Killing Horses for Humans to Eat!

[wbruder17]

I know this isn't about chickens, but we are animal people, not just chicken people. Has anyone else heard about this? The House and Senate just approved a bill legalizing the slaughter of horses for human consumption and OBAMA SIGNED IT IN TO LAW!! On November 18th.

Are they kidding? This is preposterous!

 

[aviator46]

Anyone writing anything injects their opinion. The website is against slaughtering horses and states facts to support this.I free range my chickens on 37 acres. I can argue that keeping chickens in the coop on dirt is inhumane. Just because you care about your chicken doesn't mean he would not prefer lush grass full of bugs. I've looked at both sides of the horse slaughter issue and feel that control slaughter is better for all involved. I feel a chicken in a coop or on dirt is being subjected to intense suffering and abuse. If you don't feel this way does that make you stupid?

 

[magicsaddlebred]

someone posted this on facebook the other day and i thought i would share it with you.
So many people are quick to blame Obama for the passing of a bill to allow horse slaughterhouses in the US again. However, aren't those who breed irresponsibly, buy spontaneously, and do not adequately provide for their horses the real 'enablers' of the bill? If there was less of a supply and horses were properly taken care of during their old age, horse prices wouldn't be so low as to make slaughtering profitable. I'm pretty certain if we want to end horse slaughter, the industry as a whole must accept responsibility, find a reasonable solution, and not blame the president.
However, as the fact that a great number of horse owners are complete idiots, this is not going to change overnight. So, imagine yourself as an unwanted/old/abandoned horse that has, perhaps through no fault of his own, fallen through the cracks. Rescue agencies can only save a very limited number, so it's reasonable to assume that won't be an option for you. You're destined therefore to starve, become ill, or any number of other miserable fates. Or you could be thrown on an overcrowded cattle trailer and shipped to Mexico or Canada to be slaughtered. (Note this fact those who believe this is a bill to 'enable' horse slaughter of US horses.... THAT is nothing new, it's already going on every day) Either way, it's going to suck. You can die a long, slow, miserable death clinging to the hope that someday, someone might rescue you (but probably won't), or a terrifying journey with a sudden end. Personally? Throw me on the cattle car and get it over with.
Or now, perhaps your owner can arrange to have you shipped to be slaughtered. Still sucks, but that's the fault of the industry- you don't get much say in this regardless, after all you're just a 'useless old nag.' Maybe the trailer ride won't be so crowded and scary. Maybe now, you won't be starving and sick before you get shipped because you're owner was more willing to be somewhat more merciful when there is money involved for them. And maybe, if US slaughterhouses really do get properly inspected and regulated (as the bill requires), it will be as humane of a way to go as euthanasia. After all, once you're gone to go play in pastures in the sky, you really don't care what happens to your body.
If I were a horse in a bad situation with no hope to escape, I would prefer slaughter to misery every single time. Hopefully, it will be more humane than it was in the past. And hopefully, our industry will realize WE created this problem- not Obama- and there will be no easy fix. One day, it would be awesome if even the most 'worthless' horse was valued at a price too high to make slaughter profitable- which is what it would take to eradicate slaughter.
By refusing to have slaughterhouses in America, you are simply condemning more horses to a fate of suffering or foreign slaughter.
Do not think I am not completely in favor of rescue and adoption agencies, or for proper retirement of a beloved pet- I am. But I am realistic enough to realize there are simply not enough of these resources available to save all of the horses in need. As a horse lover, I realize the necessity of a cheap, easy way for people to get rid of their unwanted horses in a humane way- even if it is a way I would prefer that did not exist. However, it's better than the alternatives.


I feel that it is necessary, and I own horses and have rescued horses from slaughter. Its better for it to be legal and humane here than having these horses shipped to Mexico or somewhere else where it may not be so humane.

 

[zzGypsy]

Bottom line, don't support horse racing or rodeos.

... or if you do, be willing to accept all the things that go with it. including the disposition of hundreds of horses that don't make the grade.

one thing I've noticed over 40 years of watching this process is that the quality of the horses going to the kill buyer (for shipment to mexico) is a lot worse now than it was 30 years ago. that speaks to what's being bred - the cull end of the list is a lot poorer than it was, and that tells me that folks are breeding with far less interest in quality. that's a shame.

bought my first horse in 1970 from a lady who didn't want him to go to the kill buyer, he was an older ex-ranch horse who taught me to ride. I paid $125 for him, $25 less than the kill buyer would have given. a couple of months ago I saw horses his same size/weight going for less than $100 to the kill buyer locally. given inflation since 1970, had the horse kill-market held value, the kill buyer price for them should have been $880. before the US kill ban in 2005, they'd have brought $600 at the kill market, so pretty close to the inflation rate since 1970 (which would have been $750).

when a market so badly underperforms over time, there's something changing in the market.

here's the problem I see as to why the quality of what's being bred and going to slaughter is so poor...
the cost to slaughter is up because horses have to be hauled sometimes a thousand miles or more, and that's expensive.
that means the kill buyer can't pay as much to puchase the slaughter-bound horses.
so that drives the minimum sale price for auction horses down.
the lower auction price allows folks who couldn't buy an auction horse at $880 minmum to buy horses at $100.
and that means folks with $100 and no sense are buying and breeding horses.
at least when it cost effectively near $900 to buy a mare who was sent to auction, you had to think a bit harder. it wasn't nearly as easy to just get a waster capable of breeding and toss her in the back yard to eat weeds and have "cute" babies.

seriously some of the scrawny, ewe-necked, narrow-chested, post-legged, unhandled, unbroken, unproven 3-year old "studs" I see advertised on craigslist as "beautiful stallion, perfect as your herd sire" just make me want to cry.

and the way I see it, they're the inevitable and natural by-product of having banned horse slaughter in the US.
the law of unintended consequences strikes again.

sometimes 'nice' people with good intentions make me crazy.

anyway, all that to say I don't think it's the fault of the racing industry or the rodeo industry. 30 years ago we saw horses from both industries being bred in excess in an effort to produce champions, and the surplus going to slaughter... that's true. but the excess I'm seeing at auction now is *not* bred by either industry... because there's NO possibility there are champions coming from those lines.

 

[conny63malies]

I posted in this thread earlier, and now I'm calm. Anyways, you people who like horses being killed are, C-R-A-Z-Y! I've seen horrifying videos of horses being slaughtered, and they die a SLOW AND PAINFUL death. Go ahead you horse haters, watch videos and look them up. Then you will belive me and all the others. My hands are shaking and I'm about to cry right now. So please don't deny my request. I'm begging you, STOP THE MADNESS!!!

I am far from a horse hater. I had horse meat in the past, sorry if you hate me. Any animal is eaten at some place on this planet while the same animal is considered holy and loved in other parts. What we eat is dictated by where we grow up. In India they consider cows holy and we eat them in the US by the millions. Asians boil inucbated fuzzy ducklings and we oogle and care for them here. I dont think you have the right to judge people for what they eat.

 

[Fred's Hens]

It's all purely cultural. It makes no difference, except to the beast we choose to eat versus those we grant some kind of irrational, emotional pardon or exemption from eating.

In many, many countries, horse meat has always been eaten, just as other cultures eat chicken, fish or beef or just as Southeast Asians, Korea and Native Americans eat/ate dog. We assign these values culturally. There is no rational, intrinsic difference in the various creatures.

 

[bufforp89]

Quote:
As opposed to what? Horses standing in backyards, farms and ranches starving slowly to death because there is no place for them? If they are not being slaughtered something still has to be done with them.

Euthanasia costs $150-$200 on average not to mention removal of a body. Not much of an option for people who need to get rid of their horses for financial reasons. It cost me $300 to have a horse moved and buried after a bout of colic this spring. That's not even counting a euthanasia/vet bill.

Giving away a horse in pretty much impossible these days, even more so if you have an old, unstable or just plain old unusable one.

This past year I became the owner of 2 registered Appy mares and a registered Paint colt, all for free. I was the last choice for all these guys before auction where they surly would have gone to slaughter and at least brought in a few hundred bucks for their struggling owners. Luckily the previous owners/breeders cared enough not to send them to auction.

Maybe the real fight is with all the backyard breeding going on...I have a horse...it has a uterus...must get foal...but what happens when that foal is no longer small and cute and needs some serious training that the average backyard horseowner can not provide? Off to auction....

Or even 'professional' type breeders...My paint colt came from a woman who made quite a name for herself in the horse world. She retired as she got older and was no longer able to compete due to old back injuries. She purchased a half dozen OTTB mares with great bloodlines and conformation for her sport and a big, rockin' Paint stud. Started breeding babies...Then low and behold! There was no market for her animals. Despite their pedigrees and training (and color!) they were just not selling...So she started giving them away.

Or how about the racing industry itself? Thousands of animals going for slaughter yearly

So my point is I think its the overbreeding that's going on that's the real issue here...Not slaughter itself... After all if slaughter was not an option all of those horses have to be reabsorbed into the economy/community...Which leads to horses starving/being neglected...Much worse IMO.

 

[SimplySplendidSilkies]

Quote:
As opposed to what? Horses standing in backyards, farms and ranches starving slowly to death because there is no place for them? If they are not being slaughtered something still has to be done with them.

Euthanasia costs $150-$200 on average not to mention removal of a body. Not much of an option for people who need to get rid of their horses for financial reasons. It cost me $300 to have a horse moved and buried after a bout of colic this spring. That's not even counting a euthanasia/vet bill.

Giving away a horse in pretty much impossible these days, even more so if you have an old, unstable or just plain old unusable one.

This past year I became the owner of 2 registered Appy mares and a registered Paint colt, all for free. I was the last choice for all these guys before auction where they surly would have gone to slaughter and at least brought in a few hundred bucks for their struggling owners. Luckily the previous owners/breeders cared enough not to send them to auction.

Maybe the real fight is with all the backyard breeding going on...I have a horse...it has a uterus...must get foal...but what happens when that foal is no longer small and cute and needs some serious training that the average backyard horseowner can not provide? Off to auction....

Or even 'professional' type breeders...My paint colt came from a woman who made quite a name for herself in the horse world. She retired as she got older and was no longer able to compete due to old back injuries. She purchased a half dozen OTTB mares with great bloodlines and conformation for her sport and a big, rockin' Paint stud. Started breeding babies...Then low and behold! There was no market for her animals. Despite their pedigrees and training (and color!) they were just not selling...So she started giving them away.

Or how about the racing industry itself? Thousands of animals going for slaughter yearly

So my point is I think its the overbreeding that's going on that's the real issue here...Not slaughter itself... After all if slaughter was not an option all of those horses have to be reabsorbed into the economy/community...Which leads to horses starving/being neglected...Much worse IMO.

I have to agree 110% with this statement! On a side note
After living overseas for many years I realized, all kinds of meat is accepted that we as Americans may not be accustomed to, and we consume at least one that they even if starving would not consider. Pork! One's own religious/personal belief will ultimately determine what one person chooses to consider a food source.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I watched that animal cops show on animal planet yesterday, and that is some pretty heartbreaking stuff. Its a tuff economy these days, and lots of people can't afford to feed their horses anymore. IMO- they suffer less at a slaughter house than they do starving in someones field because they can't afford to feed their animal and nobody wants to buy it. Horse meat is nothing new in this country. Yes, horse slaughter houses were made illegal, but that doesn't stop the average everyday joe from butchering their horse in their backyard if they so choose. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I eat all kinds of meats: rabbit, squirrel, I've had horse (and IMO, its delicious), deer.......I don't expect everyone else is going to want to eat all the things I like. Some may even think its "gross", but you don't have to eat it if you don't like it......cheers!

 

[magicsaddlebred]

Quote:
You know, I have had horses my whole life, and I kind of wonder what it tastes like too. Most of my friends say that I'm sick for feeling that way when I have horses that I love and care for. But I have had cows and chickens and I still eat beef and chicken! lol