Killing Horses for Humans to Eat!

[violetsky]

I don't like the idea of horses being slaughtered but it's a necessary evil as they are long-lived
and expensive to maintain. What I would like to see stopped is the buyers who take advantage
of people and lie about why they are purchasing a horse. In the area I live in there are always
craigslist ads from meat buyers claiming they want livestock for the family farm etc. when in fact they
are being shipped out for slaughter.

Owners of horses be responsible. Train your horses well. A well-trained horse is joy to own and will
have a good home, even in old age. The beautiful horse that you are selling with terms like, "green just
needs saddle time, great brood mare, needs a refresher course but was a good riding horse a year ago"
are going to be lucky to find a home and most likely will eventually go off to slaughter. Register and breed
only good quality horses. A mare that isn't a good riding horse first should not be a brood mare. Use the
best stallion you can afford, and while your at it, vote for ways to create cheap AI in your breed club. It's
hard to improve breeds when the stud fees are higher than the cost of buying a weaned foal.

 

[Quinn4321]

IDK if you all know, it's not permanent anyway. The experienced horsemen I have talked to doubt anyone will even bother to build a slaughterhouse in U.S because there are risks:

It's a short time to have a slaughterhouse up, with no guarantees of recouping money.

The bill may not be renewed.

Horses already get killed in U.S, you can do it on personal farmland with your own horses.

 

[Carols Clucks]

I wonder how many of those people also remember watching sesame street & school house rock and how a bill becomes law; your congressmen or senator had to agree and pass it along to be signed in to law.


Here is a link to the GAO study http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11228.pdf

Action Needed to
Address Unintended
Consequences from
Cessation of Domestic
Slaughter


My friends just put down their 30+ year old horse the other day, yes it is expensive and it has been a very expensive 10+ years that he was a yard ornament needing vet care, hoof care, feeding, grooming etc. Thankfully the could afford it most of the time, but many can not and I know it was hard at times to keep up the support.

 

[southerndesert]

Quote:
From my experience, I can confirm that.

I'm with the P.eople E.atting T.asty A.nimals group. You might be surprised (or not) of how many people put their trapped varmints on the table.

Ummmmmmm.... BIG X-2

 

[wbruder17]

Quote:
Horses USED to have a lot more purpose for us. As it is, they served their time, and now that we have cars, tractors, etc they are no longer "useful" to us, so we should start killing them? Its sick, how we use use use and then throw away or destroy when it iis no longer "useful". Horses to me are like dogs, only bigger and more expensive. I think theyy should be resppected more as the animals that have plowed our fields, pulled out buggies and carried us faithfully into war. And if we had that kind of respect and loyalty for an anim/al that did all those things when we needed it, we wouldn't be treating them thus. I just don't feel that humans should eat them.

 

[chickened]

I have not read all the posts but there is some logic to passing this bill. Since the horse slaughter ban there have been an increasing number of horses turned loose on public and private land and they either starve or succumb to injury or are picked up by authorities and then put in rescue organizations that in turn beg for money to feed them and also put them back into the circle of ownership that usually results in being recycled again and again. The slaughterhouse was once the safetynet for unwanted horses for whatever reason one could sell a horse for slaughter and utilize the byproducts at a profit and therefore not have an abundance of horses taxing the resources that can be used elsewhere.

My understanding is that the meat is sold to South America and Mexico and will provide jobs here as they are already being sold anyhow and the bill will allow a responsible use and economical sense for an industry that was conveniently shipped south several years ago. It is simply realistic and if done humanely it is a good thing.

The cost of euthanizing a horse in Oregon ranges from 200.00 to 1500.00 and then the removal costs. Now there is a market for them. And by the way the ban was to force people to quit breeding them and it did not work.

 

[chickened]

If you want to point a finger do not let the rescue groups off the hook. They are as big a part of the problem by guilting people into taking a horse for the wrong reasons and not doing a financial assesment on the ones who get them. I see alot of horses in my area at the auction that were rescue horses and people decide they are expensive to care for and slip them out to the local auction... or worse. How many stable owners here have been stiffed for a board bill?
Quote:

 

[Matthew3590]

Quote:
Horses USED to have a lot more purpose for us. As it is, they served their time, and now that we have cars, tractors, etc they are no longer "useful" to us, so we should start killing them? Its sick, how we use use use and then throw away or destroy when it iis no longer "useful". Horses to me are like dogs, only bigger and more expensive. I think theyy should be resppected more as the animals that have plowed our fields, pulled out buggies and carried us faithfully into war. And if we had that kind of respect and loyalty for an anim/al that did all those things when we needed it, we wouldn't be treating them thus. I just don't feel that humans should eat them.

Ox's plowed fields, pulled buggies, and were ridden. When they are no longer serving their purpose don't waste them, eat them. Horses have no idea what they have been used for in history.

 

[love-my-wolves]

I personally would not eat horse meat, but I don't personally eat deer, lamb, or most other red meat. However, I feel that with the amount of starving people, the poor economy, and the huge numbers of horses that are being cruelly kept I agree this is something that should happen. To me, horses are no different than any other farm animal. Cows, sheep, pigs, horses, Old McDonald had them all, and all but horses are ok to consume? Pah-leez! If we can bring back the buffalo for consumption, horses should be ok to consume too. Just because some people don't want to eat it doesn't mean it's ok to call it inhumane. To me, if you want to save all the horses, go buy 500,000 acres and save them and pay out of your pocket to feed/water them. Otherwise, they have to go somewhere. I agree with everyone else, it is people's desire to overbreed or neglect animals that create this problem. I know a lot will not agree with me, and I'm not trying to be mean or callous, although it may sound that way, it's not what I'm trying to say. We need to get the populations of our "pets" under control, one way or another.

 

[OwlLover]

Well, I know I'm probably going to get flamed for this, but it really is the best thing for some horses. People who don't have the money to properly care for their horses need to find a new home for them, but sometimes they can't. So the horses, inevitably at some point will start to starve and slowly die a painful death. And I'm sure everyone here would MUCH rather be killed for meat than to starve while you slowly die. How some people don't consider this is beyond my comprehension.