It is a fact that at this point, the slaughter business in Canada at any rate (I live in the northern half of the country) is targeting heavy muscled horses and prime healthy stock, some of which are well trained animals that simply are not being bid on by people in tighter financial times; they are not as interested in animals that are lightweight. With the ever increasing pressures that the animal rights people make to legislation (constantly ongoing—they are currently aggressive about getting rid of double decker haulers which are not in fact higher risk for travel and are of course more economical to use in these times of ever-increasing gas prices)…where in times past the slaughter market helped recycle horses that were poor, crippled, old; at this point the sales barns will not accept horses that are questionable as to value because they have been “stuck” thru this development of change in the market with horses abandoned at their facility, some of which have simply had to be disposed of, which no one wants to happen. Leaving the horse rescue people with a larger number of truly non-adoptable horses all the time.

By Maria Borkowski and Paula Blough in Facebook’s  Pro Horse Slaughter– I CARE about the horse industry, January 2012

 A Texas woman and her husband had several horses. One day the woman’s husband left her and the horses. She tried to care for them but could not afford to feed them. The horses began to starve. She begged people to take them, but there is no market in Texas for horses unless they are of the highest quality. No one would even take them in for free. Most of the horses died over the winter, and the rest disappeared after turning into skeletons.

 A man in Montana bought four horses from a breeder for $10 each to keep the horses from going to slaughter. He didn’t realize how much it costs to care for horses. He ended up starving the horses he was trying to rescue.

 A woman in Kansas had a horse and two saddles stolen. Four days later, the horse was found in a field 30 miles away. She had been shot in the head and left for dead. She somehow survived but is now blind in one eye. The thief obviously valued two used saddles more than the life of a horse.

 Situations like these are happening all over the country. Horses are being turned loose to try to fend for themselves. Ranchers in some parts of the country are having random horses show up in their pastures. In some parts of the United States, people are tying their horses to fence posts with their papers and signed transfers stuffed in the halter. Their owners can no longer afford to care for them. They turn them loose or drop them off hoping someone will find them and take them in. This is an epidemic hurting our nation’s horse population. Horses are suffering needlessly because there is no longer a market for them.

 The market has been flooded with “unwanted horses.” The unwanted horses used to go to slaughter, but the three horse processing facilities in the U.S. were shutdown in 2007. Just as the name implies, an unwanted horse is a horse that has become unwanted by its owner. The American Association of Equine Practitioners or AAEP defines unwanted horses as “horses which are no longer wanted by their current owner because they are old, injured, sick, unmanageable, fail to meet their owner’s expectations (i.e. performance, color, or breeding), or their owner can no longer afford them” (Unwanted 2). Regardless of the reason, these horses no longer have permanent homes.

 Beginning with 2007, the Unwanted Horse Coalition estimates 170,000 horses become unwanted every year (Unwanted 2). These magnificent animals shouldn’t have to suffer. “How can the unwanted horses be cared for?” is the question that arises. There are many options available, but each of these is an insufficient solution to the unwanted horse problem.

 The first option a horse owner might consider is selling the unwanted horse or horses. The problem with this is that there is no market for horses in the United States today unless they are of the highest quality. The reason for this downturn in the market is the high price of hay and the flooding of horses in the market that would have gone to slaughter before the slaughter ban. Horses that once cost $500 are selling for $50 (Jarvie). There are many cases where the horses sell for less than the fee the sale barn charges a seller. Thus, the seller ends up having to pay the sale barn in order to sell the horse.  Before the ban, the buyers who purchase for the slaughter facilities would pay between $300 and $700 for a horse. These were the low-selling horses.  These people want to make a profit; they are going to buy the cheaper horses that no one wants rather than the good horses in order to make a better profit.  A study that examined horses at both auctions and slaughterhouses found that slaughterhouses only purchase horses not viewed by other buyers as viable working animals. These horses bound for slaughterhouses had poorer foot and body condition, were older, and had more severe behavioral problems than other horses at auctions (Jarvie).  This shows that it is typically horses that are not useful, and therefore not as desirable, that are sent to slaughterhouses. It is also difficult to sell a horse directly to a buyer. In many cases, such as the example of the Texas woman, it is even difficult just to give away a horse.

 Another option for an unwanted horse is to send it to a horse rescue or a horse shelter. Horse rescues across the country have been filled to capacity with unwanted horses. Many shelters have to turn away pleading owners because they have no more space available or not enough funds to care for another horse. More horses are being sent to rescues than ever before while at the same time donations are at an all-time low (Mack). Many shelters are even having horses that they had adopted out be brought back to the rescue because their new owners could no longer afford to care for them. “’There are a lot worse things than death,’ said Janet Tuttle, owner of a horse rescue in Maine. ‘People have been leaving horses in barns and fields to die simply because they cannot afford to care for them’” (qtd in Mack).

 Being unsuccessful with finding a new home for their horse, a horse owner may decide to try to keep the horse, and let it live out the rest of its life. The AAEP estimates that the minimum yearly cost to care for a horse is $1,825 (“FAQ…”). This figure does not include veterinary and farrier (hoof care) expenses not to mention horses live a long time. The average lifespan of a horse is 30 years (AVMA). This means the absolute minimum cost of caring for a horse for 10 years is over $18,000. With the economy being down, it is hard for many horse owners to care for an animal that costs them more money than it brings in. Additionally, the recent drought in parts of the United States is making hay harder to find and thus, more expensive. This makes horse care especially hard for people who own horses just for recreation. There have been more and more reports of people starving their horses to death because they cannot afford to feed them, but they also cannot find a new home for their horses. “’It’s heartbreaking,’ said Kathy Grant, who runs a rescue center in drought-stricken eastern Tennessee. ‘The back roads are where you find them — all skin and bone, just hanging their heads in the pastures, dying’” (qtd in Jarvie).

 Desperate horse owners have also been known to turn their horses loose or drop them off in people’s pastures hoping that someone will find them and take care of them. Horses that have been cared for by humans all their lives cannot survive in the wild. Other people are having enough trouble caring for their own animals; it is wrong to put one’s burden on someone else.

 The final option for an unwanted horse is to have the animal put down. Euthanasia can be quite costly in itself, but there are other faults with this choice. Something has to be done with the horse’s remains. There are four main ways to do this: burial, cremation, rendering, or a landfill. A person may want to bury the horse on their property. A backhoe will have to be rented or a person will have to be paid to come dig a hole for burial. This is not cheap. Also, many local ordinances would not allow the burial of such a large animal. Cremation is also quite expensive. The actual cremation cost over $1,000 in most cases. Then there is the pick-up fee which can be a couple hundred dollars. Cremation services are also difficult to find for large animals. On top of all that, the average horse’s ashes weigh forty pounds (“Euthanasia…”). This takes up quite a bit of space. Rendering services are also few and far between. For a relatively low price, renderers will come get a dead horse. They process the horse’s body and give the horse new uses. The meat is used to feed the big cats in zoos. The skin, hooves, and bones can all be used. Lastly, there is the landfill. If the local landfill allows, a horse’s body may be disposed of there. This is the least expensive method, but the thought of an animal rotting in a landfill can be unbearable.

 The best solution for the unwanted horses is a different form of euthanasia. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), “there are three methods acceptable for the euthanasia of horses: chemical euthanasia, with pentobarbital or a pentobarbital combination (euthanasia solution); gunshot; and penetrating captive bolt” (AVMA). Typically when a horse is put down, chemical euthanasia is used. Penetrating captive bolt is similar to a gunshot, but it does not release a projectile. This method induces death more rapidly than chemical euthanasia (AVMA). This method of euthanasia is also how the horses in U.S. slaughterhouses were killed.

On the other hand, slaughterhouses in Mexico are unregulated. Horses are typically immobilized by severing the spine with a knife. With the heart beating, they’re hoisted by chain wrapped on a hind leg. A cut to the throat allows horses to bleed out. In 2007, Congress cut funding for horse slaughter inspections, putting the facilities out of business. From 2006 through 2010, horse imports from the U.S. to Mexico for slaughter increased 660% (Shames 12). Many of the unwanted horses are now being shipped hundreds of miles to suffer an inhumane death in the hands of Mexican slaughterhouses. Last year, 137,984 horses were shipped to Mexico and Canada for meat production. Before the ban, 90,000 to 100,000 horses were processed each year in the United States (AVMA). Though it sounds like a lot of horses, this is nothing considering there are 9.2 million horses in the United States (AVMA). This means only 1% of the horse population actually goes to slaughter. American slaughterhouses are held to much higher standards. Veterinarians supervised the killing of all horses in U.S. facilities (AMVA). The animals’ lives are ended respectfully and humanely.

 Horse slaughter is also good for our economy. It provides many jobs for Americans and brings in a considerable sum of money from exports. This helps alleviate our trade deficit. In the last full year of slaughter, the U.S. exported $65 million dollars’ worth of horse meat (Shames 8). Horse products add approximately $650 million dollars to the U.S. economy.

 Slaughter also gives an unwanted horse’s life more value. Most horse meat is exported to European and Asian countries for consumption. However, an often overlooked demand for horse meat comes from zoos. Large carnivores, such as lions and tigers, require a lot of high-quality protein in their diets (AVMA). Horse meat is a healthy choice for the big cats. This lean meat has 40% fewer calories, 50% more protein, and up to 30% more iron than beef (AVMA). The horse’s hide is made into leather, and the hooves and bones are made into glue, fertilizer, and several other products.

 Horse slaughter should be reestablished in the United States due to the inadequate alternatives for unwanted horses; its advantage over other disposal options; and the benefits of horse products.  This is the most humane way to deal with the numerous extra horses. Horses shouldn’t have to suffer. It’s heartbreaking hearing stories of horses starving to death because no one could take care of them. After looking at the alternatives for the overload of unwanted horses, it is clear that horse slaughter plants in the U.S. should be reopened.

 Works Cited

 AVMA Communications Division. “Frequently Asked Questions.” American Veterinary Medical Association. 5 Sept. 2008. Web. 18 Oct. 2011.

 Carpenter, Tim. “Rhapsody Vanishes Into Ether of Slaughter Market.” The Topeka Capital Journal. 15 Oct. 2011. Web. 19 Oct. 2011.

“Euthanasia – What You Need To Know About Putting a Horse Down.” American Horse Rider & Horses and Horse Information. Winter 1998. Web. 19 Oct. 2011.

“FAQ About Unwanted Horses.” American Association of Equine Practitioners. 2011. Web. 14 Oct. 2011.

Jarvie, Jenny.   “Drought is a Hard Time for Horses.” Los Angeles Times. 13 Jan. 2008. Web. 19 Oct. 2011.

 Mack, Sharon. “Maine’s Horse Rescue Shelters Struggling to Save Animals in Tough Times.” Bangor Daily News. 15 May 2011. Web. 19 Oct. 2011.

 Shames, Lisa. Horse Welfare: Action Needed to Address Unintended Consequences from Cessation of Domestic Slaughter. DIANE Publishing, June 2011. Print.

 Unwanted Horse Coalition / The American Horse Council. “2009 Unwanted Horse Survey.” Unwanted Horse Coalition. 2009. Web. 18 Oct. 2011.

http://humanewatch.org/index.php/site/post/hsus_hypocrisy/

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL PET SHELTER

Posted this in the Bismark Tribune in response to a letter to the editor they printed opposed to horse slaughter….kind of surprised they let it go up actually.

“Several points…..

According to the GAO report out earlier this summer there have been some serious side effects to the ban on funding for inspections for horse carcasses (the reason commercial horse slaughter for human consumption stopped in this country in ’05)…some of those are a lowering of the general price of horses across the board as well as a more severe drop in pricing for lower quality animals…this occurred BEFORE the economic crunch came down. There have also been increased reports of neglect and abandonment…unfortunately most of those stats are kept only on a county wide basis for most of the country so gathering them into a national figure is not done but those few states that do keep stats did show an increase. My own area normally sees 4-5 domestic horses thrown out to run with the mustangs each winter. In the last several winters those numbers have gone up to 15-20 domestic horses let go. This is in one small area. A vet near Hardin, MT reports 1200 estimated dumped horses within one ranching area.

 Chemical euthanasia is expensive….I live for instance 70 miles from the nearest vet. If I have an appointment it’s $200 for him to drive in the driveway plus the cost of whatever is done. If it’s an emergency it’s double that and there is talk that service out this far is likely to be stopped due to driving distances involved. Once I have a chemically euthanized animal laying on the place I have to have it buried to prevent poisoning the scavengers that will otherwise eat it….coyotes, hawks, magpies, crows, bald and golden eagles among them. Cost of burial….4 hour minimum fee for the backhoe….$450. Risk of burial….a water table that is 35-40 feet down and feeds my well. Some areas of the country are no longer allowing burial or landfill dumping of chemically euthanized animals and require cremation. Cremation allows the chemicals involved to be released into the air…not sure that is much better than being in the water. And cremation is not available in all areas of the country. Neither is rendering, the other often mentioned option. Since BSE showed up and rendering plants have to deal with potentially hazardous waste from such cattle many have shut down. To my knowledge there is ONE in my area and that’s over 100 miles away, makes one trip out in this area a week.

Horse meat has historically been eaten in this country for several hundred years. It was in stores in Portland, Oregon in the early/mid 1970′s. It supported our troops through two world wars. It was on Harvard’s menu into the 1980′s. There are no laws against slaughter and butcher of your own horse and there are people who do this. There are ethnic groups within this country who historically and culturally have eaten horse for thousands of years.

In terms of safety,  there are questions regarding drug residues in horse meat; there have not been studies done to determine clearance/withdrawal times. These HAVE been done on cattle and so we know how long it takes for a beef steer to clear down to acceptable levels of various drugs (and yes, beef cattle do in general, get far more in the way of drugs than the average horse). The tube of horse wormer sitting on my desk at the moment has an 8 DAY clearance for cattle. Most drugs are stored in fat. Cattle have more fat than horses and more marbled fat within the meat. We know the withdrawal times on cattle. It could easily be extrapolated that the time on the same drugs in horses would be less as they have less fat in which to store the drugs. Virtually all livestock used for food have multiple drugs given to them throughout their lives including antibiotics, growth hormones etc. Studies would be fairly short term and fairly inexpensive to perform to determine withdrawal times in horses and that would answer this issue.

Horse slaughter did not stop with the lack of funding for inspections….it merely moved across the borders. Horses now have to travel further and longer;  those opposed to slaughter here raised a stink about transporting. It wouldn’t have been needed if the funding here had not been stopped. However, in response to the issues they raised, horses no longer travel in double decker trailers…haulers spent some big dollars to buy new trailers. Then the fuss was about crowding…apparently those opposed to slaughter think that horses should haul there in slant load goosenecks or something and don’t understand that animals bunched snugly together ride in a more stabilized way than animals that can move around. Then there was the fuss about injured animals and pregnant mares. Injuries happen….no doubt. Horses are animals that some feel are born looking for a way to dramatically hurt themselves. Mares often don’t show pregnant looking until the last 2-3 months and not every pregnancy is known….even vets have been known to miss one when checking and not all owners either know their mare is pregnant or check her if they think she might be. It’s perfectly possible for a pregnant mare to get on a load of canner horses. Trucks and animals are now inspected at border crossings and injured animals or trucks with violations (which may consist of a non-operating running light) are turned back. Shipping regulations were originally written for animals going to slaughter and when we had horse slaughter in this country those regs could be applied. When horses began going over the borders in larger numbers they were held at feed lots or holding facilities….and transport to such facilities isnot regulated in the same way. That has been changed and new regs go into effect soon covering all stages/portions of trips from sales yard to slaughter. All of this of course costs money including federal tax funds.

The argument that tax funds should not be used to inspect horse carcasses because it is going to be some astronomical figure doesn’t hold water. Roughly 100,000 carcasses are processed a year. There are roughly 250 work days in a year…365 minus the 104 for weekends and around a dozen for holidays. That means 400 carcasses a work day. Assuming two shifts of work that is 200 a shift or 25 an hour. My info is that federal inspectors make about $25/hr plus benefits. That means $1 per carcass is the cost of inspection. Even if it meant two inspectors working at a time that’s still only $200,000 a year (plus benefits). Congress (and virtually any other governing organization) can waste that much money in a single day. It’s a minute drop in the bucket of the federal budget. And I’d rather they spent it on inspecting meat than counting blue spotted something or other butterflies somewhere.

The argument is made that 70% of Americans are opposed to horse slaughter. You can make a survey produce any result you want by simply wording the questions one way vs another. For example…”are you opposed to horse slaughter where a captive bolt is driven into the head of the horse and punctures its skull and then it is hoisted up by a hind leg and the throat cut while the heart is still beating?”…OF COURSE 70% are going to say “YES” to such a question. OR you can ask…”given the following options which would you prefer…. A)a horse to stand in a field, unused, crippled, unwanted and a financial drain on the owner until such time as it dies from malnutrition, starvation or dehydration or B)horse transported while still relatively healthy and in good weight to a facility where it is killed quickly and humanely and the carcass inspected and made use of for meat and other products”? Survey results are all in the wording and presentation.

 The hue and cry has been that horse breeders are the source of all these problems. Maybe…. The average horse lives to his mid 20′s. So horses that are adult horses today going to slaughter are ones that were bred in the last 25 years. Over the last 25 years there has been a market for these horses. The baby boomers drove that market for close to 30 years. Now they/we are getting to retirement age. We feel more mortal and we sometimes aren’t as enthused about jumping on a horse and riding as we used to be. Our retirement fund got raided by the Maddofs of the world. Our house is now worth less than it was when we bought it. The cost of everything is higher than we…or anyone….expected. We are aware that our animals may outlive us and we begin to cut back for all of these reasons. Horses are now much more of a luxury than they have been in the last 30 or so years. Breeders cutting back at this point will not change the numbers of adult horses already here. It will put more horses on the market as they cannot carry non-productive animals forever, no matter how good the bloodlines, the breeding program or the horses themselves…and with the market where it is they can’t sell them at anything like a break even point (never mind a profit). Those breeders that are quitting are forced to sell thus adding to the numbers of horses out there. Other breeders are hanging on, often by the skin of their teeth, hoping to ride this out and continue to have good quality animals to breed and sell in the future. If their mares are fairly young they can do this. Leaving older mares, often with irreplaceable bloodlines, open (not pregnant) often means they’ll never get pregnant again, resulting in the loss of those lines. With feed costs near or at double the price of a year or two ago in many areas of the country a breeder simply can’t do that for long. As far as numbers go…..according to stats at APHA, AQHA and ApHC (Paint, QH and Appy associations) the numbers of mares being bred are down significantly (as much as 76% in Paints for instance)…info from stallion breeding reports where every mare bred is to be listed. Registration numbers on foals match the reduced numbers of mares bred so it isn’t just that foals aren’t being registered…they aren’t being produced. The ONLY thing this will do is reduce the number of good quality young horses available in the next 3-5 years or so.

Meanwhile…Joe Blow has a grade mare without any pedigree that is a family pet. He also has a couple of kids. He thinks it would be cool for the kids to see a foal born and “grow up with it” and “bond with it” even though he has no experience in breeding or raising and training a foal. And his cousin, down the road a bit, has this two year old grade colt (bought at basement prices) that hasn’t been gelded yet that might make a nice cross (although NEITHER he nor his cousin can tell you the first thing about what makes a GOOD horse or a GOOD cross because they’ve never done a minute’s research into it). Repeat this scenario around the country a couple hundred thousand times….and tell me that the breeders that do their homework, invest their money in good stock, spend thousands of hours and dollars in producing one good foal are the ones responsible for this mess.

Lastly, if slaughter of horses is inhumane and “wrong” what is OK about slaughter of other stock? Of cattle and goats, pigs and chickens, calves and lambs? If one is opposed to slaughter of horses on some moral ground then one should also be opposed to slaughter of other animals. And one should have the moral integrity to not use the products of slaughter of any animal…..such as makeup, brushes, or additives to your rubber tires on your truck to make them last longer, or insulin, or heparin, or your tetanus shot, or pig valves for heart surgeries, or the casings on your morning sausage (or the sausage itself for that matter) or the strings on violins or any of the other thousands of uses to which animal remains are put to use to make. Most opposed to horse slaughter probably have never walked through a slaughter house and depend only on anti-slaughter videos for their info. Oprah did a tour…you can see it on her site. She thought it would be horrid…it wasn’t. Are there misfires? of course..horses move….and restraining their heads causes many to panic. The captive bolt causes brain death…it doesn’t stop the heart from beating so the horse can be bled out quickly by hoisting and cutting the jugular and carotid vessels…but the horse is BRAIN DEAD…he’s not feeling anything, he’s not aware of anything. The same is true of other livestock slaughtered.

Those that oppose because horses are “pets”….be very careful what you wish for. Horses are about the only livestock that city dwellers ever even see, and many of them have never seen or touched one in person. They have romantic notions of “bonding” and see way too many Disney movies. HSUS WANTS you to think of horses as pets because pets are much easier to regulate.  Pets can be granted “personhood” (there are bills for this in front of some state legislatures!).  Pets can have “guardians” rather than “owners”….so anyone who disagrees with how you handle or treat your pet can appeal for a change in guardianship and simply take it away from you with a court order. Regulations regarding keeping of pets are more easily passed on local levels so you may be required to heat or cool your pets 20 acre field to maintain a required ambient temperature the way dog kennels or catteries do. HSUS and PETA have goals…one of them is the elimination of all use of all domestic animals…for food, for work, for pets….and they think they can do it in one generation.

For those that are opposed to slaughter…no one is forcing you to take or send your horse to slaughter. No one. You don’t like slaughter then keep your animal forever until you put it down. If I’m not making an attempt to control your choices why do you think it OK for you to try and control mine.

{And then in response to someone pushing for all kinds of laws and regulations to “straighten up” the breeding outlook across the country}:

The point being that if regulations (such as has been proposed) are put into place that makes anyone who doesn’t blanket their horse at any temperature below 50 (as an example) a bad owner then there are going to be millions of bad owners whose horses are NOT suffering at all. Or if horses become “companion animals” and companion animals are required to have ambient temperature control in their breeding facilities….you could have to, in theory, AC or heat your 40 acre field. If animals are granted “personhood” (also proposed) then they can have an attorney provided for their interests if someone thinks they aren’t being cared for and can sue their owner. Or if the word “owner” is changed to the word “guardian” (as has also been proposed…may have been done in some places…don’t know for sure) then you don’t own your animal and anyone who disputes how you care for it, reasonably or not, can apply to the court for a change of guardianship and take your animal away based on their arguments in front of a judge…without compensation I might add because only if you OWN an animal do you have a financial interest in it.

There are already laws in place regarding neglect….and they aren’t well enforced now because police officers often don’t know them, there isn’t funding for enforcement, there isn’t a place to put impounded animals or budget to care for them and we don’t have room in the jails to keep people that are turned into criminals because they didn’t have money for their dogs dinner and their kids dinner and the house payment so something had to give. They can’t get rid of the dog/horse/rabbit/whatever because no one else has money either. And they won’t take it to the pound or sale because they are scared it will end up dead…..and they love it too much to risk that….

But those ARE the laws that are being proposed and in some situations passed, either by voters who have no clue what impact they will have on agriculture or by state legislators who haven’t the backbone to stand up and say enough is enough. There are unintended consequences of every law written.

I can promise you if the kind of laws that you ARE talking about get passed around here….every horse I own will go to the local auction with instructions that ONLY the kill buyers bid be accepted and I will have the entire herd slaughtered because I will NOT have some organization looking over my shoulder and second guessing every breeding decision, every training technique, every flake of hay used here. If you want to impose breeding licenses or other such BS on breeders I for one will not comply…not unless you do the same thing for every dog owner with an intact dog, every cat owner with an intact cat, every guppy owner with a tank of fish, every chicken and turkey farmer, every goat breeder….every single person who ever allows any animal to reproduce. And guess what….THAT is exactly the scenario that HSUS wants to see happen….THAT would reach their goal of no use of any animal for any reason. BTW….around here….more than one rancher has said he’s had about enough of regulations that interfere with his business and livelihood and if it continues he’ll simply stop producing for anyone other than his family. Do not mess with the hands that feed you and produce the products you want.

and

http://networkedblogs.com/rNGVY

The above are a couple of informative articles related to horse slaughter.

And let us become fully informed about the drugs used in euthanasia:

http://www.avma.org/issues/animal_welfare/euthanasia.pdf

This link is a fairly thought out portion of the story that leads people to support horse slaughter.  It includes passionate discussion in the comments section as many do, and this is where open minded folks may become more educated overall.  Many of these blog page links that I share have other equally informative articles elsewhere in their blog.

The above link has some interesting info, especially if you have the stamina to read through the responses!

I want to reiterate that my stand on horse slaughter comes from the viewpoint that I believe it’s inclusion as an industry in the US has value in a “green” world.  It should have merit as part of the cycle of life and making all animals useful.  I don’t believe that euthanasia is a realistic alternative for the majority of horses out there; I don’t expect people to start eating horse meat but also I don’t think the average horse owner keeps a horse all throughout it’s life and plans for how it will eventually end it’s life.   Circumstances are not stable throughout life for most people, incomes fluctuate and why should everyone be expected to spend at least several hundred dollars to dispose of a horse when in fact, EPA does not want you to have to worry about how a horse will be disposed of?….but that info is for another day.

Here’s a copy of an article that I have edited from another source, also discussing horse meat facts:

Four reasons to eat horse meat

From its surprisingly good nutritional values to the arbitrary reasons it was considered “taboo” in the first place, this list gives you a rundown on horse meat

1. Horse Meat is Taboo Thru Tradition, Not Fact

Horse meat has been taboo in the U.S. and U.K. at various points during their history, but they are some of the only countries to do so. In large part, horses are not seen as meat products simply because they have not been used that way.  Horse was commonly eaten throughout pioneering U.S. history and was greatly consumed by all during the years of WWII when there was also an overpopulation of horses left from their discontinued use on farms.

In countries like France, Italy, Belgium, Japan, Spain, horse meat consumption has been widespread for centuries, and is therefore considered a staple or a delicacy.

In fact, one reason why it’s so strange to consider horse flesh as meat may be because the English language has no word to describe it. While pig meat has four terms (pork, bacon, ham and gammon), two for cow (beef, veal) and three for sheep (lamb, mutton and hogget), horse has nothing except the rarely used euphemism “cheval meat” (“cheval” is French for “horse”).

When it comes down to it, everyone who’s a meat eater must ask themselves: why is it acceptable to eat very useful animals like cows (who provide dairy and can be work animals) or intelligent animals like pigs (who are very similar in bone structure and musculature to humans), but somehow wrong to eat horses?   There are lots of people in the world who eat meat protein from innumerable sources; guinna pigs, rabbit, beaver, squirrel……not to mention bear and pronghorn, elk, etc. and birds/fish.

2. Horse Meat (and Slaughter) Has Been Widespread in U.S. Before Now

Even if one doesn’t count the illegal horse slaughter that’s happened in the four years since the practice was banned in the U.S., horse meat hasn’t always been a taboo source of food in America, and has reappeared in American cuisine again and again over the past century.

During World War II, due to beef’s high prices and low supply, some states legalized its sale, and it became a (largely unremarked) staple into the 1950s. A 1951 issue of Time magazine laid it out on the table: “People who used to pretend it was for the dog now came right out and said it was going on the table.”

People even began providing recipes for horse pot roast and equine fillets, a trend that reappeared during the heavy inflation of the mid-1970s.

3. Feeling  ‘Just Wrong Somehow’ Likely Cultural Leftovers

Beyond simply not being used to horse meat, many people oppose horse slaughter (while condoning the slaughter of pigs, sheep and cows) is because it “just feels wrong.” The feeling is likely triggered not by some instinctive moral compass, however.

In fact, it’s likely that many people’s revulsion to eating horse meat comes from the Roman Catholic Church, as far back as the eighth century.  Popes Zachary and Gregory III both instructed St. Boniface, a German missionary, to discourage those he converted from eating horse meat because it was tied to pagan ritual. As Christianity spread, the attempt to stop “heathen” practices eventually morphed into a general religious taboo against horse meat, which has lasted into the present day.

4. Horse Meat Is Both Tasty and Good for You

Here’s the dirty little secret about horse meat: it may be the best “red meat” out there. Though the taste of horse varies, the general consensus is that the meat is tender and sweet, like a blend between beef and venison (deer).

Beyond its taste, however, horse meat is also incredibly good for you, and is USDA-recommended. It’s low in fat, very high in protein, and has double the iron of lean beef and other meats. It also has a high concentration of omega-3 fatty acids, which help fight stroke, heart disease and neural degeneration.

If the U.S. government lifts its ban on horse meat and slaughterhouses, it will also open an avenue for the federal government to regulate/test for acceptable levels of possible dangerous chemicals such as “Bute” commonly used as a pain killer in performance horses.  Some people include de-wormer medication use in the argument against consumption of horse meat as well, but studies would likely reveal that horses expel   toxins faster than cattle and other livestock raised for consumption where it’s use (de-wormer) is common, because horses have lower fat body composition and possibly higher metabolism.

I just cringe when I have to think about special interests pushing for new laws about different things all the time.  I think the ten commandments covered most of the bases about life in general; these days there are so many lines in the sand that people can’t step anywhere and become uncaring about crossing that line.  Common sense and economy usually end up making the most difference to decisions, and good management “should” make the most difference as to who attains their goal in life.

This blog linked to above explores some various aspects of the horse slaughter issue that I had not planned to look at, so I appreciate their efforts.

Here is a rather related look at unwanted horses and a similar thoughtful blog:

http://thenaughtytobiano.blogspot.com/2012/01/unwanted-horses-fact-or-fiction.html

AND:

http://thenaughtytobiano.blogspot.com/2011/12/hold-on-loosely-no-dont-let-go.html

HSUS does not benefit your local humane society.  A tiny part of their budget supports animal rescue; the great majority of the money that people give when they see those terribly heart-rending ads showing those poor animals, is directed at either domestic terror tactics against your food producers, or generating more money to keep the pockets full of the huge management organization.

If you want to donate to shelters, do so directly, in your own backyard as it were, local shelters are always needing donations.  In a similar vein, choose the Salvation Army to donate for human benefits.  Everyone always forgets the Salvation Army and it’s budget greatly returns to your local community members.  Take care of your family and neighbors FIRST.

OMG OMG OMG

I had started this as a draft and saved the above several days ago.  Today, I find this current news story:

http://www.ussportsmen.org/page.aspx?pid=2954&erid=10592436&trid=fdfddf70-e02d-495f-8dda-549b7e5b492d

Wow, the heat is really on! 

In the wake of the President signing the recent bill in November than opened doors for horse slaughter to rear its head again in this whole mix of animal rights issues, we need to thoroughly examine what is of real value for the majority!  But for now, please read the information at these links!

PS:  So, I recently dropped the website I had where there was a lengthy page that discussed the history of HSUS and why so many of its recent actions were just wrong.  Do people want to read that?  It included info on the original recorded goals of HSUS to include elimination of all animal husbandry.

Here’s an interesting little story:

http://www.agweek.com/event/article/id/224358/publisher_ID/40/

http://bucknroll.com/2011/12/my-view-on-horse-slaughter/

I hope to share results in the next several days of my research into several aspects of what alternatives there are to horse slaughter as an answer to the question of how we should handle the end of our equine’s lives.  This question is not equal for everyone; the individual owner’s situation in life is going to dictate how they perceive the answers to this question. 

My understanding is, that few people actually own a horse from the time of his birth to the time of passing from this world.  When we have to move a loved animal on to a new owner, we of course hope for the best kind of fulfilling life for that animal.  In reality, animals have a hard time finding a forever home.  Personally, I cannot think of anyone besides my sister who has been able to plan for the birth of a horse and keep it to the bitter end.  It is always hard to face the inevitable end to life.