Why I am FOR horse slaughter in the United States:
What?! Did you read that right? Yes, I am completely for horse slaughter and would like to see it legal again in the US. I do love horses. I also believe that there is an overpopulation of horses in this country because we see them as pets. We also think that just because a horse can be bred, it should be bred. That's irresponsible breeding to breed an animal without having any good reason other than you can do it. Not only do we breed everything with a uterus, we also are unwilling to accept that there are horses out there who shouldn't be alive. Perhaps they were mistreated, abused, never trained, or never trained correctly. Never mind their background, if they are dangerous, they don't need to be alive. Also there are lots of older horses out there who have lived past their prime and ending their life is the kindest thing to do (although I'll touch on this later). The problem with these two groups of horses is that having a vet come out to put a horse down will cost a MINIMUM of $200 and the fee of the truck to come remove the horse is $200. That's $400 to put down a horse that will benefit no one. That's a lot of money to fork out, even for us at camp. Our "sympathetic" nation full of people who value their pet's lives as much as their children's lives decided that horse slaughter plants needed to close. Guess where all those horses are going now? Either they are being abandoned, mistreated and neglected, or are going to Mexico. How is that for "humane" treatment? Have we sent horses through slaughter auctions? Yes. We also barely get any money for them because we are paying for them to be hauled out of the country. (For those horses that have simply put in their time at camp and done well and have years left as a pasture pet, we try to retire them and find them a good home.)
Do you think that Mexico holds the same slaughter plant standards that the USDA maintains? I doubt it. highly doubt it. The USDA regularly inspects slaughter plants and they are required to maintain a certain standard. IF we had horse slaughter plants in the US, the USDA would ensure that the horses were well cared for prior (not so in Mexico) and killed quickly and effectively (not so in Mexico). Is it nice to think about horses being slaughtered? No. But neither is thinking about pigs, lambs, calves, goats, chickens, etc being run through the slaughter process. I know that horses are magnificent animals and I believe that God created them to be different from the other livestock animals. They are built to carry, to pull, to have a relationship with. Horses are God's gift to us. I'm not suggesting that we eat them. I'm just suggesting that there needs to be a place to take dangerous horses that will get them out of the general population but will still serve a purpose. Then, perhaps, educating people on smart breeding practices. Then again, those who keep dumping unwanted cats and dogs, puppies and kittens, just show me that we probably aren't ready to practice smart breeding. It's not fair to the animals and I'm sorry that they have to pay the price. Until people are ready to pay the price, it's going to have to be the animals.Maybe someday.
And to all those who are against horse slaughter, do we have your permission to put every dangerous and sick and old horse on your lawn for you to take care of?
Food for thought.....no pun intended.
I think you have a good point about how horses and other pets are 'exempt' from the treatment other animals get. I just finished reading the book Slaughterhouse. It's an interesting read if you have the time... beef eaters are already eating horse under the USDA's "watch" (if you can call it that). They just don't know it. After reading that book, the only point of contention I might bring up is that the USDA does not ensure humane slaughter--neither quick/effective nor well cared for animals. It was definitely a disturbing book that will continue to haunt me.
ReplyDeleteI do agree though that our country is messed up in that we hold our pets lives to be equal (or greater) than our children's!
My only experience with the USDA is that while I was in college and in classes we learned of the standards and quality control, it seemed as though they kept a tight control on this. Maybe that's what we're supposed to know. Amie and I mostly eat pork (one of the pigs from the mini-farm) and venison (that Ben shoots) so we know exactly where our food's been!
ReplyDeleteThat's what the USDA's supposed to do. This investigator found issues from top to bottom--people became lazy or abusive (or apathetic) at all levels and now the meat that goes through those plants is from horribly abused and toxic animals and comes out even dirtier... not to mention the horrid working conditions. I've become a psycho veggie mama when it comes to 'standard' meat--I dive for my son's hand if he has a chance to eat it... though I wouldn't be that way with meat if I knew where it came from. If it's a topic of interest for you, I definitely recommend the book!
ReplyDeleteInteresting conversation...! :) Thanks for sharing your thoughts!