The fight to end live animal export is a common one in places like Australia, where living cows are regularly crowded onto ships to endure long, torturous trips abroad where they will be brutally slaughtered. It isn’t one you always hear about here in the States, even though similar activities take place in our own backyard all the time. Here, though, it’s most often the beloved horse that gets the short end of this stick.
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) estimates that 130,000 American horses are shipped to Mexico and Canada every year in order to be slaughtered for human consumption. Like Australia’s cows, they “often suffer long journeys to slaughter plants without adequate food, water or rest.” HSUS explains that once at the slaughterhouse, horses are brutally forced into a “kill box” and shot in the head with a captive bolt gun in an attempt to stun them before slaughter. This is a horrific fate to endure.
These horses are sourced in various ways. Some are thoroughbred racehorses who have since stopped winning. Some are just cruelly dumped by their owners for being old. Many, though, are wild horses, or at least they were prior to being rounded up by government officials – usually the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) – using low-flying helicopters and lots of taxpayer dollars (though not always legally).
Freedom is ripped away from these wild hearts to make way for commercial developments, or because people have complained that the horses were destroying private property. They’re also victimized because ranchers object to the small fraction of public land that wild horses currently occupy, which industry feels should be reserved solely for grazing cattle. This federal wild horse program costs taxpayers in the area of $80 million dollars per year.
Once captured, these horses are sent to auction houses, where they are subsequently sold to the highest bidding slaughterhouse. A few may be saved by concerned citizens or sanctuaries, and to date, one brave and fortunate soul is known to have escaped on his own accord. Most, however, go on to experience the brutality of live export and slaughter, even pregnant mares.
Recently, a few Federal lawmakers, including Representatives Buchanan, Schakowsky, Royce, and Grisham, introduced legislation to end horse export for slaughter abroad and also prohibit horse slaughter operations from being established here in the States. Dubbed the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act, H.R. 113, HSUS explains that this act would also protect consumers from dangerous American horse meat, which can be toxic to humans due to the unregulated administration of drugs to horses. Horses are also routinely given hundreds of toxic drugs and chemical treatments over their lifetimes, as they are not raised for food like other livestock.
The fact is, the majority of Americans oppose the slaughter and consumption of horse meat, but this is being ignored by legislation. Lend your support by signing this petition on Care2 and urge all members of Congress to get on board and pass H.R. 113: the SAFE Act – for horses, and for human health.
Image source: dezi/Shutterstock
Pro Slaughter wants everyone to believe that all the horses going to slaughter are old or injured, without any other options, or unwanted. The USDA statistics show that 92% of all horses sent to slaughter arrive sound and in good health. The majority of these “unlucky” horses are under the age of 10. (Horses can live to 30 years for those who are not aware.) Their only crime was to break down on some race track or to be owned by someone who has not the common sense or compassion to own such an animal. Let’s not even get into the mucky greed breeders (professional and backyard yahoos’). Slaughter is about meat production and the meat-man has no interest in the old, sick and skinny. Fat, healthy and young makes good product.
Horse slaughter actually prevents horse welfare; rescue operators are routinely outbid by killer buyers at auctions. When no other option exists, unwanted horses should be humanely euthanized by a licensed veterinarian. Horse slaughter is a far cry from humane euthanasia and any suitable horse owner understands that the fright and flight instincts of a horse make the slaughter process impossible to be humane. Of course they deny this as well and simply do not care. They believe fully that a frightened horse will walk enthusiastically into a kill box and stand perfectly still while waiting for the death blow – if it doesn\’t miss the first few times that is. (Multiple stuns fully documented and performed on US soil by the way.)
The horse is a companion animal and labeled as such by the FDA and by God (Unclean). Their meat is highly toxic due to everyday medications we give our companions to be free of aches and pains. A horse is not raised as a food animal and a food animal is not our police officers, used by our military, fought our wars, standing tall in riots, used to pull the casket of a passing President, used as therapy animals for those with autism, MS and, etc and every little girls dream.
Lastly, one cannot cry freedom when horse slaughter cannot operate without USDA inspectors and USDA inspectors cost all American 10 million a year in taxes to inspect meat not even consumed in our country. As to ‘regulated and so much sweeter if done here in the states’ – take the time to read what the former mayor of Texas has to say about that or the good folk that had to deal with horse blood rising up in their tubs or Google the countless violations by slaughter plants that once operated on our soil.
Never mistake the slaughtering of a non-food animal as welfare. This is pure clap trap spoken by those driven by greed and/or the irresponsible.
Please do your homework. The current administration and the Republican house is already pushing to reinstate this disgusting practice back on to US soil.
“The only difference between a dog, cat, horse and dolphin and a cow, chicken, pig and turkey is perception. One is no more valuable than another. And yet in this culture, we hold the former animals in high esteem and the latter we brutalize for food. All animals are deserving of respect and freedom from violence. The way to respect others is veganism.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtWO83pf3Mc
the present situation is inhumane — overbreeding and the wild horse herds (also overbreeding) –lead to unwanted horses — yes, they deserve better — a country that put a man on the moon ought to be able to devise HUMANE slaughter and oversight. wasting 65,000 tons of meat is equally disgusting — pet food, human food -no difference. as to the "drug problem" withdrawal time will work. and after this problem is humanely solved –need to work on the human overpopulation problem as well………