Here was a newspaper editorial, with comments by Baxter Black, whom many of you may know as one of the famous cowboy poets. He is also a large animal vet here in AZ.
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Horse problem is man-made and fixable
Published: Wednesday, April 1, 2009 3:23 PM CDT
A local voice has now joined the debate over the closure of equine slaughterhouses in the United States .
Cowboy poet Baxter Black of Benson, who is also a large animal veterinarian, is one of the founders of a new webpage, www.abandonedhorses.com, established to document cases of equine abuse, abandonment and neglect. Wylie Gustafson, another web site founder, said, "Our first and foremost concern is the horse. There is a real and urgent need for change. Our intention is to reduce the horses' suffering and neglect by creating an awareness of the current problem."
The current problem he refers to is closure of slaughterhouses in the United States . In 2007, court action closed the Texas plant and in September of the same year, an Illinois state law prohibiting horse slaughter for human consumption closed the last plant in the U.S.
At the same time the plants were closing, the economy was headed south. So in 2008 and 2009, horse owners who had lost their jobs and could no longer feed their horses began turning them loose. The result has been herds of abandoned horses starving on rangelands throughout the country.
In southeast Arizona , we have one of the worst problems. If you can't afford to care for your horse, you can't afford several hundred dollars to humanely euthanize and dispose of an animal. And you can't sell the horse either. Willcox and Marana livestock auctions no longer sell horses. And the private horse market is really gone. Horses aren't worth much even in the best of times. Finally, the spots available at horse rescues are not even one percent of the equine overpopulation.
Of course, closing the U.S. slaughter plants has not stopped the slaughter of horses. It has just changed the locale. They are now being shipped to Canada and Mexico where there is less oversight. Video of the inhumane treatment of horses in Mexico will curl your hair. Now some well-meaning individuals want to pass a law banning the export of horses for slaughter.
None of us who has horses wants to see them killed. But think about it. What if we had the same law about euthanasia of dogs and cats? We would be overrun. Why are horses treated differently? Is it better to have them slowly starve or die of thirst?
Some states are now considering building new slaughter plants. That is preferable to the current situation. The PETA folks and other well-meaning animal rights advocates ought to be forced to work with the abandoned and neglected horses. The animals are paying the price for well-meaning but poorly thought out policies.
Baxter Black has it right when he says, "The real tragedy here is the problem is a man-made creation."
*************
Horse problem is man-made and fixable
Published: Wednesday, April 1, 2009 3:23 PM CDT
A local voice has now joined the debate over the closure of equine slaughterhouses in the United States .
Cowboy poet Baxter Black of Benson, who is also a large animal veterinarian, is one of the founders of a new webpage, www.abandonedhorses.com, established to document cases of equine abuse, abandonment and neglect. Wylie Gustafson, another web site founder, said, "Our first and foremost concern is the horse. There is a real and urgent need for change. Our intention is to reduce the horses' suffering and neglect by creating an awareness of the current problem."
The current problem he refers to is closure of slaughterhouses in the United States . In 2007, court action closed the Texas plant and in September of the same year, an Illinois state law prohibiting horse slaughter for human consumption closed the last plant in the U.S.
At the same time the plants were closing, the economy was headed south. So in 2008 and 2009, horse owners who had lost their jobs and could no longer feed their horses began turning them loose. The result has been herds of abandoned horses starving on rangelands throughout the country.
In southeast Arizona , we have one of the worst problems. If you can't afford to care for your horse, you can't afford several hundred dollars to humanely euthanize and dispose of an animal. And you can't sell the horse either. Willcox and Marana livestock auctions no longer sell horses. And the private horse market is really gone. Horses aren't worth much even in the best of times. Finally, the spots available at horse rescues are not even one percent of the equine overpopulation.
Of course, closing the U.S. slaughter plants has not stopped the slaughter of horses. It has just changed the locale. They are now being shipped to Canada and Mexico where there is less oversight. Video of the inhumane treatment of horses in Mexico will curl your hair. Now some well-meaning individuals want to pass a law banning the export of horses for slaughter.
None of us who has horses wants to see them killed. But think about it. What if we had the same law about euthanasia of dogs and cats? We would be overrun. Why are horses treated differently? Is it better to have them slowly starve or die of thirst?
Some states are now considering building new slaughter plants. That is preferable to the current situation. The PETA folks and other well-meaning animal rights advocates ought to be forced to work with the abandoned and neglected horses. The animals are paying the price for well-meaning but poorly thought out policies.
Baxter Black has it right when he says, "The real tragedy here is the problem is a man-made creation."
