Pro Horse-life Article Part 2
Here is part 2. Enjoy!
The road to the slaughterhouse troubles horse lovers as well. Many slaughter bound horses are held on feedlots, often unsorted as to age, sex, and disability. There is fighting for food, water and dominance. The only horses not allowed transport are those blind in both eyes, or unable to support their own weight on all four feet. Legally, these horses can be hauled for up to 28 hours without food, water, or rest. In most states it is legal for them to be hauled in double decker cattle trailers, which do not have enough head room for horses. They must travel in an unnatural position, and often injure themselves by repeatedly banging their heads on the roof while fighting for balance. Horses that fall are often trampled to death enroute.
The agricultural community is afraid of “the slippery slope”, a horse slaughter ban would cause. The thinking is that once animal rights activists get horse slaughter banned, they will use that momentum to close all slaughterhouses. The problem with this theory is the growing group of meat eating, rodeo watching horse owners fighting against horse slaughter. An example of the new breed of horse advocate is Steven Long, the editor of Texas Horse Talk Magazine, “I’ve been riding horses my entire life and I can assure you, I’m no vegan. I’m a barbecue and steak loving Texan who grew up on a farm. I don’t eat chicken, turkey, or horse and don’t much understand the folks who do. None of the nine million American horses are food animals. And in the 21st Century, they really aren’t livestock
either, but a special class of animal all their own. Only a handful are still used for work, while the overwhelming majority are used for recreation. We darned sure don’t eat them.”
Other horse owners do consider them pets, not food animals, and object to slaughter on those grounds. Unwanted and overpopulated pets are humanely euthanized in America, not slaughtered on a mass basis and exported to countries that enjoy dog and cat meat.
Rumors of a rise in horse abandonment and neglect have been surfacing since domestic horse slaughter was ended in the US last year. When these claims are investigated, they are shown to be manufactured, or based on faulty journalism. One such article written by Jeffrey McMurray and picked up by the associated press claimed horses were being turned loose in rural Kentucky at an alarming rate. This prompted an official reply by Kentucky Governer Ernie Fletcher, dated May 16, 2007, stating, “The mail I have received on this issue is from out of state. Kentuckians know that Kentucky horse owners are very responsible people and the situation described in the article is not based in fact. The story as portrayed by Mr. McMurray is filled with inaccurate statements and information.” Another AP story indicated that the horses McMurray described as abandoned were in fact free grazing and were privately owned by Trish Hayes who operates a Virginia based riding stable.
There is now a group of dedicated horse people fact checking every article referencing a rise in horse abandonment cases. In every case investigated so far, the horses in question are never produced, nor the associated police reports generated by stray animals.
Horse slaughter is held out as the “safety valve” on the American horse population, without which horses will be starved to death or simply released into the wild. This assumption does a disservice to horse owners. Responsible owners would no more let their horses starve than they would their dog or cat. Right now in Southern California a 70 year old woman is living in her car so she can continue to pay the boarding bill on her 25 year old horse. Right now in America hundreds of horse lovers are doing all they can to save horses from the slaughterhouse, one horse at a time. Right now in America there are horse owners picking up additional part time jobs and side work to pay for rising feed costs. Right now in America another meat eating horse lover is learning the truth about horse slaughter, and making a stand.
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