Legislation being considered to slaughter horses in US

[Streetstar]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/3 ... s-headline


Wow --- whats the world coming to? Legislation being considered to lift bans on slaughtering horses in several states it looks like

I know a lot of us on the board like or love horses - even those of us who may be indifferent still probably would not knowingly want to eat a horse fillet --- i suppose the process would be no more and no less harsh than a cattle slaughterhouse, --- but i guess my feeling on this "What's next?"

I realize that horse is eaten in other countries -- so are dogs for that matter, but in America, they are looked on not only as pets but almost as another symbol of the American spirit, along with leverguns , 4x4 trucks and other symbols of American "excess".

I don't wish to stir any inflamed debates or anything ---- i also realize that if i was truly starving , i might take a "any port in a storm" outlook to where my food came from -- but isn't the cow a much better food animal than a horse anyway? They're much larger anyway

Like i said "Whats next?"

[Blaine]

I'm not sure about civilian markets, but Army Mess Halls served horse up until about 1973. It was the Mystery Meat of military fame.

[Don McDowell]

Most of the horse meat went to Europe.
When they stopped the slaughter of horses here, it killed the horse business. There was no place to take the old , sick and unusable horses, so those horses were either put down and sent to a pet food factory (if they'ld take them) or in many cases here in Wy just dumped in a pasture someplace, with any brands, or tattoo's cut out of them. They could either make it or not.
It's also been costing you buckets full of tax payer dollars for pofoke like T Boone Pickens's wife to take in the feral horses rounded up by the BLM. Several ranches have been bought by pofoke like them just on the per head per day grazing fee the BLM has to pay out, because they couldn't send the unadoptable horses to slaughter.

[Streetstar]

or in many cases here in Wy just dumped in a pasture someplace, with any brands, or tattoo's cut out of them. They could either make it or not.
.

Dang ---- thats harsh . Ted Turner has a ranch in northern Oklahoma full of wild horses too--- probably getting a similar BLM payout.

Your input is enlightening to me Don --- although to me, its like peeling back a stinky onion --- the more you peel (know) the stinkier it gets.



I think i'm going to go hug my horse and dump a couple of Bud Lights in with his grain tonight

[Don McDowell]

Yup it's been a real mess since they closed the horse slaughter down. The really interesting part is PETA themselves said they had goofed and caused more harm to horses when they pushed the ban on slaughter than if they had just left things alone.

[Griff]

The only upside to the ban was the almost immediate stop to horse thefts to feed the slaughterhouses. Unbranded or tatooed horses were most at risk.

[BenT]

I get offered to take dozens of horses a year for free. Because people can't afford them any more ,and have no where to take them. I know at the horse auction at Cannonfalls , you better paddlelock your trailer or you might find a free horse tied up in it that didn't sell at auction when you come back to your rig. There is so many events of starving horses in the news , where charges of animal happen. They need to start slaughtering horses again. The French Canadians think they are tasty.
I know the BlM land is just a dumping grounds for unwanted horses, they aren't the wild horse herds the media reports.

[hightime]

Eat them! I have four with big brown eyes, cute buggers. Eat them. I might not.
It's just silly not to. If I had a pet fawn that I raised, I might not want to eat it, but I'd still eat other ones.
Horses don't love you!!!!!The best you can do is comand respect from them.

Owen

[Catshooter]

I ate horse in Portland, Oregon in the very early 70's. You could buy it in grocery stores. If I recall correctly, it is higher in protien than beef. It was good tasting. We were poor, and it was meat.

The "wild" horse situation is totally out of control here in the US. PETA is such a wonderful organization, don't you just love them?


Cat

[Blaine]

If it shows up cheap, I'll get it I had a horse steak in Germany, fixed up in a schnitzel, that was as good as anything I ever ate.

[Dave James]

Hope the ban is lifted have spoken with several small farmers down my way with surplus horses, and it ain't as easy as it used to be to get rid of them, besides horse meat is pretty good, have enjoyed each time it was served

[Old Savage]

This one is making liberals turn on liberals - it's a very merry Christmas!

https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/! ... r/GnNH1pS4

[Lastmohecken]

The problem is this country is full of sorry worthless horses, that are good for nothing but soap or steaks. I like horses, but some are idiots, that will never make a decent using horse, and people can't give them away.

I have one right now, that I am probably not going to be able to get ride of, and hay is expensive, although a good trainer might make a horse out of her, I just don't know. I was temped the other day to lead her into the woods and put a bullet through her head, after getting throwed. Her personality is that she is unpredictable.

At anyrate, I know professional horse trainers that ship horses to Mexico for slaughter even now, when they get one that just doesn't pan out for anything.

[Chuck 100 yd]

Around here people are dumping them off like a litter of kittens.
One guy had two horses and the next day he had four.
No I.D. , what do you do??

[AJMD429]

I don't see what the fuss is all about, nor the waste of ink and air-time.

It is NOT the government's business to 'regulate':

• what we eat, or
  what we do with our livestock.

Real simple.

If someone violates a contract to provide safe meat, or violates one saying what the meat is from, or how it was processed, that's a violation of contract law. Government business.

If someone endangers others by providing unsafe meat, that's tort law. Government business.

If someone (actually) endangers the public health in some manner, or if someone steals another person's horse to sell for horseburgers, that would be criminal law. Government business.

If someone is CRUEL to an animal (which has NOTHING to do with whether or not it is killed for food, humanitarian reasons, or allowed to die of natural causes - but instead has to do with how it is treated while ALIVE), that would be criminal law. Government business.

Too many busybodies in this country, wanting to tell everyone else how to run their lives.

[765x53]

Stray dogs. Stray horses. Feral hogs. Feral cats.
Explain the difference?

[willygene]

I hope they reopen horse slaughter there is a need for it, do-gooders don't have clue about animals that need to be slaughtered . The ones going to Mexico are held in feed lots near the border until they weigh 1000 pounds or they can't be taken across the border, the rest are standing around starving to death slowly and painfully to make the tree huggers feel good about them selves I'm going to stop now befor I get mad and my blood pressure goes up.

[Streetstar]

Around here people are dumping them off like a litter of kittens.
One guy had two horses and the next day he had four.
No I.D. , what do you do??

To paraphrase something i said in the recent thread on the dogs ---- if someone did this and tried to foist his responsibility on his neighbor -- i hope they are caught and have to share a cell with some very large gentlemen who have been away from women for a long long time

I have a soft heart when it comes to domestic animals and while i was initially a bit upset about slaughtering horses for human consumption , i am even more upset thinking about a person who would just turn a domesticated critter like that to the winds because he/she couldnt manage their finances.
..
I hate to say it, but the poor critters who are old, broken down, or starved are not going to be processed into choice fillet's , --- but much like making burger meat with other tough animals -- just add some bovine tallow to the mix - and make chili (or any other thing you can think of -- Blaine reminded me of the SOS meat from Army messhalls -- who knows what is in that

[KCSO]

Why not horse? Let see we eat deer, moose, sheep, even emu's. I can't see that a horse is more beloved than a dog and I know folks who eat those too. As the old time mountain men said meat are meat.

[AJMD429]

I have a soft heart when it comes to domestic animals and while i was initially a bit upset about slaughtering horses for human consumption, I am even more upset thinking about a person who would just turn a domesticated critter like that to the winds because he/she couldnt manage their finances.

You can thank the do-gooders and 'regulators' for such dumping-off and abandonment of these animals - I'm SURE their owners would rather get $100 for them at the local butcher-shop than have to dump them like unwanted trash.

As ALWAYS, once some busy-body gets the money/power to enact their little fantasy-land into LAW, things go badly. You'd think we'd learn to quit using the government to tell each other what to do...

[Streetstar]

Why not horse? Let see we eat deer, moose, sheep, even emu's. I can't see that a horse is more beloved than a dog and I know folks who eat those too. As the old time mountain men said meat are meat.

Horses are just as beloved as dogs, if not more so, around my community ----- Horses are friends, dogs are friends, cats are friends , we don't eat our friends -- meat is not meat. I guess technically, and under the most dire circumastances, we would be eating each other too, but we don't think about such things


Thankfully i dont live in a place that is so poverty stricken that people would be tempted to dump their friends off in the country -- the flip side is, some of the scourges from the bigger surrounding communities, and especially geeks from the local AirForce base, are big offenders for dumping small pets where i live

(before anyone blasts me for singling out Air base people -- i'll explain ---- these idiots, many in their early 20's, adopt a pet and then dont know what to do when they have to deploy in 3 months --- the poor little, otherwise healthy critter either gets euthanized or dumped off if they can't pass it along to another person)

[pokey]

Most of the horse meat went to Europe.
When they stopped the slaughter of horses here, it killed the horse business.

truth.

Horses are friends

there in lies the problem. livestock is livestock, that some
folk become emotionally attached is beside the point.

Thankfully i dont live in a place that is so poverty stricken that people would be tempted to dump their friends off in the country

poverty, while a problem, is not why people are dumping their critters.
more like desperation.

[stinson]

There are no "wild horses" in North America. They went extinct thousands of years ago. There are, however, thousands of feral horses overunning western rangelands, competing with native wildlife, and costing taxpayers dearly with the government's irrational policies. Exactly why isn't the government instituting a relocation and protection program for the "wild" pigs that are the scourge of the South?

Oops, should have kept my mouth shut and not given them any ideas.

[horsesoldier03]

Not all horses are the great animals people like to think they are. Frequently, horses have lameness or are just mental and are not a suitable mount for anyone. Unfortunately, many times they end up as nothing more than yard art. However, unlike a dog, they have greater diet and and special needs that do nothing more than equal $$$. A small square bale of hay typically runs around $6, round bales are running about $80.

As soon as the slaughter market was shut down, prices on horses have done nothing but drop. Even with reopening the market, I expect it will take a couple of years to get the prices back up.

IMO, this is a good thing!

[GonnePhishin]

It is NOT the government's business to 'regulate':

what we eat, or
what we do with our livestock.


Real simple.

AMEN Brother +1