Can we have a calm, reasonable discussion about horse slaughter and horse meat?

Question

Ever since horse slaughter was squeezed out of the US, much of it has gone across the border to Mexico, where the horses aren't treated as well. Is this really what slaughter opponents wanted to happen? Are they proud of themselves for making sure that tens of thousands of horses die in much worse conditions than before? Do they want some kind of medal?

Maybe I am a bit biased, since I grew up on a small farm, and we did indeed sell several of our older horses to the old Crown Packaging facility in Kaufman, Texas. I also travel to Canada now and then and bring back horse meats, mainly sausages, for personal consumption. We also slaughtered one of our own mares for meat, and I did a lot of the field-dressing. If I am biased, so be it - at least I'm being honest.

But ever since the liberals got the horse slaughter shut down in Texas, horse values have collapsed, and horses are suffering more than ever. Aside from the Mexican slaughterhouses, many horses are simply abandoned, because owners cannot afford the cost of a euthanization and excavation for burial. That can run up to $800 for a single horse.

Do you liberals feel proud that you shut down a valuable export industry (and they say America doesn't make anything anymore...) and caused a lot MORE suffering to American horses than before?

Will you join me in supporting the RE-ESTABLISHMENT of a humane, viable horse slaughter industry in Texas and across America?

Answer 1

Don't blame it on the liberals- I am a definite liberal.

You ask for a calm discussion, but immediately blame the liberals. It has nothing to do with being liberal or conservative.



Could I sell my mare for horsemeat? No. Do I care if other people sell their horses for meat? Not at all, provided they are treated as humanely as possible up until their death. Could I eat horse meat- probably.







From what I have found, most longer time horse owners realize the necessity of it, whether or not they would send their own horse to a slaughter plant.

However, horses are cute, and people who don't own horses and don't realize the real world- ie feeding, caring, some are uncurably aggressive, etc, and are the ones pushing for the ban.



If you need to blame anyone, don't blame liberals, blame the people who don't own horses.



Even the AAEP (American Association of Equine Practitioners) endorses humane slaughter.



Also, last I heard, WY and SD were looking into making it legal in their state.

Answer 2

I have some questions for you.



What did you personally do when the slaughterhouses of the US were still open to prevent the misery that horses went through during transport and after they got there? Did you visit the slaughterhouse as I have? What did you witness? Slaughtering your horse on your own property can be carried out without any stress or misery inflicted on the living horse. How you use the carcass has no impact on humane treatment of the horse.



When your own horses were sold and taken to slaughter, did you deliver them personally and stay with them until their moment of death the way we do when the vet comes and euthanizes our sick or aged horses? And btw, it is illegal to bury horses in many many locations due to ground water contamination issues. Horses are euthanized and rendered for fertilizer or pet food for well under the cost you are quoting.



I'd be interested in knowing how you assured that your horses were not mistreated since you profited by selling them for meat rather than paying to have them humanely euthanized at home and then have them hauled away by a rendering service.



Our slaughterhouses were nightmares for the horses taken there. Far better regulation of the slaughter industry was needed. Now we have a worse nightmare, because instead of finding ways to actually regulate slaughterhouses, we closed them down. I am sick of hearing the argument you're making in the absence of a humane solution. Just because it is worse now doesn't mean it's acceptable to go back to the lesser of two unacceptable evils.



Tell me what you propose to assure humane treatment of horses being transported and slaughtered in the US. Nothing we've had so far has been anywhere good enough. Tell us your plan for assuring humane treatment of living animals until the moment of death if you want to rally support on this issue. we don't need to fix one nightmare with another one. We've already done that once.



PS.....how would you propose regulating the drugs that are not used on animals like cattle or pigs being grown for meat, but that are routinely used in horses? And what would you propose to prevent more horses being bred just for the purpose of slaughter and profit so that re-opening slaughterhouses would not just lead to more horses being bred for that while the existing overpopulation remains unimproved?

Answer 3

Gallop, Maria, you two are my heroes.



The Re-establishment of a humane horse slaughter industry does not exist, as that implies that it was humane in the first place. The slaughtering of horses is not the issue, it is how they are slaughtered, and the treatment they receive before hand. That was not humane in the states, is not in Mexico, and is not in Canada. And there are many more issues to think of. People are attempting to get horse slaughter in Canada shut down because of the use of drugs used in horses that are unfit for human consumption.



Horses are not raised as food, and that is a major issue. They are considered pets and many people consider it to be the same as killing your dog and eating that. Also, because they are not raised as food, they may have been injected with these drugs that are unfit for people to eat.



The slaughter industry also thinks that it is alright to transport a horse with a broken leg on a trailer packed full with other, terrified horses and drive them across the country. There are so many issues with that it would be impossible to list them all.



So until we tackle these issues and solve them, there would be no way to RE-ESTABLISH a humane horse slaughter industry when there wasn't one in the first place.

Answer 4

Im up in Canada, where horse slaughter is still allowed, that being said, in the last 5 yrs, many smaller horse slaughter and processing plants have been shut down, The price of meat horses has fallen dramatically, 7, 8 yrs ago a thousand pound horse would go for $800 to the meat man at auction, now, it is really low, about $200 (I am not 100% sure but around that number).



I have availed myself of this option in the past, I had a TB yearling who had a club foot and no matter how much corrective trimming we did, it just was not improving, nobody wanted it, so I had both her and another mare who had major lameness issues (she came that way, we wanted her to breed, but she was infertile) taken to the auction house.



I have had a vet perform euthanasia on a defective foal two summers ago. I spent over $2,000 trying to save it, the vet recommended euthanasia and frankly it was horrible.

The poor foal was so bewildered and gave great shuddering gasps and twiched for a couple of minutes afterward, NOT the image of a horse falling peacefully asleep that I thought was going to happen.



I think horse slaughter should be allowed, it gives a viable option for horse owners who have to make a difficult decision and a chance to recoup a small amount of money to cover a portion of costs that have been in some cases astronomical.

Answer 5

There is nothing calm and reasonable about your request for a debate. You are thumbing your nose to other people's beliefs while goading them into joining your cause, however you do not once address the real issue at hand.



The horse slaughter issue, or the need for it, or the collapse of the horse market, have nothing to do with the legislation that pulled USDA inspectors from the plants that processed horse meat. The kill buyers, the slaughter plants (Mexican, Canadian, and US black market), they are just the garbage men filling a need, performing a service. They are no more at fault for the inhumane slaughter of countless horses than the liberals you are blaming. The real culprits are us, the horse people. The breeders, the owners, the exhibitors. Every person that is breeding horses there is no market for. Every person that is dumping their non-competitive horse at slaughter. Every person putting their aging horse on Craigslist for free, every person that takes their beloved pet to a low end auction and hopes for the best.



We are the ones responsible for the need for equine slaughter. At this point it is a necessary evil. So you need to quit blaming the "liberals", and anyone attacking you needs to quit blaming the slaughter plants. Until everyone is willing to cowboy the f*** up, take responsibility for their part in creating the surplus and do something about it then no one, not you, not anyone else, has any right to b**** about slaughter. The packers are just cleaning up our mess, albeit in a very distasteful manner. Whether it happens here or across our borders is moot point, it happens because it is necessary.



In our culture, the mainstream culture of the United States, horses fall somewhere in between livestock and companion animal. Add to that the environmental ramifications for large-scale equine slaughter and they are not a viable food source for this country. If we want to end it we need to start taking care of the problem on our end, in our own back yard. Stop mass breeding, stop backyard breeding and stop dumping unsound horses. Stop taking horses that we have no financial means to support and stop looking for an easy out. If someone wants to raise a horse as a meat animal and humanely slaughter it that is neither here nor there as long as measures are taken to dispose of the animal humanely.



So no, I will not support you in the quote "RE-ESTABLISHMENT of a humane, viable horse slaughter industry in Texas and across America?". I will not support anyone's cause to make it permanently illegal either. I will do my part to educate the masses as to what they can do stop the problem at its source-which is everyone that contributes to the horse overpopulation in this country,

Answer 6

If horses were raised for meat rather then pleasure or some moron whom is trying to make an easy buck with their poorly bred horses, then peoples' outlook would be much different.



I find it hypocritical that people consider it OK to eat a cow but not a horse. Part of the reason why I'm pro-slaughter is because I had chicken last night. Why does one animal considered above slaughter when another isn't? The only people who I think should support anti-slaughter are vegans and vegetarians.



As Fennec Fox stated, getting rid of the problems that created such an explosive horse population with no means of population control would be much more beneficial than reopening slaughter houses but as they said "You made your bed, now you have to sleep in it." At least slaughter is a quicker means to an end then being abused, abandoned or neglected.



And although I don't agree with your choosing to eat your own horse, that's your prerogative, not mine. I've made the choice not to eat my own horse, live and let live.

Answer 7

Never come to Y!A if you want to have a calm, reasonable discussion about anything.



I'm pro slaughter, and I agree with you. The only thing I take offense at is blaming the liberals- I'm liberal, and I think it was stupid as hell to outlaw it. The people you want to point the finger of blame at are PETA and the Humane Society types.....Neither organization, might I add, has stepped up to take in and care for all the horses that would normally have gone to slaughter. For 99% of those types, the closest they ever got to owning a horse was owning a poster of one.

Answer 8

The REAL problem was that the CRUELTY happened HERE in the US.



So...your idea to "re-establish" a humane way of slaughter is a JOKE. Because there NEVER WAS a HUMANE WAY in the US to begin with.



That's why people got pissed and decided to take the money away from US slaughter houses.



Now, they are going after closing the borders to horse shipping.



So, you can name-call all you want (liberals).....the bottom line is if I'm a liberal, then you are the blind.

Answer 9

Ok, first off, I agree with the point you are trying to make. But do not say you would like to have a "calm, reasonable discussion" about it when you are going to rant about liberals the whole time. Not EVERY liberal shut down the industry. I happen to identify with liberals on many points, but I still agree with you on the horse slaughter issue. Just remember: blaming everyone in a group is not conclusive to a calm, reasonable dicussion.

Answer 10

Horse meat is banned interior the u . s . a . ! ! i think the main clarification for the banned is as a results of the fact the beef marketplace interior the US has the variety of sturdy carry on our elected Senators and Congressmen that makes it impossible to alter any regulation that prohibits horse meat for human intake. Horses now have flow away the US alive earlier being killed for meat, and the beef isn't allowed to return. enable’s face it; the US government isn't the government for the persons, nor the government by applying the persons

Answer 11

I will, i believe that horses shouldnt be slaughtered, but if they are, they should at least die in nice conditions. i have read somewhere that horses in slaughter houses are cleaned out once a year, and may die from infection due to rolling, sleeping, standing and eventualy forced to eating their own faeces. Horses shouldnt be slaughtered, but if they are they should atleast be niec conditions

Answer 12

I was soo upset when I found out horse slaughter was banned from the US. People don't like animal slaughter because PETA uses videos from other countries to make animal slaughter look horrible. And now horses are getting shipped to those other countries to be slaughtered because of PETA.

Answer 13

Unfortunately it's a necessary evil because there are so many BYB/neglected/unwanted horses that have nowhere else to go. It's a shame that the US banned it because, although it's never pleasant, good god I'd rather have a horse slaughtered in the US than in Mexico.



If you take an unsound, unwanted, unusable horse and send it to be HUMANELY slaughtered, you could be feeding a family.



If they went after the SOURCE of the problem, overbreeding of crappy horses, then slaughter would be drastically reduced, so it would please everyone. We have it if we need it, but there isn't such an overpopulation problem.

Answer 14

Pro slaughter in the USA. However, I personally wouldn't send one of mine to slaughter.



I would rather see a horse go to slaughter than stand in a pen with no food/water/attention and die a slow death. Which I might add, is alot of what is happening nowadays

Answer 15

I wouldnt mind bringing it back, aslong as they dont over do it, and they do it for fun, or As long as they bring down the number of horses, DRASTCLY.



But why would you slaughter your own horse? thats kinda Weird/ Creepy



the Neglected/abused horses here, that we dont know what to do with are just left there to die. But if we brought back horse slaughter and it was ORDERLY those horses could go and bring money, and maybe joy for Culinary people.



As long as Its orderly, and they dont over do it,,,, then i dont mind it coming back

Answer 16

I dont know why you slaughtered one of your own horses, i find that creepy but i think horse slaughter should be brought back to the US.

Bring on the TDs!

Answer 17

can we have a calm, reasonable discussion about horse slaughter? not here! lol



I understand your point of view. Many others probably do to... Idk what my own oppinion is on this. :/