Did anyone watch "Inside Edition" tonight?

[MBLayfield]

I own horses and would never think about eating them. UNLESS, I was starving and had no other way of getting food ect.

That being said, I think its a disgrace to outlaw the export of horse meat. Some states have already made it illegal to eat the meat. Just because we in the USA don't think people should eat horses doesn't mean that its wrong and should be illegal. Some of the best salami in the world is made with horse meat.

I agree that NO animal should ever be mistreated or abused but it does happen. The people abusing/neglecting/starving the animal should be persecuted, not the consumer of the meat.

I think that if I want to eat horse meat or anything else, the government should not have any say in wether I eat it or not. Typical big brother interfering and making rules "in my best interest"

JMHO

 

[herechickchick]

I agree MBLayfield!

 

[Markp1964]

Is the question here should we eat horses or should we be better in treating them before we slaughter them?
Only vegans have a leg to stand on in this debate if what we are trying to settle here is should horses be consumed.
It makes no sense to say that chickens and cows are somehow less valuable,less sentient, we can eat them but dogs and horses are more elevated in some way-they can not be eaten. How many of the folks who have said, in essence "it's terrible to eat the poor horsies" have had a pork chop or a hamburger recently?

Any animal product available in the American commercial mass market-eggs,milk,cheese,meat and anything else you can think of came from an animal that was poorly treated in some way shape or form.

 

[patandchickens]

Seems to me the root issue is that there are more horses than there are homes for them. (As with a number of other types of domestic anuimal as well).

We need more good homes, AND fewer animals bred. Of course I doubt the racing industry as we know it could continue to exist if every breeder was required to provide a lifetime retirement home for each foal born, but... there you go.

Of course all animals deserve humane treatment, but in a world with more animals than homes, sometimes you have to settle for the lesser of several evils. There just ARE a lot of people who will not, or in a few cases cannot afford to, pay for euthanasia and disposal of a horse they can't keep or sell. You may not want that to be true, but it IS, and that's the reality you've got to deal with.

Pat, in favor of swift humane slaughter as opposed to neglect or gruelling cross-continental shipping followed by haphazard slaughter; and against the breeding of any animal not in short supply for an important *utilitarian* purpose.

 

[Frozen Feathers]

I love horses, absolutely adore them, and I hate to see any animal suffer.

That being said, I would much rather seen an animal be slaughtered and used for consumption rather it be for people or animals, then sit in a pasture and die slowly or be victims of daily abuse and neglect. The same way I feel that dogs and cats should live out their lives in a tiny cage to slowly go crazy.

I think it's great that some horses can go on to live happy lives, and have a new job or just to a lawn mower. It would be wonderful if the fate for every horse could have a cheery out look, but unfortunately with over breeding, PMU farms and some individuals in the racing/sports industry these animals are only good for a certain purpose, to make money. As long as there's money involved there will always be individuals who will look at horses as a product.

 

[jubylives]

Quote:
I agree wholly. The only thing I saw on the show was that the animals in Mexico where being stabbed to death. The ones in Canada where shot as is the case in many small meat lockers. They just happen to be shooting cattle, hogs and sheep. I've worked with horses for many years and find them to be very intelligent but the bottom line is is that past a certain age they are only hay burners and suffers years of pain and misery before dying slow horrible deaths. Sometimes and perhaps in this case (aside from south of the border) mother nature is much crueler then us people.




Jeremy

 

[SpottedCrow]

I agree Angie...
Native Americans used only to take what they needed.
White men killed for sport.
We're very wasteful in general.

 

[palabeco]

I saw the show, and all I could say was "Hey I want a horse! I'll buy one for $200!" Why can't they start up an adoption program like they do for retired greyhounds?
I'm sure there are people who want these animals but can't afford the upfront cost of buying one.

 

[NS2A]

Quote:
That is not entirely true. If you believe history.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
The reason for people to not be able to afford keeping a horse is NOT the upfront purchase cost... it's the UPKEEP!

You're in Pennsylvania, right? With oodles of good grazing land (with good safe fences, and a strong horseproof appropriate-sized shelter) you could expect to support an idle horse on pasture grazing for maybe 7 months of the year. (By 'oodles' I mean between 2-10 acres per horse, depending on how good a pasture and how dry the summer gets). In this best case scenario, your expenses will be something like:

1.5 tons of hay @ maybe $180 per ton = $270
hooftrimming every 6 weeks @ maybe $40 = $346
annual vet exam and rabies + tetanus vaccines = $80+
worming every 2 months @$4 = $24

so, ABSOLUTE MINIMAL total annual cost of horse = $450

(or much more, if you have to feed hay during spring summer or fall, if the horse needs grain, if the horse needs to be shod, living in a different geographical area, etc) (If you don't have sufficient land and have to board the horse, you're looking at $4000 per year and up!)

In reality you are likely to spend significantly more than this -- it neglects vet care due to injuries etc, building/repairing parts of fence and barn, etcetera. Plus you need at least $1000+ socked away as savings for emergencies, which I guarantee WILL eventually happen.

So as you can see, if you can genuinely afford to KEEP a horse in the long term, putting together the PURCHASE price (at least for a rescue horse) should not be a problem.

There are lots and lots of horse rescue groups etc that offer horse adoptions. Pretty much all of them charge a fee ($500-$2000) for 'useable' horses -- partly to avoid the horse being resold to goodness-knows-who for goodness-knows-what by unscrupulous greedy people, but mostly just because the same costs of keeping horses that I cite above ALSO cost the rescue groups so much and they typically have very little money available. However, very old or disabled horses (which, note, will have much higher upkeep costs!) often go to good homes for free. You can also often find someone wanting to find a good home, again for free, for their personal horse. If you are have not had a good ten years of solid horse experience, be just as cautious about inexpensive horses as you'd be if you were spending $10,000... you can get into a lot of trouble with the wrong horse for you, and in the inexpensive-to-free price bracket there are a lot more "wrong horses for you" out there.


Pat