Horse Slaughter in the USA

Question

This is a question and i'm not sure where i stand because i'm an avid rider and i save horses from the meat men at the New Holland Auctions in PA,

Do you think that it was a very bad thing for slaughter being banned in the US

meat-horses now are PILED into double decker trailers and shipped to canada and mexico without access to food or water and no room to breathe. Many die on the trip

When arriving at the destinations they are pulled off of the trailers half dead and with the fear and sadnesin their eyes are (in mexico) stabbed with a daggerin the back of the neck or killed somewhat humanely in Canada

on top of this more horse sare being saved, and not sent to s-houses meaning people buy more and with this economy are not being able to feed their animals or give them care

Is this more cruel than having strict horse slaughter regulations in the USA

Answer 1

its horrible that horse slaughter is closed...

edit.....this has been argued and argued since they have been closed.....i wrote a letter to martha stwerat this morning...she had a lady on her show telling these people why we needed to keep the houses closed....of course she talked about how horrible it is to slaughter horses.....well ya we know this...."horses are beautiful animals"  "we get attached to our horses"  .....lol.....i have been emotionally attached to a couple of my cows....that later tasted wonderful on my plate...they dont understand that all this is a part of life....no im not going to eat my horses....but there are way more back yard breeders than there are responsible horse owners.....everybody else has said my points ....... all this argument does is  p**s me off cause of the  ignorance and uneducated people....and most DONT OWN HORSES.....Lil

EDIT AGIAN:  respect in there last moments...omg....there last moment now days includes standing out in a forgotten pasture starving to death....wondering when there loving and responsible owners are coming back....and you know what.....they arent coming back......cant afford the feed it takes to feed them or the vet to put them down.........wow what a way to die....

i wish you all would start sharing you dang beer :(....lol

Answer 2

I cringe at the thought of horses being slaughtered, but, it was a way to control the population, prices, and cruelty. Instead of animals being sold and used for something we need, they are kept alive while they starve to death and get neglected. It is more cruel to keep them in their misery than use them for human consumtion.

Also, imagine this. You have worked your rear end off for 2 years training a colt to be say, a $25,000 reining horse. When the colt is finished, you go to sell him, and only get $5000. How discouraging do you think that is!? And the reason for this is because the horse population is booming, and so they are going down in value and the horse owners that use horses for business can't make any money! they are selling 1000 dollar colts for $200. Its terribly hard on us and the horses that are just waiting to die. Horse slaughter should have never been banned.

Answer 3

Horse meat should be banned and the people that condone it shot

Answer 4

I hate slaughter but at this point is society it is a nessesary evil

I dont agree that killing horses is the right answer and it is really sad when I hear that horses are being killed but there are so many right now and not enough homes to take them in so they either get slaughtered or they are going to families that dont have enough money to care for them so they are eventually starving to death but we also have the animal cops that you see on animal planet and they help out with abused animals

If they are going to slughter they need to keep the animals comfortable while they are waiting to be killed and they need to kill them humanly like they do with badly injured or old animals

Answer 5

why do people say that we shouldn't kill horses when what about all the cows, pigs, sheep and chickens etc that are being kept in worse conditions than the horses? horses have been eaten for hundreds of years just like a lot of animals but just because we use them for riding they should be the only animals that are not killed?

to me everyone that thinks that just horses shouldn't be killed are hypocrites and for those of you that are saying we shouldn't kill them because we can bond with them are idiots! you can bond with any animal if you give it a try! ive bonded with a fish before! and they apparently only have a 3 second memory!- work that one out hey?

i love horses so don't say that I'm evil- but i also love cows, sheep etc and isnt worse having horses saved from slaughter only to find themselves being slowly starved to death?

i think we should bring back the slaughter houses but have VERY strict rules and regualtions.

Answer 6

I think banning US horse slaughter was stupid. The smart thing to do would be to have stricter humane slaugher laws and reform the slaughter system to be easier on the animals.

Answer 7

I think it's disgusting slaughtering horses! If they are unhealthy then they should be put down, and people shouldn't buy horses if they can't afford to keep them!

Horses are just like any other living being, you (hopefully) wouldn't make a human slaughter house, so why should they have ones for horses!

Answer 8

i think that banning slaughter STARTED out as a good hearted idea but like most decisions made by the US its only good for the short term and gets us into trouble in the long run...now tht were in a resession(down time in the econamy)and because dumb america hasnt come up with an enegry plan gas is really expensive and hay becomes more expensive with shipping so people cant afford to keep their horses so they would normally send them to slaughter but now tht its banned we cant so we have starving horses being left be owners and none of this would have happened if the slaughter places followed the rules and did everything correctly and humanly but the thing is ANYONE who cared about animals wouldnt work in a slaughter house anyway so ur pretty much screwed either way.

Answer 9

The ban was a feel good deal that was a huge mistake. It did no good at all. As you pointed out, teh slaughter just moved. Many horses are being neglected and will eventually die of neglect. Besides, if they do not go north or south they will end up at a rendering palnt with nobody watching what happens. They just banned slaugher for human consumption. Really, it just put people out of work.

Horses are animals just like cows. Every horse is not a pet.

Answer 10

Horses should be treated humanely, and not just thrown away... because that is the outcome of this horrible treatment.That applies to all animals because while you have any animal it is a friend who obeys your every whim. They should at least deserve some respect from you, in their final moments on this earth.

Answer 11

I've always been anti-slaughter-ban.

Unwanted dogs and cats go the the pound and are killed.

Unwanted livestock go to the slaughter house and are killed.

Only unwanted horses have no outlet.  

As a result, we have more horses than we can handle, and no way out.  Burial's illegal.  Cremation costs thousands of bucks.  The carcases end up in the landfills, a source of contamination and a total waste, and cost more dollars to get there and waste space there.

HUMANE slaughter is a necessary thing.  People can't afford to euthanize and dispose of their horses properly, so they just let them go.  If they could send them to slaughter, they'd get enough money to buy and give a good life to another horse.  The carcass would be RECYCLED, put to useful purposes rather than contaminating ground water and so on.

I hope we come to our senses soon, and realize that the HUMANE thing to do is reopen and modernize the slaughterhouses.

Answer 12

My thoughts on all the slaughter house questions(usually in the form of: "OMG WE HAVE TO BAN SLAUGHER HOUSES, THEY'RE SO EVIL?!)  that get asked at least once a week here and my reply to their question about what i think of slaugher houses (yeah i agree it was a big ops on our part to close them, but live and learn):

well slaughter houses are illegal in the usa so i dont really know what else you want to do. . . maybe go protest at all the closed slaughter house? (as of 2006-2007 all slaugher houses for horses were closed and banned)

NOW, if you want to stop the shipping you shouldve thought of that BEFORE everyone wanted them closed in the united states. . . at least (because i'm assuming that you live in this country) you could write to your local law makers to make slaughtering of horse more strict and humane. . . instead they're now shipped in double decker trucks that were made for pigs (not horses) and you're now stuck boohooing about how we should change other countries laws. . . cant do that can only change our own, maybe hind site is 20/20?

i personally wouldnt mind seeing slaugher house opened that were RUN CORRECTLY. . . but the chances of that happening are slim to none so i wont hold my breath. . . and to that list, add ugly backyard horrid horses that are so far gone in conformation that they're asking for someone to end their pain. *people dont know when to stop breeding their horses... maybe we should educate them on breeding and we'd have a better handle on the over flow of horse's going to slaughter houses*

i cant say that your wrong, i do agree with you, but i dont ever see enough people agreeing with you that any change will come any time soon.  it's sad how much more they suffer now. . . but i guess i cant change how people look at it.  

good luck, i personally dont see slaughter houses comming back tho. *the slaughter companies have now found out how much cheeper it is to send them over the boarder so why would they want the hassel of reopening here in the states??*

edit: 1 i think we should teach people about when NOT to breed their horse since we cant reopen slaughter houses any time soon.

2. kev- did you get trolled alot last night when you were drinking?? lol, bet i got reported more then you and i wasnt drinking! (okay so i was high on pain killers but i think i should still win the reported most award for no reason!)

3. i like ya thoughtfulness and the chance ya took to ask this question, if ya ever on mah end of the state come say hiya (pa, i'm on the hick of sticks side of the state. LOL)

4. i havent been drinking tonight, this is usually how i answer when i'm sane in the head... sad isnt it?

Answer 13

You are totally right. The whole slaughter issue was misguided.The neglect and cruelty that is now  prevalent due to the high cost of feed and vet care is increasing because people can't afford to take care of their animals. Some are left to starve to death in backyards.It can cost up to $1000. to humanely put down and dispose of a horse in some areas.Not all horses are good candidates for rescue.It would be so much better if every state had a regulated slaughter house where a horse could be transported to and put down humanely. We used to have a wildlife sanctuary where I could take my horses and be there with them when they were dropped. They then went to feed big cats that had been rescued from private "zoos".After they were forced to stop taking horses due to the slaughter issue, the last one we had to put down cost nearly $500  to put euthanize and haul away and provided no benefit except to a fertilizer company.The slaughter issue is a very emotional one for a lot of people, but facts are facts.As much as we would all like  the end of their lives to be warm and fuzzy, it's not

always that way.

Answer 14

Yaaaawwwwwwnnnn! Roundy roundy roundy same mountain.  Its bad that slaughter is banned in the USA because there are thousands of domesticated horses being turned loose on government land and left to starve or die of thirst. The majority of slaughter horses are not sound, they my be healthy but not sound so their quality of life would not be that of a healthy horse. Before a bunch of people say they save the perfect horse from slaughter, that is one in a thousand. If you save a sound horse from slaughter, good for you. I have seen many horses that where deformed from the womb or from an injury. Now if you look at it from practical view point(because as much as we don't want it to be the world is harsh, gotta learn to deal with it) it is more practical to sell a crippled horse to slaughter that will go to feed either some Frenchman, or h**l your dog. Than have a vet come out and charge you to put down the horse for $600 dollars, then you gotta dig a damned hole for $500. It is not a matter if you like horses or not, its a matter of making sacrifices, you have to make tough choices. And not all of them pretty or nice or what you want at the time. But in the long run that is what being an adult is about.

Edit- I am ready for my troll. Bring it!

Edit- Shadow... Well I came on today to check my answers from last night, and guess what. No questions. I only had one answer reported. So you probably have me beat.

Answer 15

well, i wouldnt eat horse meat anyway, ppl tell me its good but i wont be eatin it, but slaughtering a horse is like slaughtering a dog or cat, horses are animals u can bond with, besides that it just aint right, but iam not against ppl who eat it, or do it as a job

Answer 16

first i would like to commend you for having an open mind and trying to find a solution to the problem that would benefit the horses.solutions were in the process for making a more humane way to process horses,more herd friendly ramps,using natural flow of livestock to reduce stress,there was progress being made but that all went down the tubes.the only solution was to make improvements from inside the industry not from outside animal rights organizations that don't know anything about herd management.

Answer 17

Personally i think it is disgusting and i feel the people that kill the horses should have the same done to them. ITS NOT RIGHT.

Answer 18

i think they should have strict slaughter houses int the US

Answer 19

It was good!:)