Horse-slaughtering law alarms activists

The Centre Daily Times ^ | Thu, Feb. 24, 2005 | SCOTT SONNER -- Associated Press

[Willie Green]

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.

RENO, Nev. - For the first time in more than a generation, the mustang - the very symbol of the American West - can be slaughtered for horsemeat.

In December, Congress repealed the 34-year-old ban on the slaughter of the wild horses that run free across the West. The move has brought a powerful backlash from activists, who want to reinstate full protection for the mustangs.

"It is really a slap in the face to the American people," said Betty Kelly, co-founder of the horse protection group Wild Horse Spirit in Virginia City, Nev.

Acting on behalf of ranchers who say the horses eat forage needed by cattle, Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., attached the amendment in December to a spending bill that President Bush signed into law.

It allows for the sale for slaughter of some older and unwanted horses that are captured during the periodic government roundups aimed at reducing the wild population, now estimated at 33,000 across 10 Western states. About 19,000 of the horses are in Nevada.

A bill to reinstate the slaughter ban was introduced in Congress last month.

Responsibilty for rounding up horses on federal land and selling them rests with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which has yet to send any of the animals to slaughter.

BLM officials said the agency is reaching out to animal protection groups and is optimistic that before the summer, it will find new homes for the 8,900 horses and burros that could be subject to slaughter.

"We realize it is a challenge, but we think there are owners out there that would provide the kind of care we are looking for," BLM spokesman Tom Gorey said from Washington, D.C.

The issue has dogged the Interior Department and Congress since Nevada's Velma Johnson, also known as Wild Horse Annie, and a legion of schoolchildren persuaded Congress to outlaw the use of motor vehicles to hunt the mustangs in 1959. That was followed by the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act of 1971.

Sylvia Fascio, a fifth-generation Nevada horse breeder, said there are too many wild horses roaming the BLM land next to her ranch, and some should be sold for slaughter.

"I enjoy the wild horses. I'm blessed to live out here among them and it's a very romantic thought. But there is such a thing as reality," Fascio said. "Since they can't seem to find homes for all of these horses all of the time, there is only one thing left. There are foreign countries that eat horsemeat. We don't now, but we did during World War II. I see nothing wrong with that."

The fate of the horses is also a question of cultural values, according to Mike Schroeder, a Washington state wildlife biologist. "I think of them more as livestock. But a lot of tribes I work with think of them as wildlife that should not be touched," he said in a speech to a Western Governors Association conference earlier this month.

It is a volatile issue. Scott Freeman, a defense attorney in Reno, defended one of three young men who were accused - and eventually acquitted of most charges - in the 1998 shooting deaths of 33 horses on the edge of Reno. The shootings outraged animal protection groups around the world and led to death threats against Freeman.

"I have lots of experience doing homicide cases, but I have never experienced the emotional outburst I did with the horse case," he said. "The rallying cry was for the defenseless animals and that the individuals - who in my case turned out to be innocent - should basically be strung up."

Burns said the repeal of the slaughter ban is necessary to manage the herds and protect the range. The measure allows the sale of horses more than 10 years old, as well as any that go unadopted three offerings in a row.

The BLM said it believes the 37,000 free-roaming wild horses and burros on the range are about 9,000 more than natural food supplies can sustain. Its aim is to bring the population down to about 28,000.

BLM Director Kathleen Clarke said the agency already is getting some responses in its effort to find homes for the animals and hopes to find a solution "in a way we feel good about."

ON THE NET: http://www.wildhorseandburro.blm.gov

[LittleSpotBlog]

Who are the city dwellers of whom you speak? Confused.

[ijcr]

A - filet:

* Has few stressed muscles and therefore the best piece of the horse

B - Hind Quarters:

* is completely almost without fat

C - overhead panel

* is tender, juicy meat (in particular overhead panel of Ponys)

D - Semer and Semerrolle:

* meat to bar-b-que

E - front backs:

* steak meat

F - hochrippe:

* meat to bar-b-que and perfect for Gulasch

G - chest:

* ideal for sour roast

H - nose (elbow):

J - front leg meat:

I - belly rags,

K - rear leg meat,

L - necks,

M - head:

These are processing meats , e.g. for the production of

o Salami, crack sausage

o Cooked sausage

o special horse sausage (similar to basic sausage, but more larger and leaner)

o Basic sausage, bratwurst, Viennese...

* During the production of sausage products something pig fat is usually added, since horse fat does not possess sufficient cohesion, in order to hold the sausage together later.

[cowboyway]

these are not wild horses....they are feral horses that came over with the conquestidors....

Definition of feral

[LittleSpotBlog]

A responsible horse owner would never keep more horses than he could reasonably care for. Anyone claiming that selling a horse to slaughter because there are no other "humane" options is lying.

[free_european]

"horse meat going for hundreds of dollars a pound"

I don't know where you get that idea from but all i'll say is that thousands of farmers WISH this were the case!!!!

[free_european]

Lots of people keep those weird little pot-bellied pigs as pets, I'll bet they get worked up about hogs being slaughtered. A young hog, by the way, is a very friendly and inquisitive critter.

[Cold Heat]

I don't know what the price of "killer weight" is selling for currently per pound. I had always managed to get enough for a horse to avoid the route and only purchased animals that had some value as a riding horse. "gaited or quarter"

But, common sense will tell you that at some point the horse will be sold for slaughter. Or a backhoe rented to bury it after hundreds of dollars in vet costs and time lost.

The prices for slaughter horses usually does not even cover the vet bills and transport, where a backhoe costs even more money.

For most it is not a hobby where financial losses are acceptable.

I don't think anyone wants to front an old horses home either. Like they do with successful retired racing horses.

Common sense is free. It is easy to find.

[Himyar]

A responsible horse owner would never keep more horses than he could reasonably care for. Anyone claiming that selling a horse to slaughter because there are no other "humane" options is lying.
Ah, there's the rub. I'm not talking about responsible horse owners here. I'm talking about people who don't take care of their animals. It is more humane for these animals to be taken to slaughter than to be left to starve. Starving horses are common all over this country. It is a major concern for all horse people. We can't take them all in. There are many people doing wonderful work in horse rescue, but lets be honest here, a horse is not a dog or cat. It takes money to keep a horse correctly. Add to the problems of a large animal that has a bad attitude and you can have a real problem. I'd rather see one sent to slaughter than left in an overgrazed pasture with no care. I take care of mine until the time comes and then I put them down. But I have money and I have land to bury them. In a perfect world, everyone would take care of their kids and animals, but this isn't a perfect world and we have to deal with it as it is. Slaughter is the only humane option in some cases.

[cowboyway]

If you don't understand wildlife management and practices, and why they are used,you should not even comment. You would be better off asking questions.

You seem like a reasonably intelligent individual so you should understand the difference. People name horses same as they name their dogs and cats. Are you also an advocate of using euthanized dogs and cats from the pound for human consumption also?

If so, then you are consistent and you have my apologies.

[democrats_nightmare]

"which is better eating........a 6 or 8 cylinder Mustang?"

I was not meanin cars for I truly love animals they for the most part all taste great...heck even a chunk of fresh road kill is not to bad for the palate

[free_european]

"People name horses same as they name their dogs and cats"

Dairy farmer up the road from my parents had names for all his cows, people name their prize steers/hogs whathaveyous as well. I have nothing against people eating cats and dogs (Asians do) although - as with horses - I wouldnt eat em.

[cowboyway]

I have nothing against people eating cats and dogs (Asians do) although - as with horses - I wouldnt eat em

I don't care what people eat. They can eat each other for all I care.

My point is that we are an affluent enough society that we Americans shouldn't have to lower ourselves to eating horses, dogs, cats, snails, monkeys, etc. like the rest of the third world. (europe included)

[free_european]

Fair enough. I wouldn't lower myself to it either ... i think the idea, however, is to sell the meat to the French or Japanese though.

[cowboyway]

i think the idea, however, is to sell the meat to the French or Japanese though

Wouldn't that be the same as selling dead humans to cannibalistic tribes because we are above eating dead humans ourselves?

[Cold Heat]

Are you also an advocate of using euthanized dogs and cats from the pound for human consumption also?

I am quite capable of eating anything that does not eat me first.

[free_european]

I dont agree with the kind of post-modern thinking that puts humans on the same ethical plane with other animals ... so, no it isnt.

[Publius6961]

"It is really a slap in the face to the American people," said Betty Kelly, co-founder of the horse protection group Wild Horse Spirit in Virginia City, Nev.

It is whack jobs like this female and her group that are a slap in the face to the American people

[colorcountry]

Ya'll might have to change you're opinion of eating pork

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1350203/posts

[Cold Heat]

Well golly G!

Let me get my cloven hoof out of my butt..........

LOL! (worms were the reason for not eating pork) But who knew!

[cajun-jack]

agreed