USA May Resume Slaughtering Horses for Meat

this is a touchy subject... but they have to go somewhere. I raised, and showed horses for years, love them to pieces but the facts are..................

I don't like the thought of slaughtering horses. But I agree with Grandma Art, that the horses do have to go somewhere. People can adopt them out, find homes for them, ect, but there is always going to more horses than there are places to put them. At least they will be going to use rather than waste.

yep. Sadly yep.

Texas is filled with herds of abandoned horses right now. People cant sell them, cant afford to feed them, so they drive them out and abandon them. This is going on all over, but my frined in Texas has been updating me on the situation down there right now. Very sad. These animals live to be 20 to 30 years old. What do you do when the horse MUST go and there is no meat buyer.

Properly done the transport and slaughter should not be horribly stressful One will never eliminate the stress, but there is no need for unnecessary stress.

It can be done humanely.

Glad there are some like minded people here.

I have owned, shown, raced, bred etc horses for my whole life. I love them to bits. but you know what, they DO need somewhere to go. You cant give away horses right now. Especially in the states. People are letting them loose, or worse, shooting them. I personally think this is a GREAT thing. It will make the horse market profitable (ha?) again, boost the economy in the US, as it will make more jobs at the plants, as well as truckers etc. Its a win win. People in other countries eat cats and dogs, but dont see osme of our food animals like cows and pigs as food. Its just our culture. People eat horse, and why not. I wouldnt personally unless I was starving to death. But why should our 'feelings' get in the way of someone elses cultural eating habbits. We dont go picket asian countries for eating fluffy and fido.

toybarons wrote:I don't like the thought of slaughtering horses. But I agree with Grandma Art, that the horses do have to go somewhere. People can adopt them out, find homes for them, ect, but there is always going to more horses than there are places to put them. At least they will be going to use rather than waste.

exactly. Let them be used instead of being shot out in the boonies somewhere and left to rot. Or starve to death from being set loose and causing the government more tax money to round them up and ultimatley shoot them anyways.

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This is one of those issues that leaves me feeling bad, no matter what the outcome.

However I do think it's time the US put on their big boy panties and stepped up to deal with their own, dirty mess. Shipping horses here to Canada was the easy way to side-step their own responsibilty, it was one of the scummiest publicity stunts I've ever seen, look how virtuous and grand the US is for not killing horses! Wrong, they kill them by the tens of thousands, they just left it up to us to do it for them. ANd let the blame and finger pointing come our way, the ultimate in ingratitude!

My only hope is that the US makes the issue of humane slaughter their #1 priority in this matter. Canada should too. Whether horses are eaten or left to rot makes no matter to me. It's how well and quickly they die that concerns me. This concern is the same for every animal in my care. Frankly, I think more people should take their horse out back, shoot it in the head and push it in a hole when it's time. It's that desperate grasping for the $200 or $300 you're going to get for old Nelly that sees family pets spend their last days in a slaughter line up. That is NOT a problem of surplus horses. That to me is a problem of ethically bankrupt people who will betray a friend for a few hundred bucks. ANd that is a whole other issue aside from surplus horses. Overall, I think this move by the US will allow horses to die a somewhat better death than what starvation offers. A hungry horse is a truly miserable, suffering creature (as is any hungry animal). The US should be ashamed of themselves for pandering to the cries of the citified ignorants who felt banning slaughter would make life better for their horses. It's so easy to be stupid, isn't it?

uno wrote:This is one of those issues that leaves me feeling bad, no matter what the outcome.

However I do think it's time the US put on their big boy panties and stepped up to deal with their own, dirty mess. Shipping horses here to Canada was the easy way to side-step their own responsibilty, it was one of the scummiest publicity stunts I've ever seen, look how virtuous and grand the US is for not killing horses! Wrong, they kill them by the tens of thousands, they just left it up to us to do it for them. ANd let the blame and finger pointing come our way, the ultimate in ingratitude!

My only hope is that the US makes the issue of humane slaughter their #1 priority in this matter. Canada should too. Whether horses are eaten or left to rot makes no matter to me. It's how well and quickly they die that concerns me. This concern is the same for every animal in my care. Frankly, I think more people should take their horse out back, shoot it in the head and push it in a hole when it's time. It's that desperate grasping for the $200 or $300 you're going to get for old Nelly that sees family pets spend their last days in a slaughter line up. That is NOT a problem of surplus horses. That to me is a problem of ethically bankrupt people who will betray a friend for a few hundred bucks. ANd that is a whole other issue aside from surplus horses. Overall, I think this move by the US will allow horses to die a somewhat better death than what starvation offers. A hungry horse is a truly miserable, suffering creature (as is any hungry animal). The US should be ashamed of themselves for pandering to the cries of the citified ignorants who felt banning slaughter would make life better for their horses. It's so easy to be stupid, isn't it?

Couldn't agree with you more or said it better!!!!!

Wasn't sure what the reaction would be but I posted the story because it was something that I knew people were following.

Some very sensible views here.

Fowler, you should never be afraid to post. You are correct on many fronts. This is the appropriate place for this sort of topic to come up. Many of us did hear this announcement and it caught our ear since these topics are what matter to us. I would hope that we are not so bound and gagged by political correctness and an overbearing need for politeness that we cannot get into the meat of a debate or issue. As long as the talk is done in a civil manner and remains about the topic and does not stray into personal attacks...anything should be fair game for public discussion. Even if we have to agree to disagree. Post away!

I remember reading an article in the paper a few years ago about an immigrant in the USA who had bought one of these older race horses and had slaughtered it and quartered it up with a power saw. He used the meat to feed his family, which apparently was common in the country he had originated from. Anyway, I was horrified to read that the man had been charged and sentenced to jail time for slaughtering a horse for food. I'd far rather see these horses slaughtered humanely and used for something than left to suffer without adequate care. Just yesterday I was listening to a radio show from New Brunswick where the radio host was talking to a lady who is trying to set up a horse rescue place because of the large number of abused/neglected horses in NB. So, though it seems a shame, on one hand, I'd rather see these horses slaughtered humanely than be unwanted and neglected.

NOBODY says it better, more compassionately and humorously than Uno. To the point, evocative, thought-provoking, always. Now why, you may well ask, is she not a famous writer? Well, it just ocurred to me, maybe she is. . . just incognito in chicken-world.

'Fess up Uno, which year did you win the GG? (pun intended)

Awww, ipf, you make me blush.

I have never won a GG, but once my brother shot me with his BB gun. Does that count?

So very well said yet again, Uno.

My biggest problem with horse slaughter, is how we've had to deal with The US's NOT dealing with it. We've had the increased pressure from them shipping up horses, because they won't deal with their own problems.

It's all in what we are raised with. People in other countries eat rats, dogs, all sorts of things that we wouldn't, and why? IS it wrong? Who makes that decision?
If you grew up eating worms as a family, you wouldn't see anything wrong with it.

I am certainly not for horse slaughter, but, in my perfect world, people accept the responsibility of owning one, not having a horse they can't deal with, and burying that animal when their commitment to each other has run its course.

None of us live in a perfect world, so we have to deal with the issues that arise from our imperfections.

Let's make the best of a bad situation, and deal with it as humanely as possible.