Interesting Article on Horse Slaughter

[PaintedPromiseRanch]

got this off one of my rescue lists... i know i have seen this topic here before so thought this might interest some of you:

Hi Folks, Well folks, the Texas ruling really has the slaughter folks frantic.The slaughter houses are pulling out all the stops with their argument thatthe rescues are going to be overwhelmed when slaughter ends, andsome people are buying it. There are also some slaughter agents onthe groups pretending to be rescuers and throwing gas on the fire. I see shrill messages being posted on a lot of groups. This is exactly what the slaughter plants want you to believe. I have studied this issue in great depth and it is nothing but a myth. I know I have said all this before, but we need to get this under control.They slaughter 1% of the horses in America each year. The abused andneglected horses almost never go to slaughter. How can I prove thesethings are not related? Horse slaughter fell from 350,000 to under 50,000 between 1989 and 2002.In some years it dropped by 70,000. The drop was due to a drop in the marketfor horse meat in Europe. Over 3,000,000 fewer horses were slaughteredthan would have been if the rate had remained at the 1989 level. Do you remember a crisis? NO! Since 2002, slaughter has almost tripled. Are you finding fewer horses needing rescue? NO! The two things are not significantly related. THERE WILL BE NO "UNWANTED HORSE" CRISIS! Slaughter in no way helps with unwanted horses. In my white paperI prove there is no relationship: http://www.horse-protection.org/pdf/Relati...o-Slaughter.pdf Another good paper is:http://www.trfinc.org/news/TRF_WhitePaper.pdf Each horse in America is the responsibility of its current owner. The only thing that is going to change is that those owners will not have the option of abandoningtheir horses to this cruel fate for a few pieces of silver. As rescuers (and yes Irescue too), it is not our responsibility to save every horse an owner wants toget rid of. It is there responsibility. Abandoning their horses or neglectingthem are not legal options. Many horses are sent to slaughter because it is marginally lest costly thantreating them right. For example, a string of camp ponies can be replacedeach season slightly more cheaply than it can be wintered over. The samegoes for other horses. If a race horse has an injury that keeps it from racingfor a few months, it is often sold to slaughter, etc, etc. It is all about moneyfolks! It is also about whether horses are nothing more than property thatcan be discarded at will. Finally, horse slaughter rewards bad behavior. When you reward bad behavior you just get more bad behavior and a sense of entitlement on the part of the abusers. by John Holland

 

[rabbitsfizz]

What will happen is that the horses for slaughter will just be hauled on over the border, without food or water and slaughtered under NO humane laws at all.

But that's OK just so long as it does not happen in Texas, eh??

So the do-gooders have REALLY he;ped the horses loads.

 

[FoRebel]

REMOVED TO SAVE PERSONAL FLAMING!

I personally, rescued my TB from being put on a kill truck. Sorry, I feel that there are homes and other options for those that are being put on the kill trucks!

 

[Triggy&Blue&Daisy Too]

First of all nothing has EVER stopped horses going to Mexico to be abused. Have you ever heard of the "sport" of horse tripping? Big business in the cruelty sports down there and horses have been tranported across the boarder for as long as I can remember.

It's not like we have ever done a bang up job in the humanity department here and horses bound for slaughter are regularly treated in horrendously cruel ways. And amen to the article, horses are the ultimate responsibilty of their owners so anything that no longer provides a convenient and easy out for them should be stopped. Makes me wretch that breeders who are now dealing with a hay shortage are dumping the babies they bred on the lots because the idiots didn't bother to think any further than their noses.

I'm glad that TX has taken a stand and is finally saying NOT IN MY STATE!

 

[minihorseluver]

I don't agree. Because the numbers of horses slaughtered has gone down, prices for horses fell as well. For those of us that love our horses, but have to treat this as a business, look at the supply and demand. The more horses that there are on the market, the lower the price goes. That's our problem, we can't save every horse out there, and there are always people who are too ignorant to own horses. Those situations usually end badly.

I look at it this way, if a person wants to get rid of their horse "the easy way" then I'd rather have them go to slaughter, than sitting in someone's back pasture being neglected and what not because the owner can't get rid of it. Those are the people who want to make money on the horse when they sell it, and they won't sell it if they can't get their price. What happens to the horse in the mean time?

I do agree that there are some good horses who shouldn't be sent for slaughter, but I know of many horses that are a threat to people and should go for slaughter. I don't want to see the slaughter plants completely closed down, although I would like to see them better regulated. If they were better regulated, then horses would be more humanely put down. Also, cattle are raised from calf on only to see slaughter for food. Why is it such a problem to see horses go for food as well? I know of many nice pet steers that I had to let go as a child because that's what farming is all about.

I personally wouldn't mind seeing fewer horses on the market, and the only way that we are going to be able to do that is by regulating what we breed, and "getting rid of" those that need to be gotten rid of. Everything is connected, and it may not look like it, but the slaughter industry is also helping the horse industry by bringing down the numbers of horses, and keeping demand up.

When is the last time that anyone has been to an auction? Horses sell for dirt there, at the first auction that I went to last year I could have gotten a weanling tri-colored colt with papers for $50. Had I been in the quarterhorse business I would have scarfed him up. He was well mannered and had good confirmation, I don't know what his teeth looked like, but as a colt most problems can be fixed. What is the horse industry going to look like in ten years if we get rid of slaughterhouses? I can tell you that there will be absolutely NO money in the horse business then.

 

[tagalong]

There may be "humane laws" but if you take a look at all the information out on the web about horse slaughter in the US you can clearly see that there is no humanity in the slaughter. Most horses are knocked out with a bolt to the temple and are still alive when their throats are slit! In the slaughter houses you can hear the horses in agony because they were NOT killed by the bolt but rather by being bled out! Here's a website for you to check out and read up on American Horse Slaughter: Equine Advocates: Horse Slaughter

Bolding mine. WRONG. This is NOT what is "normal".

I hate getting into these discussions because so many believe the reactionary stuff that is declared to be The Truth - when it is not.

"Most horses" are NOT still alive when they are bled out. Sheer nonsense. I have actually toured a slaughterhouse in Canada (twice) - have you? Have you seen it for yourself? NO idiot is purposefully going to lift one 1000 pound live, struggling, flailing horse after another over their heads to slit its throat and bleed it out... that would be dangerous and stupid...

Horses are NOT "screaming in agony" on the hoists from being bled out... they are dead when they hit the floor before that. The operator of the electric gun makes sure of that. And if he has any doubt he gives them another shot.

I did not care for the smug, self-satisfied tone of the quote in the first post. That is simply that guy's opinion - not necessarily the facts - one would have to look up the numbers to support his math. They did not "solve" anything... the horses that would have wound up at the slaughterhouse will just get trucked farther - or get ignored in the back fields. Instead of dealing with the hauling and auction issues - they started at the wrong end of the chain. If you want to tear down the bathtub - you turn off the faucet first. But mankind has never been known for its ability to think things through from the beginning... :no: ... and tends to be reactive instead of proactive...

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I have been round a slaughter house too- once was enough, although it has not put me off eating meat!!

I will say again, as I always do, ad nauseum- It is NOT the killing that is wrong, it is the handling of the killing.

I have had quite a few horses shot, over the years, the last two being two months ago, and they were treated with respect and humanity.

They were also dead before they hit the floor.

THIS is where it all goes wrong.

The way the animals- all animals are treated.

There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with killing a horse, even a healthy, young horse, although it is a shame to do so if it is a choice between the animal living in the manner we have seen over and over then I would rather it was dead.

For goodness sake WAKE UP and stop shoving the responsibility from one place to another- there do actually HAVE to be some slaughter facilities- these people do not set out to be knackers because they are warped and sadistic they do it because there si a buck to be made out of surplus horses.

Just where do you think all these surplus horses are going to go??

They will not disappear, even in a state as big as Texas, merely because Texas decides it does not want to deal with them.

Has Texas then put aside a large amount of money and a huge tract of land to house all the horse that cannot now be slaughter??

I already know the answer.

All it has done is join the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) crew.

Well done, nice one.

Another responsibility shelved!!!