First, this doesn't mean I am pro-slaughter. I think owner education would go a long way toward reducing the number of healthy horses that go to slaughter every year, currently estimated at 100,000.My concern lies in what happens to those animals if slaughter is banned in the U.S.
Are they shipped to Canada or Mexico to be rendered? The demand is not going to simply disappear. Other countries would be glad to collect that revenue, have those jobs, and could have far less humane treatment regulations than what we enforce in American-based rendering plants.
Are they left neglected in backyards, forgotten in pastures, turned loose when their owners can't afford to feed them? I've seen horses 200-300 pounds underweight, when owners fall on hard times and can't afford to care for them. The photo below is from a now-defunct rescue organization. Horse rescues are continuously begging for money to help feed the animals they have, often turning away horses in need of care due to lack of funding. There are too many to save them all.
Will the animal rights terrorists come after cows next, or pigs? After all, how is it okay to slaughter Bessie or Wilbur if it is unconscionable to kill ol' Tex? Baby steps. What you may find as unrealistic and radical as an end to the livestock industry, special interest groups like PeTA and HSUS lobby for every day. Other cultures kill and eat cats and dogs, who are we to say that Pierre cannot have a Flicka burger or Black Beauty steak for din-din?
Recently, the federal appeals court effectively shut down two of the three horse slaughterhouses in the US with a ban on slaughtering horses for human consumption in Texas. Now, any horse destined for slaughter in this country has to be shipped by truck for as long as several days to reach Illinois.It would have been more humane to enforce the many current regulations concerning the treatment of ALL slaughter-bound animals during shipment and in holding pens, and more oversight of the killing procedure itself. If there are errors being made resulting in suffering, fix them.
A ban on horse slaughter does not equal an end to horse suffering. Truly, it may have just increased the number of neglect cases to staggering proportions. There are 100,000 too few loving homes for horses that for various reasons end up in "kill pens" across the nation. Horses are disposable to many, and the current overpopulation combined with the economy has reduced many gentle, young horses to values below what "meat prices" traditionally have been. Untrained and older horses often run through auction for less than a hundred bucks. I have many friends selling horses due to financial hardship, some even offering to give them away if a suitable home can be found. No one wants ol' Fury to go to slaughter, but so few are willing to keep their once noble steed after he gets old or lame and can't be ridden 10 miles a day, or bucks once in 10 years of service.
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1 comment:
Finally someone had the guts to say what I've been thinking all this time! You probably read my own 'I'm not going to get into the horse slaughter debate' comment on my blog when you visited, but you hit my own point right on the head! I'm glad you had the balls to come out and talk about it, I didn't for fear of getting flamed right off the bat with my new blog.
I'd like to add, however, that one of my own concerns is the price of cremation and displosal when our poor old companions do pass on to greener pastures. In the state of Maryland it can cost you UPWARDS of 2000-5000 dollars to have your horse properly cremated. Which leaves many a loving horse owner with the only sad option of watching their still-living four-legged friends be carted off to slaughter houses simply because they can't afford the service. See dangit, now I'm going to have to go rant on my blog...thanks for inspiring me, dear!
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