Why cant people eat horses any more?

Question

I would never NEVER EVER EAT A HORSE! But i dont see why others cant. IM not trying to be rude or say that i dont care. But people are eating every thing. What makes a cow different from a horse. Now slaughter horses are aweful. People not feeding and tacking care of horses is aweful and im tottaly against that. but is it an actull law that says you cant eat horses any more. we eat cows, pigs, ducks, chickens, geese, you name it.

I love horses but i think i rather see them eaten then starve to death. Because people wont buy them right now, i really dont want to see a horse go through that.

Answer 1

Horses are amazing creatures and I dont have anything against cows, but we can actually do something with horses and ride them. Instead of eating them, try humanely euthanizing them if they are in horrible condition  so they can peacfully live with God.END HORSE SLAUGHTER!!!! ITS CRUEL!!!

Answer 2

many places DO eat horse meat. I have nothing against it, I've eaten it. I love my horses, don't get me wrong, but horses are livestock.

Slaughter isn't awful, it's something we need. Sounds crude but that's life. there are tons of idiots out there neglecting horses and starving them because they are "doing the right thing" by not sending them to the slaughter houses. Yeah...Right.

**add**

Ilovehorses...If you love horses so much get a real clue darlin'. Slaughter should NOT NOT NOT be stopped, and shoulda never been stopped in America. Where do ya think all those sick, old, unwanted horses are gonna go if there's no more slaughter? Are you gonna be the one to dish out hundreds of thousands of dollars to save them? Nah, didn't think so.

Answer 3

i wish the slaughters were still open and legal the bad horses have to go somewhere! and italy can't eat all of america's horses!

Answer 4

hi i just did a research paper on this. all the slaughter House in the us are now closed and it is illegal for the consumption of horse meat in the us. now many horses are starving to death and suffering and the ones who do go to slaughter are transported thousands of miles to Canada and Mexico were the slaughtering methods are MUCH MUCH worse then ours was in the us. I do NOT like slaughter but i rather have us slaughter plants open that are humanely keeping of and slaughtering horses then having horses suffer and shipped to worse slaughter houses out side of our country that do not keep and slaughter humanely. I just wish that there was no suffering or slaughter of horses but the population of them is to big and the prices of keeping them are so high that some people feel it is OK to neglect there horse. in my opinion i much rather see a horse get put down then go to slaughter.

Answer 5

Why not ride a cow and jump them 5 feet high?  I dont see what would be wrong with that? This is a very dumb question

Answer 6

The thing is, horses aren't humanly slaughtered, and in the US there are slaughter plantations.

Most of the horses are starving, dehydrated, or crippled when they arrive at the slaughter house, then they're hit on the head with a bolt, strung up by they're hind feet while concious, and bled to death.

Same goes with cows, chickens and everything.

I'm o.k. with all the cows for meat and stuff, just not the way its done.

Anyways, what can a few people do to change the ways of the world?

In China there's horse fighting and a LOT of other things.

In America there's animal testing, inhumane slaughter, animal abuse, etc

Answer 7

Its temporary and I couldnt be happier that it might stop for good! There are rescue barns out there who save them from starvation! Ive tryed for many years to stop horse slaughter and now all of our efforts are finally paying off. How dare you say that youd rather them be eaten! Im sure if they could speak for themselves that they would ask you how you would like to be shot in the head then hung upside down and slit in the neck for human consumption!!

Answer 8

You make some good point, and I agree with a lot of it.  the problem I have with eating horse meet is the way slaughter was done in the US (Which is why the ban on horse meat was set in motion in the first place).  I would also rather see a horse eaten than starve to death, unfortunately the horses that were going into the slaughter houses saw both fates.  They were starved, abused, neglected and mistreated before being sent to an inhumane death.  That is why I personally have a problem with horse meat, but, time willing, things may change.

Cool info about the American Indians and southern settlers BTW Kevin H.  Didn't know all of that.

Answer 9

you can slaughter horses for meat, as long as it is done in a humane fashion, the same with cows, sheep or goats,

Answer 10

I can see where you are going with this and it does make sense. ( I'm in England and we don't eat horse either - most of Europe does though.)

However the downside to the whole thing would be that a lot of the old and ill horses ( the ones that really need to be released from their suffering ) would be considered as unfit for consumption anyway. There are a lot of drugs regularly given to horses that we don't want getting into the food chain. So, if there was a market for horse meat then obviously there would be money to be made selling horses for that market. Can you imagine how many more people would decided that breeding for profit was a really good idea. Personally I find the thought of thousands of foals being born just to land on a plate somewhat distasteful.

And before anyone says it- yes I do eat meat and I know that's what happens to cows etc. But I suppose I am a result of my upbringing at the end of the day- horses aren't cows.

Answer 11

Many other country's do eat horse. That is where the slaughter houses send the majority of the horse meat. Chalk it up to the American culture, but, many native American tribes ate a lot of horse meat, and preferred it.. Like the Apache, Navajo, Ute, Comanche, just a few off the top of my head. Mostly in the US it is due to a few people who pushed the horse up on a pedestal. Also every thing west of the Mississippi could not have been settled with out the horse. The distances between water was vast, plus America was built on beef, and you needed a horse to work. The horse meant the different between life and death. So the American culture came to think of eating horse meat as something horrible. When in truth many draft breeds where bred as a dual purpose breed, for work and meat. There is no one answer to this question, it is many many small answers that added up to Americans not eating horse.

And I do agree with you. I would rather an older horse going to feed somebody/something than just live in pain. They are livestock.

My oppinion is less tree huggers more ranchers are needed in DC

Answer 12

Hello,

We we as americans don't eat horse meat.  But, MANY other countries do.

YOU have a couple of great points!

WHAT makes everyone think that they can slaughter and eat cows, pigs, ducks, chickens, geese, deer, elk, etc....  BUT not horses.  I know that we LOVE our horses, but really now, they are livestock.

YOU also make a great point that the market is down for horses and maybe if their was another market, like for meat here in the US maybe people would take better care of their unridden, unused horses.

I think many US citizens don't like to think of this, but I do understand your point and I agree with you.

Answer 13

When you look at sheep, cows, and pigs they obviously disprove evolution. We developed these animals to be food, they might as well be plants. Horses on the other hand, have been bred for pleasure, entertainment, and companions. Despite their brain being the size of a walnut they have a greater ability to be trained for something useful. I think that is why it is hard for us to eat horses and why so many  people are against horse slaughter. If slaughter were more humane, I would prefer that to them starving to death. All of the surplus horse meat could be shipped to third world countries that NEED food because they are starving. Would you rather starve to death or be humanely "put down"? Personally I would rather be humanely killed than be tortured and forced to starve to death, which is one of the most painful ways to die. I love my horse dearly, and if I could no longer afford to feed him and take care of him and nobody wanted to buy him because the economy is so bad, I would rather he die happy than be starved to death and become a shadow of himself.

Answer 14

I think alot of the aversion to eating horse meat comes from the fact that they are seen as a pet or a companion more then a cow or a sheep. they were bred to be an extension of man, to carry him into war, or take him ona journey. They have put their hoof prints on our hearts in a sense and with the western world portraying horses as loving animals and best friends through movies, tv and books i'm  sure people almost feel sadistic in eating black beauty or Flicka. but the eastern countries and europe don't have that problem and eat horse meat liberally.

Answer 15

People do still eat horse meat except in different countries, like Canada! Here is a link about it... sorry it is from yahoo!

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?...

Answer 16

Most of the European countries (Except Germany and England, I think.) still eat horse.  France is known for it.  China has regular resturants that serve only donkey (I saw this on bizzare foods.).

:::Steps up on soap box:::

Okay, when the bill that closed the rest of the slaughter houses (Except that one that slaughters them for zoos.) here in the US first appeared, I asked one of it's supporters if she'd pay $100.00/mo to help support one of the crippled, old or infirmed horses that nolonger had a release.

She in no uncertain terms told me "No WAY!".  She wouldn't let them put them out of their misery, but wouldn't help support them instead of letting them be turned loose and starving.

I firmly believe that if they'd spent all that anti horse rendering plants in the US advertising money on simply making the plants a LOT more humane, then we wouldn't have the problems we are now experiencing in the US with the horsemarket.

:::Steps off  of soap box:::

Answer 17

People do eat horse meat. Most of it is imported from Italy, where it's a delicacy.

Answer 18

Its a temporary law that closed down the slaughter houses while they make the real law to close them down for good. It is stupid because now horses like you said are starving to death, people are setting them free and now they are fighting wild horses for food(or will be) And they are shipping horses out of the country for slaughter and we don't know what happens there. They shove them in cattle trucks and dont water them IM sure or feed them until they get to there destination and then they are slaughtered, at least if they were here in the US we could put regulations and make sure it was done humanly, etc. But no all the people just think that if they take horse slaughter away it will save the horse. Wake up people its not that easy. Are they going to take care of all starving unwanted horses. I can't I take care of my two and love them to death. I couldnt eat a horse either but we could make a lot of money exporting horse meat to other countries that eat it like we eat beef. Sounds cruel but its reality. I agree with you Horse Jumper

Answer 19

Hey Ilovehorses31, how many rescue horses have you taken in this year? All the rescues I know are full & not accepting new horses. They are also suffering from lower donations due to the lousy economy.

There will be 100,000+ unwanted horses this year. Where do you think they can go? I'd much rather see them humanely slaughtered for meat than starving somewhere. Slaughter should have been more regulated, not banned.

And you know what? Now those unwanted horses are worse off.  Now they get a longer truck ride to Canada or Mexico, where slaughter is less humane than it was in the U.S.

I'm old enough to remember when you could buy horse meat in the grocery store.  I never tried it (vegetarian) but I'm told it has a different taste  - sort of sweet.  Its really quite popular in some European countries.

Answer 20

i dont know about a law but i see wat your saying.

i think people r very picky and greedy at times. there is no need to eat a horse. we have a large ebough selection of food as it is . we already take a liking for cow and pigs but horses r more commonly used fopr things. we dont need to eat horses, there is no medical need. we should only eat the things we need to eat, but dont get me wrong i love to have certain foods that dont really need. but i would never ever eat a horse. unless i absolutly had to and i would kill it the most hpainless way possible. because i kno wen it comes to our horses, no matter how much they love us and we love them there instinct is to survive, and i think most horses would choose survival/ food over us. but to those who do eat horses, i have not much to say. we eat cows, and some people worship cows. but i think it would be best for us to eat wat we need top survive rather than waat tastes good. as the 'wild' horses would do.

Answer 21

people are still eating horses.

Answer 22

To "I Love Horses", in your rant, you still didn't address the issues: way too many poor quality, sick animals for all the rescue organizations to handle (most of them are over their limits already); the resulting flat horse market; why it's ok to slaughter all other animals and not horses, ect...Obviously we're all horse lovers here, but your outrage didn't cover up your lack of answers. I'd love to know the "whys" behind the movement you worked so hard to assist.