Posted on 04/06/2009 10:35:23 PM PDT by Chet 99
April 7, 2009 Surge in Abandoned Horses Renews Debate Over Slaughterhouses By KATIE ZEZIMA
MURRAY, Ky. Emaciated horses eating bark off trees. Abandoned horses tied to telephone poles. Horses subsisting on feces, walking among carcasses.
As the economy continues to falter, law enforcement officers in Kentucky and throughout the country are seeing major increases in the number of unwanted and neglected horses, some abandoned on public land, others left to starve by their owners.
The situation has renewed the debate over whether reopening slaughterhouses in the United States the last ones closed in 2007 would help address the problem. Some states, Missouri, Montana and North and South Dakota, for example, are looking at ways to bring slaughterhouses back.
An estimated 100,000 horses a year are shipped to Canada and Mexico for slaughter, prompting Congress to consider a bill that would ban the sale and transport of horses for human consumption outside the country. But Arkansas, Georgia and eight other states are against such a ban, saying owners need affordable options for unwanted horses.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I have had many different horses over the years. When I sold them they didn’t pine over losing their previous owner like a dog might do. I’m sure some of the smarter horses could develop an attachment to their owners if handled from birth. Anyway, my concern about slaughtering horses is the cruel treatment on the way to the slaughterhouse. Most are cramed in and not taken care of during the trip. The thought of shipping them to China, etc. sounds terrible because length of travel. Horses can frighten very easily and even kick each other brutally. The whole thing would be too savage. I think the local slaughterhouse is the best solution. It is much more humane.
Since horses don’t have cloven hooves like cows and sheep, I think that is one reason they weren’t used for food. It is forbidden in the Old Testament to eat grass eating animals that don’t have cloven hooves.
I don't think that's true at all. It really depends on what part of the country you're from. Their are millions of recreational horse owners who regard their horses as pets.
How bout putting the horse meat back in Jack-in-the-Box burgers?
If I must summon a veterinarian what does he cost? What does it cost to dispose of a carcass? Is this why owners are abandoning stock?
This business of sending greenhorns in to inspect animals who literally don't even know which end bites and which and kicks it is the ultimate Kafkaesque unintended consequence of liberals meddling in affairs because they have watched Liz Taylor in National Velvet.
Why can't they simply police slaughterhouses effectively?
I would be grateful for your update.
Would you take one of your problem horses, tie it to a tree, and walk away to let it starve?
Then this is a very recent phenomenon. Horse owners have traditionally had rational, mature attitudes towards their horses. Except, perhaps, for eight-year-old girls.
They could serve them at the Budweiser Pavilion at Sea World, next to the Clydesdales.
They could serve them at the Budweiser Pavilion at Sea World, next to the Clydesdales. “
Actually, a great burger would be McClydesdale with a Budricer.
No
Too rare. It's still pink.
Here in Montana, you can still shoot and bury your horse on your own property. Some ranchers I know have a pit for their dead animals and if their horse dies they will haul it out to their pit and throw it in with the other carcasses...mainly cows. Wild animals will have it cleaned up in no time.
We, personally, have our vet dispose of them for us at $300 or so. She uses a shot to euthanize them.
She disposes of the body and will cremate them for an additional fee. We have never had cremation...just had her haul them to the landfill..to a part of the landfill designated for animal carcasses. It has been a few years since we had an animal put down so I don’t know what it costs now.
As far as why owners are abandoning their horses....high priced feed, both hay and grain. And, in our valley, skyrocketing unemployment. You can’t give horses away right now.
I don’t know anything about the regulations on this in other states. I am sure there is someone on FR that knows more about this issue than I do. If I am wrong, I know someone will correct me.
There are NOT a million options to get rid of horses. If there were, people would avail themselves of them. You tell me ten simple ways to dispose of a horse! I dare you.
Horses are damned expensive to keep and they are not a scarce commodity. They are a luxury item and would generally be disposable in hard times, but this asinine legislation has made it impossible for people to do so.
The bleeding heart brigade is the cause of this inhumane situation! Animals are property, not persons.
So it seems that there is an ever widening price gap between sending a horse to the knacker and summoning a vet to euthanizing, cart off, and either bury or burn the carcass. I think they used to fetch about $.40 a pound or for horse meet at the auction, so an ordinary riding horse who went to the knacker would fetch about $400, depending on weight.
I cannot imagine that the prices gone down beyond the $300 you cite. There must be another $500 for transport and disposal. That means the spread is about $1200. The people who are losing their ranches and backyard farms to foreclosure might just not have $800 or $1000 for each horse to be disposed of. If they have two or three horses, it becomes a major concern.
Since the Liberals and the greens have driven the price of feed up because of their lunatic biofuels subsidies, keeping horses is no longer an option. The Liberals have thus destroyed the market into which to sell them. So the Liberals have created a situation of horror for the horses by squeezing a tradition about which they are utterly ignorant at both ends.
By the way, I was up at my stable the other day when the neighboring farmer drove by with a brand-new tractor and a brand-new trailer behind it. My stable owner asked, "you know how much that tractor and trailer cost?" Without waiting for my reply he volunteered, "80,000 for the tractor 15 to 20,000 for the trailer, and he just bought a Mercedes car." The farmer did all of this by selling his grain about a mile down the road to a place where the government is making electricity. There is a surtax on every kilowatt of electric energy consumed here in Germany which goes to such madness.
I had read somewhere that around 1900 the human consumption of grain as food was in competition with the consumption of grain by horses which were used almost exclusively for transportation. Consequently, food prices (for both people and horses) were increasing. Fortunately, the advent of the automobile freed up more food for people. Now the greenies are causing this phenomenon to happen again by using food for biofuels.
I’ve known two horse lovers who’ve tried to get rid of their horses. Yes, they could’ve given them away. The problem was that they over valued the animals and refused to sell them for a loss.
I found a good home for our gelding within hours of placing an ad on Craig’s List. Yup. I ate some money, but we couldn’t keep up with him any longer and I did care for the big boy.
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