's over, I would be neutral. I would never send any of my horses to slaughter, however. I just couldn't.



P.S. Just goes to show what happens to those poor racehorses. If there's something I'm against, it's the Belmont Stakes or whatever because they turn their horses into Belmont STEAKS.

Answer 19

First of all, I'm against it. I understand that there is an over population of horses compared to the amount of people that want them, but in my opinion, there's more people on the Earth that there should be, but that doesn't mean we should go around killing everyone.



Second, I'm against it because it is not as you say. Slaughter houses that horses go to are made for cows. The horse is led into a narrow shoot and is shot in the head with a nail gun. The nail often misses the killing spot, leading to a prolonged death or starting of the butchering process while the horse is unconscious. If the killer notices the miss, they will often shoot them again, but that still doesn't mean that it will hit the right place.



These places are far from not frightening, the sanitization is not that great, so there is often the blood of other horses spattered all over the chute they are driven into and that is extremely terrifying to a horse. After that, they don't really care about the health of the horse before hand, and often they get kicked by other horses and go hobbling in with broken limbs or giant wounds.



I understand the need for horse population control, but in my mind that should start from the beginning, not the end. Breeders should be restricted to certain people, and "backyard breeding" illegalized. There are many horses who are cross bred just because someone thinks the foals are cute. Then they grow up and no one wants them. Thoroughbreds are bred in mass for racing, and are put up for sale or auction after the horse has passed its prime, or after an injury, unless it is of good bloodlines and good for breeding stock. Then there is the case of PMU mares, who are kept pregnant as much as possible for the estrogen in their urine which goes to make women going through menopause more comfortable. The foals go to auction, most don't find a home and are bought by meat packers.



Therefore, I am, yes, strongly against horse slaughter.

Answer 20

I must agree with mule-wrangler, there are to many horses in this country that are being starved to death by irresponsible owners. PETA was the one that got this action stopped and are blocking allowing controlled slaughtering of horses in a humane manner.

Answer 21

First of all, Ellie, my heart goes out to you with regard to the choice you were forced to make. You did the right thing for that horse, even though I know that this has to be cold comfort to you. It's a miracle that the horse was misdiagnosed and is actually recovering now- and whoever got the second opinion on him deserves to be congratulated. Second, with regard to the slaughter issue: PETA was NOT the only organization which was behind the slaughter ban in this country. They were one of many groups. It's just that because PETA is more visible than most of the others, they tend to get the credit, or the blame for it, depending on your point of view. I personally can't STAND PETA- I consider them to be little better than an eco-terrorist organization, one which KILLS FAR MORE animals than it helps or saves. If you want proof of what I just said, go to the website www. petakillsanimals.org and read about it. That will open your eyes. PETA is probably the most hypocritical group in existence, at least in terms of the relationship between their actions and their words. They have more skeletons in their closet than there are stars in the sky. Most of the so-called "videos" that have been circulated on Youtube ( man, do I ever HATE that website !!) are STAGED, Ellie. They were put together for the express purpose of scaring people and making them angry, and for the purpose of raising money by preying on people's fears and ignorance. The situation is made worse by the fact that PETA has managed to brainwash so many American celebrities into supporting their cause. Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg, movie directors Steven Spielburg and Clint Eastwood, writer Oliver Stone, actor Alec Baldwin- this is just a SHORT LIST of some of the more noted ones. There are also numerous celebrities in the music business and in the rest of the entertainment industry who support PETA. The horse industry as a whole is largely OPPOSED to PETA, because of the group's insane attitudes and so-called "uncompromising stand" on animal rights. Yes, animals do have rights- but those rights DO NOT supercede HUMAN RIGHTS.



On another front, I am pro slaughter, but not for some of the reasons which other people on here have already stated. Since slaughter was banned by FEDERAL STATUTE in October 2007 ( I was watching when George Bush signed the anti-slaughter bill into law in a Rose Garden ceremony at the White House that fall) the whole horse industry has suffered an UNMITIGATED DISASTER. The bottom dropped out of the domestic horse market that fall, and all of a sudden, there was no market for any kind of horse any more. At the same time, most of the nation's prime hay producing states experienced a severe drought that lasted for more than two years. This led to crop failures and a nationwide HAY SHORTAGE. Hay became very scarce, and what was available was EXPENSIVE and of poor quality in most cases. Then came the economic crisis and financial disaster. What started out as a simple correction in the US housing market quickly became a POISON which spread around the globe, causing a crisis which the both the US and the rest of the world are only JUST STARTING to emerge from. All of these factors taken together have meant that horses are being ABANDONED and left to starve in RECORD NUMBERS these days, so much so that a new group has been formed to try to deal with them. That group, the Unwanted Horse Coalition, has its headquarters near Washington DC. The number of horses being packed onto cattle trucks and sent to Canada and Mexico has also QUADRUPLED, and it's getting higher all the time.



WHY? Well, the answer is simple, Ellie. People can't afford to feed their horses, and there is no market in which to sell them. A lot of people are also being forced to choose between feeding their kids, paying a mortgage so they can keep a roof over their heads ( even if they owe more on their loans than their homes are worth in market value) or feeding horses- and in a situation that DIRE, the horses are ALWAYS GOING TO LOSE OUT, period. Human lives ALWAYS take precedence over the lives of ANY animal, and this includes horses, which incidentally are classified as LIVESTOCK, not PETS or PLAYTHINGS, in all 50 US states. That classification means that horses are subject to slaughter, just as all other meat producing farm animals are.You also need to realize, Ellie, that in the rest of the world outside the US, horsemeat is a HIGHLY PRIZED, much sought after DELICACY. The US is the only nation on Earth with a cultural taboo against killing horses for food- no other nation has this.Even your own country, Norway, permits horse slaughter when necessary. There's a big market for meat, and selling a horse for slaughter often makes more sense than a lot of the other alternatives. Euthanasia is only practical for those who can AFFORD it, Ellie. Where I live, the cost to euthanize just one horse STARTS at $350, and that's JUST for the farm call and the drugs to do the job. It doesn't include all the disposal costs involved in either burying the carcass or sending it to a rendering plant to be turned into leather or glue afterwards. ( Meat from euthanized horses can NEVER BE USED for food, because euthanasia solution is POISONOUS to people and animals alike. If it can kill a horse, it can kill US, too. Remember that the next time you start thinking that euthanasia is a cheap way to dispose of an animal.) Animals as large as horses simply can't be left out for the carrion eaters once they've been destroyed either. The carcasses have to be either burned or buried, or they will become a dangerous public health threat. If they are buried, then this must be done in such a manner as to avoid contamination of ground water supplies like wells and aquifers, and to prevent the carcass from becoming an attractive nuisance to vermin. Sometimes, owners will opt for creamation, but again, this is usually only available to those who are wealthy enough to afford it. It takes a LOT of fuel to turn a horse carcass into ashes, and this gets passed on to the consumer in the form of added costs. For people to whom money is no object ( like the Jacksons, who were Barbaro's breeders) creamation makes sense- but not for the average person.



So what's an average person to do, if he or she can't afford to feed his or her horse or have it euthanized? Abandoning the animal is one option, and so is leaving it to starve and die in a tiny feedlot somewhere. A lot of people have been forced into choosing this- especially now, with the economy in such shambles. Since the economic crisis began in 2007, our economy has lost 8.2 MILLION jobs, most of which will never return. We currently have 10 percent unemployment, which means that about 30 million people are out of work at the moment. Of these, about half have lost or are in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure or bankruptcy. A lot of these people are or were horse owners, Ellie- and the situation is not expected to improve any time soon. Do you see yet why we NEED to bring back the slaughterhouses? If they were still in operation, these desperate horseowners could at least sell their animals for meat, and get some money that way. We'd also see fewer cases of abandonment, and perhaps some of the pressure would finally be taken off the rescues, which are currently way overwhelmed and understaffed. Slaughter could easily be made more humane, if people were willing to make the effort to do this- but so far, no one has stepped up to the plate. We could get rid of the bolt guns and replace them with better technology, and we could pass new laws to regulate how horses which are being sent to slaughter must be treated. We also could ( if we wanted to) pass laws to require that anyone who wanted to breed horses for any purpose be licensed. But so far, no one wants to change the way we do things. It's sad, it really is.

Answer 22

I love horses