I am a horrible person for not being shocked and appalled by this video?

[Appsolute]

Warning - this is “slaughter” related.

THIS VIDEO has been making rounds on Facebook.

“Undercover Draft Slaughter Transport Video Released”

The Canadian Horse Defense Coalition has released never before publicly seen footage of draft horses being transported live for slaughter in Japan from Canada. The footage was taken this year, and in the footage you can see four horses being confined in a crate designed for three, which is against Canadian law. The video also shows the crates being unloaded with the live draft horses in Japan, shortly before they are slaughtered.

For the record - I am not a “slaughter supporter” and I don’t like the idea of family pets being transported and slaughtered inhumanely.

That said - I am not a vegan, and have some first hand knowledge of cattle ranching - and believe that cows can have wonderful personalities etc - and despite my “love” of horses, I do not place them above other living creatures.

Comments on the video include:

“It’s cruel & torturous”

“Unbelievable, disgusting!”

“I am literally throwing up. Those horses looking for a kind hand on their face and getting stabbed with brooms instead.”

“Canada and Japan may God curse you for allowing this disgrace”

Honestly, I did’t find anything in the video that troubling. I do not know what the final slaughter procedures are in Japan, but I hope that they are humane.

I have a hard time understanding why this is so terribly wrong to some people, who still eat meat of other animals.

Flame suit on…

[Alagirl]

OH MY GOSH THEY GOT STICKS!!!

that was 2 minutes of relative serenity…

For the ones who are curious, I’d suggest turning the sound off, as the wind blowing around the mic is annoying, other than that…meh…big horses are manuvered through chutes.

[emipou]

I had a much harder time watching bucking broncos at the rodeo last month. It still kills me to think of any animal going to slaughter… And I am vegetarian. (and yes, I cook meat for my husband, though it isn’t always easy for me; and no, it’s been way too long to even consider it to be food anymore).

[emipou]

Appsolute - That comment about slaughtering pets… Yes. That point always gets me. Right… HERE.

But to me, the pens looks clean, the horses look relatively healthy, and I don’t see anything horrible happening. It just really sucks that these animals are now dinner. Some little girl used to hug that bay and tell him her secrets.

[Alagirl]

[QUOTE=emipou;8231289]
Some little girl used to hug that bay and tell him her secrets.[/QUOTE]

I doubt that.

The question is, do you value your life so little that ‘food’ is a negative thing?

[charismaryllis]

[QUOTE=Alagirl;8231291]

The question is, do you value your life so little that ‘food’ is a negative thing?[/QUOTE]

uh, what?

[Alagirl]

[QUOTE=charismaryllis;8231298]
uh, what? [/QUOTE]

The hysteria, over animals being eaten.
It is food. It nourishes the body.
As if food is an afterthought to life.

[roseymare]

There are people who cannot get their iron requirements through any means but meat. Not everyones body can succesfully utilize iron supplementation. I would consider these people obligatory carnivores.
Where does the no meat ever coalition put them?
Granted I do not know how many people this is but they do exist.

[caffeinated]

[QUOTE=emipou;8231289]
Some little girl used to hug that bay and tell him her secrets.[/QUOTE]

Pretty unlikely, the horses sent live to Japan are raised to pretty exacting standards, from what I understand, and were bred for the purpose.

I wasn’t particularly enraged about that video either, but my problems with slaughter are largely around the conditions of shipping and sales and people obtaining horses under false pretenses, etc. The horses shown in the video are not horses that went through that (at least, based on what I know about that end of the industry).

[JBD]

If they were confined in a small crate all the way from Canada to Japan then yes I think that is horrible.

[Alagirl]

[QUOTE=JBD;8231319]
If they were confined in a small crate all the way from Canada to Japan then yes I think that is horrible.[/QUOTE]

How do you think Olympic horses fly?!
Oh, right, on pallets, 2-3 horses per, in what is basically a tie stall…
Horrible, I am sure.

:rolleyes:
ETA
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/IHk6yKqvawU/0.jpg
http://www.rio2016.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/switcher_960x620_rounded_corners/equestrian_logistics_for_rio_2016_-_6.jpg

[Alagirl]

[QUOTE=roseymare;8231313]
There are people who cannot get their iron requirements through any means but meat. Not everyones body can succesfully utilize iron supplementation. I would consider these people obligatory carnivores.
Where does the no meat ever coalition put them?
Granted I do not know how many people this is but they do exist.[/QUOTE]

Out to pasture, until they die naturally…

There are a lot of people who do better with meat in their diets.

After all, humans are omnivores, not vegetarians. We lack some major components for plant only diets.

[2tempe]

[QUOTE=JBD;8231319]
If they were confined in a small crate all the way from Canada to Japan then yes I think that is horrible.[/QUOTE]

“Regular” shipping of horses to Japan or Europe or anywhere else, if done three to a pallet, results in a “stall” that is only about 2 feet wide, and 7+long. Horses are flown all the time these days. Is that horrible?
Its not clear how big the container in the video is, but but it is also not clear that there are four horses in any of those. There are some international regulations on space required, in addition to Canada’s rules. Four horses were herded out of pen, that doesn’t mean they all went into one pallet.

[Appsolute]

[QUOTE=caffeinated;8231317]

I wasn’t particularly enraged about that video either, but my problems with slaughter are largely around the conditions of shipping and sales and people obtaining horses under false pretenses, etc. The horses shown in the video are not horses that went through that (at least, based on what I know about that end of the industry).[/QUOTE]

This is my feeling as well. I do not like the “industry” in the US as it is currently run (auctions, crappy feed lots, worse trailers, long shipping times, poor handling etc).

But - if the horses are raised for food, handled humanely, and slaughtered humanely - I don’t have a problem with it.

Just like I didn’t have a problem with anything I saw in this video.

As for the container size - think of just about any internationally famous horse you know… and they have probably flown in a similar manner (which in my mind is a bazillion times better than crammed into a stock trailer, in 100 degree heat on their way to Mexico).

[4THEHORSES]

Just to add. The horses HAVE to be shipped in very confined spaces for the safety of the pilots, crew and any passengers. Correct weight distribution on an aircraft vitally important.

[HorsesinHaiti]

[QUOTE=JBD;8231319]
If they were confined in a small crate all the way from Canada to Japan then yes I think that is horrible.[/QUOTE]

I gotta say what most people are thinking…

Isn’t that the definition of human coach class?!

[CHT]

Yes, it didn’t really bother me either. The horses looked fine. And yes, they were raised for this purpose, and are not cast offs from another industry. There are a few farms in Canada that raise horses specifically for meat, mostly in Quebec. They don’t sent auction finds to Japan.

[JBD]

[QUOTE=2tempe;8231386]
“Regular” shipping of horses to Japan or Europe or anywhere else, if done three to a pallet, results in a “stall” that is only about 2 feet wide, and 7+long. Horses are flown all the time these days. Is that horrible?
Its not clear how big the container in the video is, but but it is also not clear that there are four horses in any of those. There are some international regulations on space required, in addition to Canada’s rules. Four horses were herded out of pen, that doesn’t mean they all went into one pallet.[/QUOTE]

Did they fly them into Japan? I was thinking a ship.

[Alagirl]

[QUOTE=JBD;8231821]
Did they fly them into Japan? I was thinking a ship.[/QUOTE]

You can see the plane in the background.

[Beam_Me_Up]

Americans eat more meat than any other country. Some religions more common elsewhere consume none.

I agree that there is no moral distinction between eating traditionally food animals and traditionally pet animals. But most horse slaughter opposition in the US has to do with the means, which is not a part of this video.