No way. That's just nasty. Shame on you horse Killing people. Of course I'm emotional about this...because I'm human...duh!!! Against horse slaughter now and for eternity. The next generation doesn't like your kind either.so when I'm gone from this earth they will fight this too. I have such a big mouth that I tell everyone about this atrocity to horses NO.NO.NO.
There is no humane slaughter for horses. Horses are our companions and pets. Over 80% of the population in the USA are against horse slaughter!
Ladygaga - 12 years ago
Even if you don't think horses should be considered pets or companion animals (which a lot of people do!), consider this. Horse meat is LOADED with substances that are BANNED in food animals. Bute is widely given to most horses. The horses that are being shipped to slaughter likely have no history on them and who knows what they were given. Americans largely are AGAINST the slaughter of horses.
For those of you who say, well what are we supposed to do with all the unwanted horses, I say to you, we have a dog and cat overpopulation problem as well. But does that mean we should slaughter them as well? After all, even though Americans don't eat dogs and cats, in some countries they do! Same argument with horses folks! There are more humane solutions to the unwanted horse problem. Slaughter is not one of them!
Mary McNichols, Ph.D. - 12 years ago
Please consider the following:
1) There is no humane method to slaughter horses, given their natural flight instinct (Temple Grandin acknowledges this fact)
2) 80% of the American public opposes horse slaughter
3) Three "legislators"--Kingston, Blout, Hoyt secretly included a rider in the Agriculture Appropriations bill allowing for the USDA inspection of horse meat--which opened the way for US horses slaughterhouses
4) Horse slaughterhouses of the past were operated by foreign countries--France and Belgium--
5) Those foreign countries paid a total of $5.00 in federal taxes on a profit of $12,000,000 for this horrific practice
6) Most importantly--the communities in which these slaughterhouses were located suffered horribly--in economic and environmental ways--horse blood backing up into backtubs; declining property values; higher crime rates; stigmatization of their communities.
Tyler - 12 years ago
Horses were ment to be livestock however thanks to people that have no reason for horses other than they are pretty have made everyone think they are a pet and that's bullshit
sharon t - 12 years ago
no i could never eat a horse! they are not for human consumption, has anyone besides us horse lovers read the warning labels on horse medicines? states right on there "DO NOT USE IN HORSES INTENDED FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION". my horse gets bute everyday and it can cause colon cancer, etc. in humans so why chance it. it's not like there is a shortage of cattle which there is not, why do you think the blm is removing the wild mustangs off their own public lands and putting cattle in their place? i don't believe slaughter is right, i have seen video's of horse slaughter plants and it's discusting and don't know how those people sleep at night , but fo those people who can do it to them it's just a job and a dumb animal as some people think. the only people who support horse slaughter are the ones to make $$$$ on them plain and simple , it is our counrty's shame for allowing this to happen, 100,000 horses a year die ,if breeders would stop overbreeding you could control 100,000 horses and none would have to die, i have seen healthy , young, riding, driving , horses of all ages go even foals. so it's not just old,sick,unwanted, lame horses like some people want u to believe. even if it was they don't deserve to die in a slaughter house, if u trually love you're horse have it humanely euthanasized. i would support a program that helps with that but not slaughter it's just wrong. i don't want my tax dollars to pay for slaughter houses to kill our companion friends.here is a link to check put from a former mayor who had slaughter house in her town, http://www.nashvillescene.com/pitu/archives/2010/04/09/former-mayor-horse-slaughters-a-drain-on-taxpayers-never-mind-the-ditches-of-blood
Malgorzata - 12 years ago
ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!!!!
Educational, informative news article with links to Anti Horse Slaughter organizations: interesting to note the video was removed because it violated the websites rules for VIOLENT CONTENT. Still think Horse Slaughter is humane?http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/12/prweb1704434.htm
algorzata - 12 years ago
Educational, informative news article with links to Anti Horse Slaughter organizations: interesting to note the video was removed because it violated the websites rules for VIOLENT CONTENT. Still think Horse Slaughter is humane?http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/12/prweb1704434.htm
Beth - 12 years ago
We are a Democracy where Majority is suppose to rule. Americans don't eat horses and the Majority of Americans don't want horse slaughter for human consumption brought back to the USA. The reasons are many and varied (horse slaughter is inherently inhumane, Bute, cost/taxes - Americans don't eat Horses, icon of Freedom) , but the bottom line really is that of Majority rule - NOT Money rule; Not personal property rights, which must be balanced with personal property Responsibility. If you own a house and you fail to pay your real estate taxes, there are legal consequences. Owning/operating a car involves legal responsibilities. Animal ownership also involves legal responsibilities as well - and 70-80% of Americans are against horse slaughter. It doesn't matter if one owns a horse, ever has owned a horse, as it is a moral issue; not one of money, property or heartless disposal of a living creature. The Majority of Americans don't eat horses, don't want their tax dollars supporting an industry that the Majority don't want returned to the USA. The Horse Industry that supports horse slaughter is deliberately turning a blind eye to the cruelties inherent in horse slaughter as an industry and should be ashamed of themselves, promoting "love of horses" on the one hand, and "bloody cruel" disposal of "culled" or so-called "unwanted" horses on the other hand - as Americans we can and must do better.
Meg - 12 years ago
Slaughter is so brutal and so repulsive that I hate even the mere thought of it. Americas horses both domestic and wild have been given medications not allowed in the human food chain, period, dot, end of story. It is a violation of our cruelty laws. This meat is not even given to dogs or cats since 1970 due to these toxins. Slaughter in horses will not solve any or our problems and slaughter has always been available to those that don't want their horses. The slaughter and transport of horses must be stopped. I don't want my tax dollars paying for something that is so cruel and brutal or that will poison other people. Slaughter never solved anything before and never will. It is NOT humane.
twelvedogs - 12 years ago
A resounding NO! If for no other reason (even though there are many) than horses are not raised for food and their meat is toxic!!
Tobbers - 12 years ago
No. I may eat meat, but in this next month I will beginning my life a new with being vegan, I don't want to eat animals anymore, and the taste of them is becoming rather bad, I mean it is America, despite anyone who prepares their food freshly at home it's an overall system where toxins in the food screws up your body to becoming worse and worse off. It's time we did something different, Horses included since they're my favorite animal, all animals no longer need any harm to be done to them, no more slaughter. We're not mindless cave-people, we're intellegent human beings, we can learn from animals, but we can also learn more from science, science that assures the human race can live longer and better with the use of veggies and fruits that it sometimes lacks the most.
I'm not trying to tell anyone to go vegan, this is my choice that I'm making, and I love Horses as well as Cows, Dogs, Chickens, Cats, Mice, Pigs, Goats, Geese...all these animals and others, I can live the extremism with the magic of practical effects to see animals killed in horror films and such, but in reality it's scary. Animals have helped us be fed in our lifetime, now we have better resources and give them a life of their own, we have our own society issues, these animals don't have anything to do with it and can't be brought into it.
Horses are meant for riding, not for our bellies.
Tyler - 12 years ago
Hell yes there are to many irresponsible people turning horse loose in the wild and letting them suffer alot more than they would at a slaughter house. Besides horse are still livestock just like cattle
Amanda Gray - 12 years ago
NO! All emotions aside... In 2013 the EU will implement new regulations that will prevent the majority of American horses from entering the food chain because of drugs we give our horses on a regular basis that are banned in slaughter animals by the USDA and many other government subsidies. We are selling our horses to be turned into meat which is often eaten raw as a delicacy. This meat is laden with toxins that have been known to kill and cause many adverse effects in humans. Right now we have a system in which each horse is required an EID. This system had been proven to be invalid and misused time after time. One can sign this stating they've owned the horse for an extended period of time when they only owned the horse for a day or two. This is a for profit business so the people involved do not take into consideration the adverse effects the drugs that have been given to these horses can cause. They simply buy them for cheap at auction and truck them to Canada or Mexico. The EID is often times simply a minor blimp in the scheme of things. Often times they are mislabeled and misrepresented.
Clearly opening slaughter houses in America is NOT going to solve anything. Annually there is a large percentage of horses which are denied by slaughter houses and simply dumped by kill buyers as a by product of their operation. These animals are let loose and found starving. Or they stand in holding pens until they perish, their bodies will later be dumped illegally beside water beds or simply left to rot. Not only do you have to consider that but you have to consider what it takes for a kill buyer to factorize his side of the industry. It's all about time and money. He needs to quickly get as many horses on the truck in as little time as possible. He will jam horses in so tight that it becomes a problem in these sensitive creatures that naturally want space. If a horse bites or kicks they will gouge out their eyes or tie their mouths shut. If a mare has a foal it is bludgeoned and left to die or simply left to starve as no horse under six months is eligible for slaughter. If a mare is in foal she will have her foal cut out of her uterus, no matter how far along she is, at the slaughter house. It doesn't matter if they are hauling within state borders or not. They will continue to use these methods as they know the US cannot afford to properly regulate what happens.
It also invites a criminal element. Anyone looking to make a quick buck will lie or steal to get your family horse on their truck. They will tell you the horse is going to a good home or simply take it out of your pasture. This is happening today... I hear a lot of pros say that abuse and neglect has gone up because we've closed our slaughter houses. Well... slaughter is still available. You can still sell your horse at auction to a kill buyer so that is not a valid argument. Long hauls is also a common argument. Well.. if we open houses in the US it will probably be one or two maybe somewhere in Washington or Wyoming. So every horse that is located in Ohio or New Jersey will still have to make the long haul or they will continue to go up to Canada or down to Mexico because there are no plans to shut the borders down for this inhumane business.
This has become a trash can for today's horses. Horses that were never raised for human consumption but raised as recreational animals and family pets. The only way that this will become a valid business is if certain farmers raise slaughter specific horses. Which will create more of an issue with the hay we are so short of due to shipping it overseas. Which will raise hay prices and cause the price of beef and milk to rise and cause it to be more expensive to care for our recreational horses that we do not plan to send to slaughter. And it will not solve the problems we have now. So when the EU asks you to label your horse as a slaughter animal at the age of six months... will you?
Ann Lawrence - 12 years ago
Let them eat horse meat--for sure it's full of toxins and carcinogens. These drugs NEVER leave the horse's body. Every horse in the USA has drug residue in it--even the wild ones are treated with PZP (contraceptive experiment) and wormers. My horses glow in the dark, they've had so many vaccines and drugs! Race horses set off geiger counters! So eat it up! Serve it to your school children and inmates and helpless grannies.. And when those children are sick and sterile, and all the eaters are dead and gone, then those of us who refused to ingest it will enjoy our horses and close down the "kill houses" forever. Just saying....
shawn - 12 years ago
No! Aside from the intolerable cruelty of the whole process, horses are full of drugs. Any that receive Bute are supposed to be removed from food chain. Think kill buyers tell the truth (even if they know it)? Read this, it pretty much addresses all the negative aspects: http://www.hanaeleh.com/index_files/Page1200.htm
This minority industry is about irresponsibility and greed. Nothing more, nothing less. There is no moral fiber in the slaughter industry. Poisoning people across the globe with toxic meat from our horses with no remorse, violating our animal cruelty laws, environmental laws and expecting the tax payer to foot the bill for meat inspections, violations and taxes, while they line their wallets at the expense of our horses and global health. It's beyond disgusting, it's beyond corrupt. Pfizer has made $6,000,000 in campaign donations since 2008 to our politicians. They are the manufacturers of premarine, which is a dangerous and un-necessary drug used for menopause. We have much safer synthetic drugs on the market. While lining their pockets with billions in profits, they continue to slaughter PMU foals and the mares once they are used up of their hormones. We MUST right this wrong in our country, for our horses, our equine industry and our children!
Other often used arguments claim that domestic slaughter is needed in order to set a minimum value for horses and to provide an outlet for old, sick and crippled horses. These arguments are based on an opinion that some owners, who value quantity over quality, and irresponsibility over doing the right thing, should be rewarded for producing a product which has no real marketable value. In other words, they want a set financial reward for producing an unwanted or unmarketable product instead of having to incur a cost to dispose of the product. Every industry relies on demand to price a product but the pro slaughter minority subset of the equine industry wants a base price set on supply. The ‘old, sick, and crippled’ argument is negated by the consistent reporting by the USDA that nearly 95% of horses slaughtered in the US were young and in good condition.
The last of the most often used pro slaughter arguments relates to the cost of humane euthanasia and disposal of horses. The cost of such averages $350. This amount is less than the monthly cost at a typical boarding facility and is not much more than the cost to euthanize and cremate a canine. Even the cost of a low quality, run of the mill saddle exceeds the cost of euthanasia and disposal.
Slaughter is not a humane death for horses. The USDA provided proof of this when they obliged a FOIA request for documented violations which occurred at the Beltex plant in Texas from January to November of 2005. This report is over 900 pages long and cites violations ranging from issues with transporting and incomplete documentation to the inhumane activities observed throughout the slaughter process which included horses still functioning and able to feel pain when bled out and vivisected.
With animal ownership comes the responsibility to provide food, water, safe shelter, and a humane death. Common sense dictates that the larger the animal, the greater the costs. One cost that none of should have to incur is the cost of providing USDA inspectors in horse slaughtering plants. If the taxpayer funded USDA can spare millions of dollars, this money should be used to inspect facilities that produce or import products that Americans consume, not toxic products sold to unsuspecting foreign markets.
Since the closure of the US horse slaughtering plants the pro slaughter groups have spent millions of dollars on paid lobbyists and propaganda in an effort to re-open slaughter facilities. They achieved a small victory last month when a few politicians held a closed door session and removed language from the 2012 Agriculture Appropriations Bill that would have continued to ban funding for USDA inspectors in horse slaughtering plants. This decision was based on misinformation provided by various pro slaughter and special interest groups.
Due to economic conditions every small animal rescue in this country has experienced a significant increase in abandonment and neglect cases. However, pro horse slaughter articles cite the closure of the US slaughter plants as the sole reason for equine cases. Horse owners still have the option to sell and ship to slaughter but approximately the same number of American horses have been slaughtered each year since the US plants were closed as when the plants were open. Since the slaughter option is still available, it’s ridiculous to assume that owners are starving and abandoning horses because of the location of slaughter plants. If a true relationship existed between slaughter and the number of abuse/neglect cases, the number of horses slaughtered would have significantly increased while the number of abandonment and abuse cases would have decreased.
Pro slaughter groups claim that opening plants in the US will create jobs and increase tax revenue. The last three plants in the US, all foreign owned, employed less than 200 people in low-paying positions with the majority of the workers proven to be undocumented. In one year the Beltex plant in Texas generated millions in income but paid a total of $5 in federal income taxes. This was largely due to the tax benefits offered to foreign owned corporations which is why they operated plants in the US as opposed to their own countries. The cost to the communities in which these plants resided was astronomical. Regardless of EPA oversight, regulations continued to be ignored. The plants were repeatedly charged with wastewater violations. In some areas this illegal activity caused blood products to seep into homes. The same violations take place at the Canadian slaughter plants one of which was recently closed after it was found to be illegally dumping truckloads of blood into a river. In every area in which a horse slaughtering plant existed, increases in crime, including stolen horse cases, and decreases in property values occurred.
Those in favor of slaughtering horses claim that horse flesh is safe to consume. This may have been true in the 1920’s and 1930’s before the widespread use of equine medications became commonplace. Currently, we give our horses numerous medications to keep them healthy and comfortable. One of the most regularly used medications is Phenylbutazone (bute). Bute, an NSAID, is as common to equines as aspirin is to humans. At one time this drug was prescribed to humans but was pulled from the market after causing significant health detriments including deaths due to aplastic anemia. While the US plants tested for bute, of the 140,000 horses slaughtered in 2005 only 318 samples were taken. Of these, 10% were positive for bute. More frightening is the fact that the samples were tested using the ELISA method which is a urine based test. There is no research to show how long bute or its many metabolites remain in muscle tissue which is precisely why the FDA completely bans this product from use in food producing animals. Even pet food manufacturers understand the hazards of bute which is why in the 1970’s they ceased using horse meat in their products.
Other often used arguments claim that domestic slaughter is needed in order to set a minimum value for horses and to provide an outlet for old, sick and crippled horses. These arguments are based on an opinion that some owners, who value quantity over quality, and irr
daria john - 12 years ago
No No NO No
NO
NO
NO
NO NO NO NO NO..................................No.
Susan - 12 years ago
In response,
It's important to look at the evidence to be a part of an evidence-based discussion about this issue.
First, nobody is paying $50 a day to keep a horse except at some race tracks. That would be $1500 board a month, if you do the math, and you can board at a cushy English stable for far less than that, feed, turnout, exercise included.
This pro-slaughter disinformation is for one purpose only, to keep making money off the suffering of horses.
Second, horses are not cows. We don't slaughter and eat companion animals in this country - dogs, cats and horses -and horses get drugs that make it illegal to slaughter them. Advocating for making other people sick is a pretty good sign the evidence about drugs in horse meat is being ignored, to keep making money off the suffering of horses, to not take responsibility for giving them a humane end after a life of service and/or profit.
Third, horse killing and transport were every bit as cruel as you can imagine on US soil. Plenty of evidence. Slaughter is not euthanasia. You don't gouge out a horse's eyes to transport them to be euthanized, like the kill truck drivers do.
That's why now over 90% of Americans now in this latest poll want it stopped. Americans have been polling consistently strong against slaughter, and in favor of a ban (90% in an official TX poll) for years.
Until we ban slaughter, no horse owner will be sure a sale or give-away will not send their horse to the killer. Ending slaughter will free up the markets.
Now that the news is out on using taxpayer money to slaughter, we can expect more elections to turn on this issue.
With the abolition of slavery, not everybody agreed with treating people better. With horse slaughter there are still pockets of throwback thinking, that putting toxic drugs into the food supply is OK as long as I get my money, that brutality is OK as long as I get my money, that stealing the kid's horse out of its pasture is OK as long as I get my money.
Bernie Madoff and Ernie Paragallo (disgraced Thoroughbred breeder from NY convicted of multiple counts of starving horses on his breed farm, while collecting millions in stud fees to breed more) are in prison for that kind of greed.
History isn't waiting for all that wrong thinking to change. History is now, and horse slaughter will end as soon as the American people make it clear - like voters did in the last election where one pro-slaughter rep in NY horse country lost a seat - that the people intend to vote our values.
Luke Thomas - 12 years ago
It was due to the slaughter ban that millions of horses are starving because it costs ranchers an average of **$50 a DAY** to support a horse, so instead of quickly slaughtering them here (due to the ban) they simply let them go and they do slowly starve. Other ranchers sold their horses for TRANSPORT and many horribly suffered and died en route to Canada or Mexico or Korea - but those were the lucky ones. Overseas like Mexico has NO STANDARDS in slaughter and they were brutally killed. Korea believes torturing animals makes the meat taste sweeter. So yes I support the slaughter of horses-besides we routinely kill cows why should this be any different.
c. r. - 12 years ago
No Way!Horses are a companion animal and deserve to be treated as such. This is a country that can look for other means for protein. There is no reason for it. We are not a third world country looking to feed it's population. The politicians are lying as usual to push their agenda on us. Horses are part of the family, a companion animal. Would you like to slaughter your dog or cat for the dinner plate?? What about your first born child?? We must stop this slaughter of innoncent lives. Go Vegan.
Susan - 12 years ago
To the posters invoking the property rights argument for slaughtering horses, nowhere in the Constitution does it say a farm has a right to cull broodmares and put common fertility drugs into the food chain that - in minute doses - kill unborn children.
The Founding Fathers never guaranteed the right to sneak drugs into the food supply that cause cancer, aplastic anemia, fatal liver failure like common horse meds do, in people.
It's easier to have an evidence based discussion when everybody has studied the evidence.
Horses are not cattle. They are not raised for food, so they get drugs banned from the food supply. Selling a horse to slaughter with many common drugs is illegal.
Horses also react horribly to cattle type slaughter, and suffer unconscionably poor deaths. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say making a few bucks justifies dismembering a horse alive.
These property tax arguments are same as in the early 1800s, when slave holders complained bitterly their way of life was being threatened by Abolitionists who believed it wrong to "own" a human being.
The concept of human beings as property is abhorrent now, as horse slaughter is fast becoming.
Most of the problems in the slave culture's economy were created by themselves. Monoculture, destroying the soil, failure to evolve with the economic times.
The problems the horse slaughterers complain about are caused by themselves, too. You don't need an MBA to figure out what causes too many horses. Over breeding. If there are too many horses, the problem is the supply end - you can't make the killers buy more horses than the contracts ask for.
Like the South, horse slaughter is a throwback economic model that needs to change with the times, especially with a passport microchip drug program like in the EU coming soon that will trace banned drugs in slaughtered horses back to the perpetrators.
Especially with polls trending higher and higher in favor of a Federal ban on horse slaughter.
The real question is, what's the the tiny slaughter minority doing now to prepare for the future? Will American horse slaughters .. and their vets, if the US follows Ireland's lead .. be ready to be held personally liable for putting banned drugs into the food supply after the microchip tracking rules start in 2013?
Instead of culling foals, it's time to cull the tax breaks until the breeding numbers make sense, and take a portion of VLT money and purses and breed registration fees to pay for retraining and after care. The American people won't put up with killing off too many horses, just like the people of MA didn't put up with it in the greyhound industry that was banned by referendum.
Something needs to rein in the "flipping" of horses that threatens the horse business, like the "flipping" of homes and condos helped crash the real estate market.
Making it more expensive to breed will improve the quality of breeding.
Best of all, banning horse slaughter will give the horses the respect they deserve. It will also end the immoral animal abuse and food supply contamination that are the cruel, rotten core of slaughter's unsustainable, throwback business model.
Denise Anzelmo - 12 years ago
Horse slaughter plants should not be reopened in this country. Absolutely not. It is cruelty. Mr. Duquette is a disgrace and should find other means for making his $$$$$. Americans do not eat horsemeat. Also, a bill should be passed to end horses being transported to Canada and Mexico to be slaughtered.
Tess - 12 years ago
Americans don't eat horse meat. Most Americans are against horse slaughter. Only a small minority who stand to profit financially from the cruelty would be for it.
I am against horse slaughter for consumption or any other purpose i.e. fertilizer, plastic, fuel, etc.
I am against the use of primates in scientific studies. because arguments will always persist on proof of human relation from any given study. However, I am for Human use in place of Primates in these studies. I said it long ago. Death Row inmates. compensate the families and do the studies on these death row inmates. it could be the last good thing they ever do. just my opinion.
For horses, they should use the same policy they use in the USA for old diseased mad cows, i.e. SSS policy. shoot, shovel, and shut up. either bury them or incinerate them. again, just my opinion.
Poor horses to have David Duquette as president of "United Horsemen." He's truly a demon disguised as a horse advocate. He and his ilk are greedy, malicious, and absolutely cruel.
Chickens are "so simple as to be endearing", one farmer said. I sure became attached to them, and yet I eat them. I understand they have to be locked up w/o food or water for a day or 2, before killing them. I do not like to think about that at all; how is a horse different? Zoos here feed horsemeat to their animals, and the U.S has a whole lot of zoos. Would you rather they killed cows, calves, or pigs? The way they are slaughtered for food is not something I want to think about either. Why is a horse different? And if there mainly for export, that helps our balance of trade, and still makes money for Americans. Minimum wage jobs, 'illegals"? Who do you think is working at the racetracks, riding stables, etc. I agree with the first Commenter.
Thank you for the info.
Maria - 12 years ago
NO! unbelievable what wicked souless people will do for money! Who is going to work at these plants? illegals or people that cant get any other job period. Think about it, who works at slaughterhouses now-how could you look at a horse or any other animal in the eyes for that matter and inflict harm via in the form of slaughter? ITS CRUEL VIOLENT AND TOTALLY INHUMANE AND MORALLY AND ETHICALLY WRONG!
poll - 12 years ago
Yes. The real issue comes down to a question of property rights, and it is here that we must draw a line no matter the claims of the so-called “animal-lovers” who use this issue to the property rights of humans. Cattle are property too. If we can restrict the rights of people to dispose of their livestock by slaughter, why not cattle or sheep or hogs? All I’m asking for, and I think all most horsemen in favor of slaughter are asking is for a bit of intellectual consistency on the part of those opposed to horse slaughter. If the property rights of horse owners aren’t permitted to prevail, what will happen when somebody decides a calf is too cute to slaughter for veal?
We must stand up for our property rights, and one of the characteristics of property is the right of disposal. Property can be disposed of by sales, or by donation, or slaughter. What the “animal lovers” suggest is that there is some way in which to make the process less inhumane. Most horseman who have been around a while have witnessed euthanasia as practiced on horses, and to pretend it’s anything but horrific is a lie. To pretend that the method of slaughter that had been routinely practiced in the US was substantially more “cruel” is also a lie.
Horse slaughter allows indiscriminate breeders and irresponsible people a way to get rid of horses who can no longer earn a profit for them by dissing our culture and selling them for meat to foreign countries, rather than putting them down humanely. Outlaw horse slaughter and you will have a dramatic drop in the number of horses who should never have been born in the first place and a much healthier horse industry as a result. Right now there are breeders who are producing horses "puppy-mill-style" because they know they can get meat money for them any time of the day or night. What they are breeding is misery - no thought and no care. Many businesses that use horse solely for profit often drop their used-up equines off at the slaughter auctions after those animals outlive their usefulness even though these horses made money for them. It's an absolute disgrace that these greedy profiteers have been able to get away with something that the vast majority of Americans strongly disapprove, as well as now having a pro-horse slaughter cabal in Congress to do their cruel bidding. This has to stop and once people in this country fully understand what is happening, there will be a huge outcry for our government to finally put a stop to this atrocity that is un-American, unethical and the ultimate betrayal of an animal who deserves a lifetime of protection and a dignified peaceful death. As Americans, we all owe The Horse a debt of gratitude because this noble animal is our history. Obviously, some people don't care about anything except how much money they can make off the blood of horses, but those people are in the minority and they are being exposed.
Mellony - 12 years ago
The H$U$ and other animal rights groups pushed for closing of the US horse processing houses with the argument that the practice of horse slaughter would end. It has not and has only resulted in these animals having to endure longer trailer rides and to meet their deaths in less regulated and sometimes unregulated facilities. Approximately 160,000 horses were shipped to Canada and Mexico last year for food consumption. That is even more than was being processed in the last few years before the US closures. The closing of US horse processing plants coupled with the downed economy has led to a depression of the horse industry and to the neglect and abandonment of animals. Many horses cannot even be given away. Horses are livestock and this is what happens when the salvage value of an animal is removed. The H$U$, rescues and other organizations use this issue to raise millions of dollars to put in their coffers.
The animal rights activists keep talking about over breeding. The public and horse owners need to full y realize that what they actually mean is “any breeding”. These people are out to eradicate domestic animals.
I do not know of any horse breeder that is operating at the capacity that they were 5 years ago. There is not a horse registry that has not shown at least small decrease in numbers, and with the larger popular breeds, the drop is breath taking. The overall horse population is down. We will not know how far it has fallen until the next horse census, but there are fewer horse sales, many boarding stables are closing or operating at below capacity, there are fewer horse shows and suppliers have seen a dramatic drop in feed and other supplies being bought. Horse shoers now pursue new clients when they use to have an established client base and many young horse trainers are leaving the field because of the drop in young horses being produced.
But this is not really about slaughter. This is about the animal rights activists attack on horse owners and the horse industry. Slaughter is the easy target and as our personal property rights to our livestock are stripped away they will attempt to stop racing, jumping, futurities, rodeo and other forms of equine competitions. And the trail riders should not think that they will be exempt.
Horse owners should also be concerned about the efforts of animal rights activists to change the classification of horses from livestock to companion animal. Some of these people believe that horse owners should be taxed to support the rescues and that legislation should be passed to regulate breeding thus requiring licensing and permits. I have been told by some of these activists that horses should not be bought and sold but adopted for life and that breeders should be willing to take an animal back at any time during its life time. What a pleasant thought, 25 years after you raised a foal that you would be responsible for that animal’s retirement.
Mr. Duquette's statistics are complete fiction. Twenty five years ago when the foreign horse
slaughter industry was at its peak, it was a 30 million dollar a year export industry which is nothing that employed about 100+ minimum wage, mostly non documented workers. Horse slaughter at its peak constituted only .0001 percent of America's red meat and poultry industry. Over the last twenty two years all 14 FOREIGN OWNED & OPERATED HORSE SLAUGHTER PLANTS have been closed because 80 percent of the American people oppose it. States with populations constituting only 2% of the general population are trying to impose their will on 80 percent of the American people and states where it has been voted on and oppossed constituting 40% of the American people. Such actions are neither a majority, a quorum, a mandate or democracy. We DO NOT CRUELLY SLAUGHTER AMERICAN DOGS, CATS OR HORSES FOR THE FOREIGN MARKETS. AND IF WE ALLOW THIS TO EVER BE LEGALIZED IT WILL OPEN THE LEGISLATIVE SLIPPERY SLOP FOR THE SLAUGHTER AND EXPORT OF OUR DOGS AND CATS TO COUNTRIES WHERE THEIR MEAT IS EATEN. It's this same polled 14% promoting slaughtering non food, companion animals who are also simultaneously protesting Congress to govern by the popular majority of American voters and not by elitist special interests such as themselves, horse killers.
Laura - 12 years ago
Americans don't eat horse meat, and aren't likely to start! We need to stop American horses going to slaughter in Mexico and Canada and treat them as the companions they are!
Lauren - 12 years ago
Never. How could we as Americans slaughter our most trusted companions?
No way. That's just nasty. Shame on you horse Killing people. Of course I'm emotional about this...because I'm human...duh!!! Against horse slaughter now and for eternity. The next generation doesn't like your kind either.so when I'm gone from this earth they will fight this too. I have such a big mouth that I tell everyone about this atrocity to horses NO.NO.NO.
There is no humane slaughter for horses. Horses are our companions and pets. Over 80% of the population in the USA are against horse slaughter!
Even if you don't think horses should be considered pets or companion animals (which a lot of people do!), consider this. Horse meat is LOADED with substances that are BANNED in food animals. Bute is widely given to most horses. The horses that are being shipped to slaughter likely have no history on them and who knows what they were given. Americans largely are AGAINST the slaughter of horses.
For those of you who say, well what are we supposed to do with all the unwanted horses, I say to you, we have a dog and cat overpopulation problem as well. But does that mean we should slaughter them as well? After all, even though Americans don't eat dogs and cats, in some countries they do! Same argument with horses folks! There are more humane solutions to the unwanted horse problem. Slaughter is not one of them!
Please consider the following:
1) There is no humane method to slaughter horses, given their natural flight instinct (Temple Grandin acknowledges this fact)
2) 80% of the American public opposes horse slaughter
3) Three "legislators"--Kingston, Blout, Hoyt secretly included a rider in the Agriculture Appropriations bill allowing for the USDA inspection of horse meat--which opened the way for US horses slaughterhouses
4) Horse slaughterhouses of the past were operated by foreign countries--France and Belgium--
5) Those foreign countries paid a total of $5.00 in federal taxes on a profit of $12,000,000 for this horrific practice
6) Most importantly--the communities in which these slaughterhouses were located suffered horribly--in economic and environmental ways--horse blood backing up into backtubs; declining property values; higher crime rates; stigmatization of their communities.
Horses were ment to be livestock however thanks to people that have no reason for horses other than they are pretty have made everyone think they are a pet and that's bullshit
no i could never eat a horse! they are not for human consumption, has anyone besides us horse lovers read the warning labels on horse medicines? states right on there "DO NOT USE IN HORSES INTENDED FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION". my horse gets bute everyday and it can cause colon cancer, etc. in humans so why chance it. it's not like there is a shortage of cattle which there is not, why do you think the blm is removing the wild mustangs off their own public lands and putting cattle in their place? i don't believe slaughter is right, i have seen video's of horse slaughter plants and it's discusting and don't know how those people sleep at night , but fo those people who can do it to them it's just a job and a dumb animal as some people think. the only people who support horse slaughter are the ones to make $$$$ on them plain and simple , it is our counrty's shame for allowing this to happen, 100,000 horses a year die ,if breeders would stop overbreeding you could control 100,000 horses and none would have to die, i have seen healthy , young, riding, driving , horses of all ages go even foals. so it's not just old,sick,unwanted, lame horses like some people want u to believe. even if it was they don't deserve to die in a slaughter house, if u trually love you're horse have it humanely euthanasized. i would support a program that helps with that but not slaughter it's just wrong. i don't want my tax dollars to pay for slaughter houses to kill our companion friends.here is a link to check put from a former mayor who had slaughter house in her town, http://www.nashvillescene.com/pitu/archives/2010/04/09/former-mayor-horse-slaughters-a-drain-on-taxpayers-never-mind-the-ditches-of-blood
ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!!!!
Educational, informative news article with links to Anti Horse Slaughter organizations: interesting to note the video was removed because it violated the websites rules for VIOLENT CONTENT. Still think Horse Slaughter is humane?http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/12/prweb1704434.htm
Educational, informative news article with links to Anti Horse Slaughter organizations: interesting to note the video was removed because it violated the websites rules for VIOLENT CONTENT. Still think Horse Slaughter is humane?http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/12/prweb1704434.htm
We are a Democracy where Majority is suppose to rule. Americans don't eat horses and the Majority of Americans don't want horse slaughter for human consumption brought back to the USA. The reasons are many and varied (horse slaughter is inherently inhumane, Bute, cost/taxes - Americans don't eat Horses, icon of Freedom) , but the bottom line really is that of Majority rule - NOT Money rule; Not personal property rights, which must be balanced with personal property Responsibility. If you own a house and you fail to pay your real estate taxes, there are legal consequences. Owning/operating a car involves legal responsibilities. Animal ownership also involves legal responsibilities as well - and 70-80% of Americans are against horse slaughter. It doesn't matter if one owns a horse, ever has owned a horse, as it is a moral issue; not one of money, property or heartless disposal of a living creature. The Majority of Americans don't eat horses, don't want their tax dollars supporting an industry that the Majority don't want returned to the USA. The Horse Industry that supports horse slaughter is deliberately turning a blind eye to the cruelties inherent in horse slaughter as an industry and should be ashamed of themselves, promoting "love of horses" on the one hand, and "bloody cruel" disposal of "culled" or so-called "unwanted" horses on the other hand - as Americans we can and must do better.
Slaughter is so brutal and so repulsive that I hate even the mere thought of it. Americas horses both domestic and wild have been given medications not allowed in the human food chain, period, dot, end of story. It is a violation of our cruelty laws. This meat is not even given to dogs or cats since 1970 due to these toxins. Slaughter in horses will not solve any or our problems and slaughter has always been available to those that don't want their horses. The slaughter and transport of horses must be stopped. I don't want my tax dollars paying for something that is so cruel and brutal or that will poison other people. Slaughter never solved anything before and never will. It is NOT humane.
A resounding NO! If for no other reason (even though there are many) than horses are not raised for food and their meat is toxic!!
No. I may eat meat, but in this next month I will beginning my life a new with being vegan, I don't want to eat animals anymore, and the taste of them is becoming rather bad, I mean it is America, despite anyone who prepares their food freshly at home it's an overall system where toxins in the food screws up your body to becoming worse and worse off. It's time we did something different, Horses included since they're my favorite animal, all animals no longer need any harm to be done to them, no more slaughter. We're not mindless cave-people, we're intellegent human beings, we can learn from animals, but we can also learn more from science, science that assures the human race can live longer and better with the use of veggies and fruits that it sometimes lacks the most.
I'm not trying to tell anyone to go vegan, this is my choice that I'm making, and I love Horses as well as Cows, Dogs, Chickens, Cats, Mice, Pigs, Goats, Geese...all these animals and others, I can live the extremism with the magic of practical effects to see animals killed in horror films and such, but in reality it's scary. Animals have helped us be fed in our lifetime, now we have better resources and give them a life of their own, we have our own society issues, these animals don't have anything to do with it and can't be brought into it.
Horses are meant for riding, not for our bellies.
Hell yes there are to many irresponsible people turning horse loose in the wild and letting them suffer alot more than they would at a slaughter house. Besides horse are still livestock just like cattle
NO! All emotions aside... In 2013 the EU will implement new regulations that will prevent the majority of American horses from entering the food chain because of drugs we give our horses on a regular basis that are banned in slaughter animals by the USDA and many other government subsidies. We are selling our horses to be turned into meat which is often eaten raw as a delicacy. This meat is laden with toxins that have been known to kill and cause many adverse effects in humans. Right now we have a system in which each horse is required an EID. This system had been proven to be invalid and misused time after time. One can sign this stating they've owned the horse for an extended period of time when they only owned the horse for a day or two. This is a for profit business so the people involved do not take into consideration the adverse effects the drugs that have been given to these horses can cause. They simply buy them for cheap at auction and truck them to Canada or Mexico. The EID is often times simply a minor blimp in the scheme of things. Often times they are mislabeled and misrepresented.
Clearly opening slaughter houses in America is NOT going to solve anything. Annually there is a large percentage of horses which are denied by slaughter houses and simply dumped by kill buyers as a by product of their operation. These animals are let loose and found starving. Or they stand in holding pens until they perish, their bodies will later be dumped illegally beside water beds or simply left to rot. Not only do you have to consider that but you have to consider what it takes for a kill buyer to factorize his side of the industry. It's all about time and money. He needs to quickly get as many horses on the truck in as little time as possible. He will jam horses in so tight that it becomes a problem in these sensitive creatures that naturally want space. If a horse bites or kicks they will gouge out their eyes or tie their mouths shut. If a mare has a foal it is bludgeoned and left to die or simply left to starve as no horse under six months is eligible for slaughter. If a mare is in foal she will have her foal cut out of her uterus, no matter how far along she is, at the slaughter house. It doesn't matter if they are hauling within state borders or not. They will continue to use these methods as they know the US cannot afford to properly regulate what happens.
It also invites a criminal element. Anyone looking to make a quick buck will lie or steal to get your family horse on their truck. They will tell you the horse is going to a good home or simply take it out of your pasture. This is happening today... I hear a lot of pros say that abuse and neglect has gone up because we've closed our slaughter houses. Well... slaughter is still available. You can still sell your horse at auction to a kill buyer so that is not a valid argument. Long hauls is also a common argument. Well.. if we open houses in the US it will probably be one or two maybe somewhere in Washington or Wyoming. So every horse that is located in Ohio or New Jersey will still have to make the long haul or they will continue to go up to Canada or down to Mexico because there are no plans to shut the borders down for this inhumane business.
This has become a trash can for today's horses. Horses that were never raised for human consumption but raised as recreational animals and family pets. The only way that this will become a valid business is if certain farmers raise slaughter specific horses. Which will create more of an issue with the hay we are so short of due to shipping it overseas. Which will raise hay prices and cause the price of beef and milk to rise and cause it to be more expensive to care for our recreational horses that we do not plan to send to slaughter. And it will not solve the problems we have now. So when the EU asks you to label your horse as a slaughter animal at the age of six months... will you?
Let them eat horse meat--for sure it's full of toxins and carcinogens. These drugs NEVER leave the horse's body. Every horse in the USA has drug residue in it--even the wild ones are treated with PZP (contraceptive experiment) and wormers. My horses glow in the dark, they've had so many vaccines and drugs! Race horses set off geiger counters! So eat it up! Serve it to your school children and inmates and helpless grannies.. And when those children are sick and sterile, and all the eaters are dead and gone, then those of us who refused to ingest it will enjoy our horses and close down the "kill houses" forever. Just saying....
No! Aside from the intolerable cruelty of the whole process, horses are full of drugs. Any that receive Bute are supposed to be removed from food chain. Think kill buyers tell the truth (even if they know it)? Read this, it pretty much addresses all the negative aspects: http://www.hanaeleh.com/index_files/Page1200.htm
Who are the dickheads voting yes - go to hell pissbags!!
This minority industry is about irresponsibility and greed. Nothing more, nothing less. There is no moral fiber in the slaughter industry. Poisoning people across the globe with toxic meat from our horses with no remorse, violating our animal cruelty laws, environmental laws and expecting the tax payer to foot the bill for meat inspections, violations and taxes, while they line their wallets at the expense of our horses and global health. It's beyond disgusting, it's beyond corrupt. Pfizer has made $6,000,000 in campaign donations since 2008 to our politicians. They are the manufacturers of premarine, which is a dangerous and un-necessary drug used for menopause. We have much safer synthetic drugs on the market. While lining their pockets with billions in profits, they continue to slaughter PMU foals and the mares once they are used up of their hormones. We MUST right this wrong in our country, for our horses, our equine industry and our children!
Continued...
Other often used arguments claim that domestic slaughter is needed in order to set a minimum value for horses and to provide an outlet for old, sick and crippled horses. These arguments are based on an opinion that some owners, who value quantity over quality, and irresponsibility over doing the right thing, should be rewarded for producing a product which has no real marketable value. In other words, they want a set financial reward for producing an unwanted or unmarketable product instead of having to incur a cost to dispose of the product. Every industry relies on demand to price a product but the pro slaughter minority subset of the equine industry wants a base price set on supply. The ‘old, sick, and crippled’ argument is negated by the consistent reporting by the USDA that nearly 95% of horses slaughtered in the US were young and in good condition.
The last of the most often used pro slaughter arguments relates to the cost of humane euthanasia and disposal of horses. The cost of such averages $350. This amount is less than the monthly cost at a typical boarding facility and is not much more than the cost to euthanize and cremate a canine. Even the cost of a low quality, run of the mill saddle exceeds the cost of euthanasia and disposal.
Slaughter is not a humane death for horses. The USDA provided proof of this when they obliged a FOIA request for documented violations which occurred at the Beltex plant in Texas from January to November of 2005. This report is over 900 pages long and cites violations ranging from issues with transporting and incomplete documentation to the inhumane activities observed throughout the slaughter process which included horses still functioning and able to feel pain when bled out and vivisected.
With animal ownership comes the responsibility to provide food, water, safe shelter, and a humane death. Common sense dictates that the larger the animal, the greater the costs. One cost that none of should have to incur is the cost of providing USDA inspectors in horse slaughtering plants. If the taxpayer funded USDA can spare millions of dollars, this money should be used to inspect facilities that produce or import products that Americans consume, not toxic products sold to unsuspecting foreign markets.
Animal Advocates of Michigan
Since the closure of the US horse slaughtering plants the pro slaughter groups have spent millions of dollars on paid lobbyists and propaganda in an effort to re-open slaughter facilities. They achieved a small victory last month when a few politicians held a closed door session and removed language from the 2012 Agriculture Appropriations Bill that would have continued to ban funding for USDA inspectors in horse slaughtering plants. This decision was based on misinformation provided by various pro slaughter and special interest groups.
Due to economic conditions every small animal rescue in this country has experienced a significant increase in abandonment and neglect cases. However, pro horse slaughter articles cite the closure of the US slaughter plants as the sole reason for equine cases. Horse owners still have the option to sell and ship to slaughter but approximately the same number of American horses have been slaughtered each year since the US plants were closed as when the plants were open. Since the slaughter option is still available, it’s ridiculous to assume that owners are starving and abandoning horses because of the location of slaughter plants. If a true relationship existed between slaughter and the number of abuse/neglect cases, the number of horses slaughtered would have significantly increased while the number of abandonment and abuse cases would have decreased.
Pro slaughter groups claim that opening plants in the US will create jobs and increase tax revenue. The last three plants in the US, all foreign owned, employed less than 200 people in low-paying positions with the majority of the workers proven to be undocumented. In one year the Beltex plant in Texas generated millions in income but paid a total of $5 in federal income taxes. This was largely due to the tax benefits offered to foreign owned corporations which is why they operated plants in the US as opposed to their own countries. The cost to the communities in which these plants resided was astronomical. Regardless of EPA oversight, regulations continued to be ignored. The plants were repeatedly charged with wastewater violations. In some areas this illegal activity caused blood products to seep into homes. The same violations take place at the Canadian slaughter plants one of which was recently closed after it was found to be illegally dumping truckloads of blood into a river. In every area in which a horse slaughtering plant existed, increases in crime, including stolen horse cases, and decreases in property values occurred.
Those in favor of slaughtering horses claim that horse flesh is safe to consume. This may have been true in the 1920’s and 1930’s before the widespread use of equine medications became commonplace. Currently, we give our horses numerous medications to keep them healthy and comfortable. One of the most regularly used medications is Phenylbutazone (bute). Bute, an NSAID, is as common to equines as aspirin is to humans. At one time this drug was prescribed to humans but was pulled from the market after causing significant health detriments including deaths due to aplastic anemia. While the US plants tested for bute, of the 140,000 horses slaughtered in 2005 only 318 samples were taken. Of these, 10% were positive for bute. More frightening is the fact that the samples were tested using the ELISA method which is a urine based test. There is no research to show how long bute or its many metabolites remain in muscle tissue which is precisely why the FDA completely bans this product from use in food producing animals. Even pet food manufacturers understand the hazards of bute which is why in the 1970’s they ceased using horse meat in their products.
Other often used arguments claim that domestic slaughter is needed in order to set a minimum value for horses and to provide an outlet for old, sick and crippled horses. These arguments are based on an opinion that some owners, who value quantity over quality, and irr
No No NO No
NO
NO
NO
NO NO NO NO NO..................................No.
In response,
It's important to look at the evidence to be a part of an evidence-based discussion about this issue.
First, nobody is paying $50 a day to keep a horse except at some race tracks. That would be $1500 board a month, if you do the math, and you can board at a cushy English stable for far less than that, feed, turnout, exercise included.
This pro-slaughter disinformation is for one purpose only, to keep making money off the suffering of horses.
Second, horses are not cows. We don't slaughter and eat companion animals in this country - dogs, cats and horses -and horses get drugs that make it illegal to slaughter them. Advocating for making other people sick is a pretty good sign the evidence about drugs in horse meat is being ignored, to keep making money off the suffering of horses, to not take responsibility for giving them a humane end after a life of service and/or profit.
Third, horse killing and transport were every bit as cruel as you can imagine on US soil. Plenty of evidence. Slaughter is not euthanasia. You don't gouge out a horse's eyes to transport them to be euthanized, like the kill truck drivers do.
That's why now over 90% of Americans now in this latest poll want it stopped. Americans have been polling consistently strong against slaughter, and in favor of a ban (90% in an official TX poll) for years.
Until we ban slaughter, no horse owner will be sure a sale or give-away will not send their horse to the killer. Ending slaughter will free up the markets.
Now that the news is out on using taxpayer money to slaughter, we can expect more elections to turn on this issue.
With the abolition of slavery, not everybody agreed with treating people better. With horse slaughter there are still pockets of throwback thinking, that putting toxic drugs into the food supply is OK as long as I get my money, that brutality is OK as long as I get my money, that stealing the kid's horse out of its pasture is OK as long as I get my money.
Bernie Madoff and Ernie Paragallo (disgraced Thoroughbred breeder from NY convicted of multiple counts of starving horses on his breed farm, while collecting millions in stud fees to breed more) are in prison for that kind of greed.
History isn't waiting for all that wrong thinking to change. History is now, and horse slaughter will end as soon as the American people make it clear - like voters did in the last election where one pro-slaughter rep in NY horse country lost a seat - that the people intend to vote our values.
It was due to the slaughter ban that millions of horses are starving because it costs ranchers an average of **$50 a DAY** to support a horse, so instead of quickly slaughtering them here (due to the ban) they simply let them go and they do slowly starve. Other ranchers sold their horses for TRANSPORT and many horribly suffered and died en route to Canada or Mexico or Korea - but those were the lucky ones. Overseas like Mexico has NO STANDARDS in slaughter and they were brutally killed. Korea believes torturing animals makes the meat taste sweeter. So yes I support the slaughter of horses-besides we routinely kill cows why should this be any different.
No Way!Horses are a companion animal and deserve to be treated as such. This is a country that can look for other means for protein. There is no reason for it. We are not a third world country looking to feed it's population. The politicians are lying as usual to push their agenda on us. Horses are part of the family, a companion animal. Would you like to slaughter your dog or cat for the dinner plate?? What about your first born child?? We must stop this slaughter of innoncent lives. Go Vegan.
To the posters invoking the property rights argument for slaughtering horses, nowhere in the Constitution does it say a farm has a right to cull broodmares and put common fertility drugs into the food chain that - in minute doses - kill unborn children.
The Founding Fathers never guaranteed the right to sneak drugs into the food supply that cause cancer, aplastic anemia, fatal liver failure like common horse meds do, in people.
It's easier to have an evidence based discussion when everybody has studied the evidence.
Horses are not cattle. They are not raised for food, so they get drugs banned from the food supply. Selling a horse to slaughter with many common drugs is illegal.
Horses also react horribly to cattle type slaughter, and suffer unconscionably poor deaths. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say making a few bucks justifies dismembering a horse alive.
These property tax arguments are same as in the early 1800s, when slave holders complained bitterly their way of life was being threatened by Abolitionists who believed it wrong to "own" a human being.
The concept of human beings as property is abhorrent now, as horse slaughter is fast becoming.
Most of the problems in the slave culture's economy were created by themselves. Monoculture, destroying the soil, failure to evolve with the economic times.
The problems the horse slaughterers complain about are caused by themselves, too. You don't need an MBA to figure out what causes too many horses. Over breeding. If there are too many horses, the problem is the supply end - you can't make the killers buy more horses than the contracts ask for.
Like the South, horse slaughter is a throwback economic model that needs to change with the times, especially with a passport microchip drug program like in the EU coming soon that will trace banned drugs in slaughtered horses back to the perpetrators.
Especially with polls trending higher and higher in favor of a Federal ban on horse slaughter.
The real question is, what's the the tiny slaughter minority doing now to prepare for the future? Will American horse slaughters .. and their vets, if the US follows Ireland's lead .. be ready to be held personally liable for putting banned drugs into the food supply after the microchip tracking rules start in 2013?
Instead of culling foals, it's time to cull the tax breaks until the breeding numbers make sense, and take a portion of VLT money and purses and breed registration fees to pay for retraining and after care. The American people won't put up with killing off too many horses, just like the people of MA didn't put up with it in the greyhound industry that was banned by referendum.
Something needs to rein in the "flipping" of horses that threatens the horse business, like the "flipping" of homes and condos helped crash the real estate market.
Making it more expensive to breed will improve the quality of breeding.
Best of all, banning horse slaughter will give the horses the respect they deserve. It will also end the immoral animal abuse and food supply contamination that are the cruel, rotten core of slaughter's unsustainable, throwback business model.
Horse slaughter plants should not be reopened in this country. Absolutely not. It is cruelty. Mr. Duquette is a disgrace and should find other means for making his $$$$$. Americans do not eat horsemeat. Also, a bill should be passed to end horses being transported to Canada and Mexico to be slaughtered.
Americans don't eat horse meat. Most Americans are against horse slaughter. Only a small minority who stand to profit financially from the cruelty would be for it.
Greetings,
for what it’s worth.
I am against horse slaughter for consumption or any other purpose i.e. fertilizer, plastic, fuel, etc.
I am against the use of primates in scientific studies. because arguments will always persist on proof of human relation from any given study. However, I am for Human use in place of Primates in these studies. I said it long ago. Death Row inmates. compensate the families and do the studies on these death row inmates. it could be the last good thing they ever do. just my opinion.
For horses, they should use the same policy they use in the USA for old diseased mad cows, i.e. SSS policy. shoot, shovel, and shut up. either bury them or incinerate them. again, just my opinion.
there is no humanity anymore $$$
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Horse Meat, slaughter for consumption USA
http://equinespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2012/01/horse-meat-slaughter-for-consumption.html
TSS
NO! ABSOLUTELY NEVER!
Poor horses to have David Duquette as president of "United Horsemen." He's truly a demon disguised as a horse advocate. He and his ilk are greedy, malicious, and absolutely cruel.
Chickens are "so simple as to be endearing", one farmer said. I sure became attached to them, and yet I eat them. I understand they have to be locked up w/o food or water for a day or 2, before killing them. I do not like to think about that at all; how is a horse different? Zoos here feed horsemeat to their animals, and the U.S has a whole lot of zoos. Would you rather they killed cows, calves, or pigs? The way they are slaughtered for food is not something I want to think about either. Why is a horse different? And if there mainly for export, that helps our balance of trade, and still makes money for Americans. Minimum wage jobs, 'illegals"? Who do you think is working at the racetracks, riding stables, etc. I agree with the first Commenter.
Thank you for the info.
NO! unbelievable what wicked souless people will do for money! Who is going to work at these plants? illegals or people that cant get any other job period. Think about it, who works at slaughterhouses now-how could you look at a horse or any other animal in the eyes for that matter and inflict harm via in the form of slaughter? ITS CRUEL VIOLENT AND TOTALLY INHUMANE AND MORALLY AND ETHICALLY WRONG!
Yes. The real issue comes down to a question of property rights, and it is here that we must draw a line no matter the claims of the so-called “animal-lovers” who use this issue to the property rights of humans. Cattle are property too. If we can restrict the rights of people to dispose of their livestock by slaughter, why not cattle or sheep or hogs? All I’m asking for, and I think all most horsemen in favor of slaughter are asking is for a bit of intellectual consistency on the part of those opposed to horse slaughter. If the property rights of horse owners aren’t permitted to prevail, what will happen when somebody decides a calf is too cute to slaughter for veal?
We must stand up for our property rights, and one of the characteristics of property is the right of disposal. Property can be disposed of by sales, or by donation, or slaughter. What the “animal lovers” suggest is that there is some way in which to make the process less inhumane. Most horseman who have been around a while have witnessed euthanasia as practiced on horses, and to pretend it’s anything but horrific is a lie. To pretend that the method of slaughter that had been routinely practiced in the US was substantially more “cruel” is also a lie.
Horse slaughter allows indiscriminate breeders and irresponsible people a way to get rid of horses who can no longer earn a profit for them by dissing our culture and selling them for meat to foreign countries, rather than putting them down humanely. Outlaw horse slaughter and you will have a dramatic drop in the number of horses who should never have been born in the first place and a much healthier horse industry as a result. Right now there are breeders who are producing horses "puppy-mill-style" because they know they can get meat money for them any time of the day or night. What they are breeding is misery - no thought and no care. Many businesses that use horse solely for profit often drop their used-up equines off at the slaughter auctions after those animals outlive their usefulness even though these horses made money for them. It's an absolute disgrace that these greedy profiteers have been able to get away with something that the vast majority of Americans strongly disapprove, as well as now having a pro-horse slaughter cabal in Congress to do their cruel bidding. This has to stop and once people in this country fully understand what is happening, there will be a huge outcry for our government to finally put a stop to this atrocity that is un-American, unethical and the ultimate betrayal of an animal who deserves a lifetime of protection and a dignified peaceful death. As Americans, we all owe The Horse a debt of gratitude because this noble animal is our history. Obviously, some people don't care about anything except how much money they can make off the blood of horses, but those people are in the minority and they are being exposed.
The H$U$ and other animal rights groups pushed for closing of the US horse processing houses with the argument that the practice of horse slaughter would end. It has not and has only resulted in these animals having to endure longer trailer rides and to meet their deaths in less regulated and sometimes unregulated facilities. Approximately 160,000 horses were shipped to Canada and Mexico last year for food consumption. That is even more than was being processed in the last few years before the US closures. The closing of US horse processing plants coupled with the downed economy has led to a depression of the horse industry and to the neglect and abandonment of animals. Many horses cannot even be given away. Horses are livestock and this is what happens when the salvage value of an animal is removed. The H$U$, rescues and other organizations use this issue to raise millions of dollars to put in their coffers.
The animal rights activists keep talking about over breeding. The public and horse owners need to full y realize that what they actually mean is “any breeding”. These people are out to eradicate domestic animals.
I do not know of any horse breeder that is operating at the capacity that they were 5 years ago. There is not a horse registry that has not shown at least small decrease in numbers, and with the larger popular breeds, the drop is breath taking. The overall horse population is down. We will not know how far it has fallen until the next horse census, but there are fewer horse sales, many boarding stables are closing or operating at below capacity, there are fewer horse shows and suppliers have seen a dramatic drop in feed and other supplies being bought. Horse shoers now pursue new clients when they use to have an established client base and many young horse trainers are leaving the field because of the drop in young horses being produced.
But this is not really about slaughter. This is about the animal rights activists attack on horse owners and the horse industry. Slaughter is the easy target and as our personal property rights to our livestock are stripped away they will attempt to stop racing, jumping, futurities, rodeo and other forms of equine competitions. And the trail riders should not think that they will be exempt.
Horse owners should also be concerned about the efforts of animal rights activists to change the classification of horses from livestock to companion animal. Some of these people believe that horse owners should be taxed to support the rescues and that legislation should be passed to regulate breeding thus requiring licensing and permits. I have been told by some of these activists that horses should not be bought and sold but adopted for life and that breeders should be willing to take an animal back at any time during its life time. What a pleasant thought, 25 years after you raised a foal that you would be responsible for that animal’s retirement.
Mr. Duquette's statistics are complete fiction. Twenty five years ago when the foreign horse
slaughter industry was at its peak, it was a 30 million dollar a year export industry which is nothing that employed about 100+ minimum wage, mostly non documented workers. Horse slaughter at its peak constituted only .0001 percent of America's red meat and poultry industry. Over the last twenty two years all 14 FOREIGN OWNED & OPERATED HORSE SLAUGHTER PLANTS have been closed because 80 percent of the American people oppose it. States with populations constituting only 2% of the general population are trying to impose their will on 80 percent of the American people and states where it has been voted on and oppossed constituting 40% of the American people. Such actions are neither a majority, a quorum, a mandate or democracy. We DO NOT CRUELLY SLAUGHTER AMERICAN DOGS, CATS OR HORSES FOR THE FOREIGN MARKETS. AND IF WE ALLOW THIS TO EVER BE LEGALIZED IT WILL OPEN THE LEGISLATIVE SLIPPERY SLOP FOR THE SLAUGHTER AND EXPORT OF OUR DOGS AND CATS TO COUNTRIES WHERE THEIR MEAT IS EATEN. It's this same polled 14% promoting slaughtering non food, companion animals who are also simultaneously protesting Congress to govern by the popular majority of American voters and not by elitist special interests such as themselves, horse killers.
Americans don't eat horse meat, and aren't likely to start! We need to stop American horses going to slaughter in Mexico and Canada and treat them as the companions they are!
Never. How could we as Americans slaughter our most trusted companions?
Absolutely Not!