Since 2006, Congress has prohibited the use of federal funds to inspect horses destined for food: this has amounted to a de facto ban on horse slaughterhouses. Horse prices have since dropped and business has shifted to Canada and Mexico. More horses have become neglected or abandoned.[sup]1[/sup] Horse breeders have been driven out of business. And about the same number of horses are being killed, except now the animals endure a possibly unpleasant ride for thousands of extra miles. Some of the meat is shipped back to the US and repackaged for circuses and zoos. Some is shipped to Asia and Europe, where it is enjoyed as a delicacy.
The GAO believes that we should either permit domestic horse slaughterhouses or ban the transport of horses across national boundaries. I support the former, for reasons of commerce, enforcement and non-abusive treatment of animals. I confess that I generally oppose animal rights and support environmentalism.
Texas and Illinois have banned horse slaughter since 2007. They should reverse their ban as well. A duly regulated horse slaughter industry is in the nation’s interests.
[sup]1[/sup]GAO report: "Comprehensive, national data are lacking, but state, local government, and animal welfare organizations report a rise in investigations for horse neglect and more abandoned horses since 2007. For example, Colorado data showed that investigations for horse neglect and abuse increased more than 60 percent from 975 in 2005 to 1,588 in 2009. Also, California, Texas, and Florida reported more horses abandoned on private or state land since 2007. These changes have strained resources, according to state data and officials that GAO interviewed. State, local, tribal, and horse industry officials generally attributed these increases in neglect and abandonments to cessation of domestic slaughter and the economic downturn. Others, including representatives from some animal welfare organizations, questioned the relevance of cessation of slaughter to these problems. " I have not read the full GAO report, though I have skimmed it.
This is a good thread and an excellent example of how stupid people (American people especially) are.
Horses are beautiful animals so breeding/killing them for food is evil. :rolleyes:
Cows are dirty, ugly, stupid animals, so breeding/killing them for food is okay.
The more attractive an animal the more crazy folks will get over killing it and eating it. This is why there are so many dickheads that will make smart ass comments about deer hunters while they’re eating a Burger King whopper.
Horses, Dogs, and cats are not endangered species, so there is no truly good argument against breeding them for food any more than there is a good argument for breeding cows, pigs, or chickens for human consumption.
I agree. And it’s sheer stupidity. Like the person who is munching on a tuna sandwich while proclaiming their dedication to protecting dolphins. :smack::rolleyes:
I don’t think it’s stupid at all. It has to do with the relationship we have with horses (and dogs and cats) which is different from than the relationship we have with cows, pigs. i.e. Cows and pigs were bred specifically for food whereas dogs, cats and horses were bred (for the most part) as companions who performed useful tasks for us. While I don’t think it’s unethical to eat a horse or a dog, it doesn’t strike me as stupid that they’re not in the same category as cow or pig.
So long as horse products are labelled, I see absolutely no rational reason to ban them. I love dogs, and I would never eat a dog or allow my own dog to be eaten but I see no reason if there’s a market for horse or dog meat why my preference should restrict everyone else.
I don’t see any reason why horses should not be slaughtered for meat. It’s really stretching it to put them on the same plane as dogs and cats, even in the culture of the U.S.
Its really stretching it to put cats on the same plane as dogs. Cats are more like rabbits than dogs and I used to eat plenty of rabbit in the old days. My dad ate cats during the second world war.
Not here in British Columbia. In fact I’ve never seen it on the shelves or eaten it in my 61 years and living in four different provinces. I do vaguely recall a news story several years ago where seal meat was on a parliamentary resataurant menu in Ottawa in response to the European clamour against Canadian seal products.
In any event I don’t see seals any near on the same plane as dogs and dolphins.
Like bunnies - to some people, horses are beloved pets, to others, they are just meat animals. Whether they get eaten or not, there is still an issue of what to do with horses that are unwanted.
While it would be nice to think that there is a farm somewhere that all the unwanted horses could go to, (and all the unwanted puppies and kittens and bunnies), the reality is that horses are expensive to keep and maintain properly and sometimes there just is no other option for the old, or the crippled, or the dangerous, or the just can’t afford to keep them any more horses.
Not everyone has the financial means to euthanize and cremate or bury their horse. Sometimes taking meat price is all you can do.
Eliminating slaughterhouses is not going to make the problem of unwanted horses go away, no matter how distasteful some people find the idea of killing and eating horses.
I wonder if any of you have ever been near a horse. I’ve owned several.
The problem with horse abandonment has nothing to do with slaughtering, and everything to do with the economy. Horses are expensive, and in the current climate more people with horses can’t afford them, and horses are very difficult to sell. We would up donating ours to charity for the tax writeoff, and that was before the recession. He was fairly old, and so more difficult. California has banned horse slaughter since 1998, and there was very little problem with abandoned horses until the economy tanked. Horses don’t breed on their own in barns. Who exactly is breeding horse for food who wasn’t aware of the ban?
The other issue is theft. Here is a site, but it is definitely something horse owners worry about. While valuable horse are kept in stables, there are lots of horse that live outside. Since most barns are in rural areas, and because it is not hard to lift a gate, theft is a real concern. We don’t need a market for stolen horse, thank you.
I have no ethical problems with horse meat at all. However equating a horse to a cow is showing ignorance about both. Horses can negotiate complex courses jumping high fences with a kid you love on their backs. Cows, not so much.