They sure have a powerful group pulled together here- I hope that they can finally get it done!
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And If they get it done then what? What in reality happens if put a plug in the bath, but the faucet is still running?
I would still call for well run, well regulated local slaughter houses, and horse meat exported on the hook, not the hoof.
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Agree 100% @KBC!
I also believe we should have slaughter houses in multiple locations throughout the U.S. to allow for safe, humane and quick transport to slaughter.
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Unfortunately, a facility that would slaughter horses humanely is not profitable.
The slaughter pipelines, transportation to Canada and Mexico, are inhumane in themselves.
Itâs a very difficult situation that can really only be solved by breeding fewer horses.
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I am sure that this will make me exceptionally popular, given these two responses. I also know that this might not appear realistic, but here goesâŠ
I strongly feel that if you cannot be sure that there is a safety net for every horse that you breed, you have no business raising them. I believe in a zero loss breeding program. The time has come for people to take complete responsibility. If that sounds harsh, and you want to tell me that itâs business, and that some just donât make the mark, Iâm going to tell you that you need to reconsider your breeding program, and make sure that there is a future for every horse that leaves you farm.
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I do not breed anything. In fact, I only own geldings.
My view of slaughter will always remain the same.
Provide humane, conveniently located, regulated facilities throughout the U.S., no different than any other slaughter facility for any other species.
If you donât want your horses slaughtered, plan accordingly. Be prepared to euthanize and dispose of them.
Pretty darn simple!
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I understand your position.
I cannot condone anything that has to do with the slaughter pipeline, including the horror at the end.
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And if that wonderfully bred, talented horse sustains an injury causing it to be able to live a life, but not be used at all what then? Itâs a great start point to ask people to breed less, but how do you reach the people currently looking for anything with balls to impregnate the hairy lawn mower that they cannot do anything with, because âit will be a great experience for my kidâ
Then there is the meat factor, in a world where there isnât enough food for everyone, letâs realize that large herbivores are tasty, and why shouldnât those who like to eat horse meat, eat it?
Is it anymore unreasonable to seek a better, more humane, local slaughter facility, than to ask people to make a life commitment to any horse that they breed?
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Then you can euthanize on your farm. Itâs the responsible thing to do.
I cannot even imagine condoning anyone raising horses for meat. Then again, I am the person who adopted a cow, and now doesnât eat beef.
Yes, I believe that it is. You want to play the game? Do not expect the world to clean up after the horses you breed that cannot find a great home. Thatâs a whole different discussion than âslaughter is a perfectly acceptable way to dispose of my mistakes.â
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And, thatâs what I have done, for those I have had to let go, because thatâs my choice. But at the same time I understand that other options should be available.
I wouldnât want to see horses raised specifically for meat, but I also hate waste. In the UK horses used to go to the hunt kennels, to feed hounds, some go to zoos to feed the carnivores. Trying to burn or bury all the bodies could be an issueâŠ
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In regard to some of the above posts, is humane equine slaughter possible?
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I do not believe that it is. In addition to the fact that in order to be profitable, it has to be an âassembly lineâ abatoir, the idea that the horses in that line are hearing and smelling death is mortifying to me. And, thatâs just at the end of the line, after the auctions, feed lots, and shipping, etc.
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And you are to be lauded for that. IMHO, itâs the right thing to do.
The situations that you mention all include the idea that a horse is humanely euthanized- with a bullet- right where or near where they are also butchered for use. I knew a man who ran a small slaughterhouse, who sold meat to the zoo. He killed the horses at the farms where they lived- they were old, or injured usually- and then slaughtered them, and sold the meat to the zoo. That type of business doesnât seem to exist as must as it once did.
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Agree. Better than starvation, or en mass wastage of carcasses.
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And starvation shouldnât ever happen. If people were more responsible about where their horses ended up, it would be less possible. I know- tall order. But itâs my opinion.
And, even carcasses can wind up as fertilizer. Disgusting, but true.
Yes, but I think we need to rethink âen massâ slaughter plants.
My friend raises beef cattle. Tiny herd, they sell like five weaners a year. All have names, all are free range, loved, known. They have a fellow farmer come and do a âkillerâ every so often, and friends go in on the carcass so that it is divvied out and nothing is wasted.
Steer is alive, and then⊠boom! Gone. In his paddock, eating grass.
The problem is not slaughter, but slaughter houses. I donât know the solution, but I bet education, slowing down the line, and having highly paid and mindful employees would be a start.
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Disposal and usefulness of carcasses depends very much on if the horse was chemically euthed. There is not much use for a chemically euthed carcass.
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I agree, 100%. But people are not held accountable, horses are âlivestockâ and âyou canât tell me what to do with MY horsesâ.
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Puts head on one side? Doesnât everything and up as fertilizer ultimately.
My heart horse dropped dead one night, hubby dug a hole and we buried him, so glad we had our own land and were able to do so.
Now the farm has been sold, last time I drove past our little house had been flattened and our nice 9 acre patch of grass and trees is now flat monoculture, part of a 160 acre field. In that field is a patch that for years will grow better crops, because deep under there is a source of nutrients!
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in this ever more âawareâ world why should we waste a good resource or pollute the ground with chemically euthanasized horses?
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