Horse slaughter

[springhillrescue]

Hi to all,

I am Gina, Founder of Spring Hill Horse Rescue. Both Rich and his wife Karen adopted two QH geldings from us recently. Both horses were purchased at an auction and directly outbid from the meat buyer. These two horses were seriously malnourished and overworked at a riding camp or stable where after their months of service were discarded like a piece of trash. No animal or human should be treated in such a way. Horses have served this country in so many capacities over the years - war, transportation, working the land and now they are our entertainment, pets and companions. I am not an extremist but I have to agree with Rich, it is certainly a cultural thing where most Americans do not eat horse meat. I do agree that something has to be done about the true problem of what to do with these tens of thousands of horses if horse slaughter is banned in the US. Euthanisia is certainly an option but why not consider the source of mass horse production (ie race horse industry, PMU farms) and make them be responsible for their part of the problem and the 'cure' for it? After years of serving their owners or producing a profit to a horse business or owner these horses deserve better treatment than the fate of horse slaughter where they are transported hundreds of miles, starved, dehydrated, kicked and trampled by other frantic horses and physically abused. No animal deserves this fate - not even the horses that are deemed dangerous or crazy...these horses are at the mercy of whoever raises them and most bad vices or behaviors are man made due to ignorance and abusive training tactics. Instead of talking about ways of killing them and why lets talk about ways of detering the births of the tens of thousands that are born every year &/or making those responsible for bringing so many horses into this world responsible for their fate??
Again, I am not an extremist - just a voice on behalf of these horses. I applaud Rich and Karen in their efforts in adopting these horses and giving them a second chance a good life they deserve. We cannot save them all but to save one is a miracle in itself;-)

[RichZ]

Well, I've been off line for the past few days, but I see the debate has continued, and I'm glad it did. I asked Gina to respond to this debate, and she did an excellent job stating where the true problem lies.

Prevention of the glut of unwanted horses is clearly the overall solution. Hopefully someday, something can be done about that!

[wingnut]

<font color="blue"> she did an excellent job stating where the true problem lies. </font color>

her <font color="orange"> opinion </font color> of where the true problem lies.

pete

Actually her reply was full of half-truths and there were no facts contained. The race horse and pmu actually contribute very little to the OVERALL problem.

Also with regards to hauling it is the most strictly regulated hauling short of nuclear material. It is a $10,000, yes $10,000, fine for each offense that she mentioned. The drivers have to log when the horses were watered, when fed, etc. They can only haul a certain amount of horses. It is also against federal law to haul a blind or lame horse that cannot stand, again a $10,000 fine.

It most certainly is not these kinds of conditions that the slaughter industry works under. Just like I pointed out some time ago about the pmu industry.

[Dob]

<font color="blue"> Why do the few rule the many? In other words, why can a small group of wackos inflict their will upon us?
</font color>
Because we live in a place where the "squeaky wheel get's the oil".
Personally I try to live by the adage, "the squeaky wheel get changed".

[Dob]

Much like politics, to me it all boils down to where you draw the line(s). It's OK to raise a cow, goat, pig to eat but not a horse? Or is it? Why not dogs &amp; cats? OK, I understand the family or pet component, and the cultural considerations. Note I talk about "raising for consumption" a step further than what would likely be called culling - which by most would be considered more "acceptable" than "raising". Again, my point is where do we as a society draw the lines? If you believe killing an animal (to eat) is wrong, then killing all animals (to eat) is wrong, right???. If you eat beef but NEVER a horse, or goat, for "ethical' reasons, rethink your "ethics", or at least come up with another more consistent reason to discourage it. Again, I'm not talking about pets here. The problem with that kind of "faulty" logic is there is someone out here that has as valid a claim for YOU not to kill or eat cows and so on. Are they wrong and you are right? Line drawing again.
We recently acquired some ducks - rescued from a neighboring lake, momma dead. We nurtured and grew them into nice Muscovies, all were named, none have been eaten. Ducks propagate. The next clutch was not named, 5 butchered. Am I expressing a double standard here? NO. Why? I'm not imposing that belief on anyone else, except the "chosen" ducks. Could I walk out right now and cut he head off of "Mac" and put him on the grill, yes, would my wife eat it, NO! BTW she loved the one that was mostly white. Could I walk out and behead my only remaining St Bernard, gut and butterfly her for the pit, NO WAY! But I have eaten dog before, and likely will again.
Personally, I tend to draw the line at cruelty (and petdom), but then again, different people have different lines on what cruelty is. Some would say any killing is cruel. Others would say that beating something with a baseball bat to death was not...
With freedom comes many things, one is responsibility, another is the requisite to allow others to be free - to do some things that you may disagree with. I try, at least, to practice the credos:

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
&amp;
Be free to do as you wish as long as there is not the initiation of force, coercion or deception on another.

I do make the exception that the above does not generally apply to animals, except as it relates to cruelty. Which makes me think of another thing worth noting that tangently relates to all of this. You would be hard pressed to find a better home for a pet than our place. Many of you have seen my post about the loss of one of our Saints, Caesar. We are looking for another companion for Camille. There was a nice looking Saint at a local Humane Society. I called to inquire. They would not adopt to us because Camille is not "fixed". No matter that "George" was, and that Camille has a pedigree that could stand up to most any Saint's. We attempted a breeding once before and would like (though truthfully not likely) to at least reserve the right to do so again. George's loss. Wonder where he'll wind up? If we were in Asia, likely the slaughterhouse...
Oh well, enough rambling.

Not a topic that is likely to ever be "settled".

[DUMBDOG]

I guess it depends on just how hungry a person gets, I guess. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[pbenven]

Great post, Dob.