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Surge in Abandoned Horses Renews Debate Over Slaughterhouses
NY Times ^

Posted on 04/06/2009 10:35:23 PM PDT by Chet 99

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To: Jeff Chandler

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.


21 posted on 04/06/2009 11:44:59 PM PDT by Cowgirl
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To: Jeff Chandler
"Most horse owners don't think of horses as pets the way they think of cats and dogs"

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.

22 posted on 04/06/2009 11:45:37 PM PDT by americanophile
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To: Jeff Chandler

How bout putting the horse meat back in Jack-in-the-Box burgers?


23 posted on 04/06/2009 11:46:46 PM PDT by philetus (Keep doing what you always do and you'll keep getting what you always get.)
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To: MTMS
For the record, I have ridden, hunted, and coached virtually all of my life. I now maintain four horses here in Germany but I have lost track of the situation in America. What is the law now about disposing of an animal? If I have a horse who founders and I have to put him down what are my options? Can I do it myself or must a veterinarian be summoned? if I have a horse who is no longer fit for work and is in some chronic pain I could send him in the old days to the knacker but evidently that is no longer an option. What must I do with him?

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.


24 posted on 04/06/2009 11:51:48 PM PDT by nathanbedford ("Attack, repeat attack!" Bull Halsey)
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To: MTMS

Would you take one of your problem horses, tie it to a tree, and walk away to let it starve?


25 posted on 04/06/2009 11:53:27 PM PDT by Chet 99
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To: americanophile
Their are millions of recreational horse owners who regard their horses as pets.

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.

26 posted on 04/06/2009 11:55:36 PM PDT by Jeff Chandler (Obama is dead wrong on the first principle of justice: innocent human life deserves protection.)
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To: philetus
How bout putting the horse meat back in Jack-in-the-Box burgers?

They could serve them at the Budweiser Pavilion at Sea World, next to the Clydesdales.

27 posted on 04/06/2009 11:57:08 PM PDT by Jeff Chandler (Obama is dead wrong on the first principle of justice: innocent human life deserves protection.)
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To: Jeff Chandler

28 posted on 04/07/2009 12:00:44 AM PDT by Chet 99
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To: Jeff Chandler

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.


29 posted on 04/07/2009 12:00:44 AM PDT by philetus (Keep doing what you always do and you'll keep getting what you always get.)
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To: Chet 99

No


30 posted on 04/07/2009 12:01:02 AM PDT by MTMS
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To: Chet 99

Too rare. It's still pink.


31 posted on 04/07/2009 12:06:05 AM PDT by Jeff Chandler (Obama is dead wrong on the first principle of justice: innocent human life deserves protection.)
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To: nathanbedford

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.


32 posted on 04/07/2009 12:18:14 AM PDT by MTMS
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To: americanophile
Horses are not pets; they are working animals. And yes, I could ride my horse one day and sell it for dogmeat the next. I can also shoot an animal without blinking. It is more humane to put it down than let it suffer.

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.

33 posted on 04/07/2009 12:36:35 AM PDT by antidisestablishment (Our people perish through lack of wisdom, but they are content in their ignorance.)
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To: MTMS
Thank you very much for your input.

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.


34 posted on 04/07/2009 12:46:27 AM PDT by nathanbedford ("Attack, repeat attack!" Bull Halsey)
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To: nathanbedford

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.


35 posted on 04/07/2009 3:15:44 AM PDT by kickstart ("A gun is a tool. It is only as good or as bad as the man who uses it" . Alan Ladd in 'Shane')
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To: americanophile

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.


36 posted on 04/07/2009 9:24:33 AM PDT by Marie ("When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.")
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