We agree more than disagree.
I would never subject my beloved dog to a cruel or inhumane death, I’d shoot her first.
And horses are companion animals and deserve our respect. However, in the world we live in neither of these animals get it sometimes, and many suffer from neglect and abuse. Letting a horse being let starve to death, etc., is a lot less enticing if you could get money for taking it to slaughter.
The American Veterinary Association and many others approved of the methods used in legitimate slaughterhouses in the U.S., in fact would inspect them. The horses don’t have that in Mexico. Their fate is much grimmer after the animal rights HSUS got involved.
The problem is that if humane slaughter exists in the abstract it is not used in the concrete. I doubt USDA has the man power to inspect plants to assure this.