Missouri town welcomes horse slaughter plant, jobs

[Seedersandleechers]

ROCKVILLE, MO. -- People here don’t have anything against horses.

Or slaughtering them.

In fact, they’re fairly delighted at the prospect of transforming horses into export-ready steaks in a building that sits across from their local convenience store. They’re even praying for it.

“The town is all for it,” said Rockville Mayor Dave Moore. “I think it’s great.”


http://www.kansascity.com/2012/06/12/3659273/rockville-mo-welcomes-horse-slaughter.html


This is just 100 miles from where I live and it turns my stomach just thinking about it.

[Meiko]

1. Why

animals are slaughtered everyday in this country. Horse meat is a good substitute for beef and the plant will provide much needed jobs.

[Seedersandleechers]

6. Horses are pets

cows not so much.

[SoutherDem]

10. Yes, but is some cultures dogs are food.

However, I do draw the distinction and would never eat horse, dog, or cat.

[Freddie Stubbs]

13. Some people have pigs as pets

[aikoaiko]

2. I understand people's attachment to horses.

Last edited Fri Jun 15, 2012, 11:24 AM - Edit history (1)

But I don't have any problems with a horse slaughter plant, per se.

[Seedersandleechers]

5. Why not have a dog slaughter plant

for meat shipped to Asia? We could raise some meaty dogs with the land and feed we could provide. I'm not really attached to dogs so why not?

[Lionessa]

7. Great idea.

Certainly I wouldn't want it to be my dog, just as families with a milk cow or goat might still eat beef or cabrito, but not their cow or goat, or as my hens were my girls, my pets and I'd never eat them, but I still ate chicken, just not my chicken.

Almost any animal can be a pet, a local school where I lived for 20 years had a pet cow that lived on a lot adjacent to the school, but because the owner was a school employee it became a learning and loving opportunity for the kids.

I get that this might make you squeamish, but it's really just your own emotional issue. Additionally after seeing so many "pet" horses abandoned and neglected due to the cost of owning horses and the economy collapse over the past 5 or so years, being slaughtered might have been preferred to what they went through before dying or having to be euthanized.

[aikoaiko]

8. A dog or cat slaughter plant does not impact me any more than a cow, pig, or chicken slaughter plant

Heck, we slaughter fuzzy bunnies (example of cute animal) and bison (revered animal).

Watching any animal get killed does not make me feel good, but if the animal is eaten then I accept it.

[GoCubsGo]

15. I'm more appalled at the ones that don't get eaten.

Every day, thousands of cats and dogs wind up in landfills after being euthanized by animal shelters, because there aren't enough homes for them. Last year, my county's shelter alone killed nearly 5000 EACH cats and dogs. What a fucking waste. And, where is the outrage over that? At least the horses are going to be eaten.

[Iggy]

3. Mmmmmm...

What's for dinner!?

[4th law of robotics]

4. You really can't logically justify opposition to horse slaughter unless

you are likewise against any kind of animal slaughter.

Because really they are fundamentally just skinny cows. Some people like them. Some people like chickens or pigs or cows or fish or . . .

But that's just a personal and emotional reason.

[Scout]

9. horses are NOT raised for human consumption, people

they are routinely treated with chemicals and drugs that make the meat not safe for humans.

the European horse meat markets have become more aware of this fact, and are making stricter laws and tests to be sure the meat is safe ... this town may just find they have nowhere to send the product.

[SoutherDem]

11. I understand both sides

Yes, on one hand one animal slaughter is not different than another.
On the other, we have chosen to make some animals as pets, others as feed animals and still others as pests.

I personally do not hunt, the only mammals I have ever killed has be with a car and took actions to attempt to prevent this even to the point of endangering myself and possibly others. However, I am not a vegetarian. I feel we have evolved into omnivores and have no hesitations to eat meat but I do understand those who either don't eat any meat or those who feel horse steaks are fine.

For me this is an issue which goes really deep and will not render judgment on either side.

[blueprints]

12. American horsemeat is toxic

So, when are they going to implement the tracking system for horse medications then? As you may know, the EU has had to implement a a costly and complex horse passport system for ALL horses there, whether they are going to slaughter or not, to track the medications horses receive over their entire lifetime because these medications are cancerous to humans. The EU has had the passport system in place since 2004 and an accompanying microchip since 2009. The EU is finally realizing that the US has no system for tracking medications that US horses receive, making them ineligible to be imported as human food. This will be strictly enforced starting in 2013 -- something that the Canadian horse slaughterhouses are also worried about because over 50% of their slaughtered horses come from the US. If you want to slaughter US horses, then all 9 million US horses will need a passport of similar. Note: there is no acceptable withdrawal time for bute. If a horses ever receives even one does in it's life, it is ineligible in the eyes of the EU because of the toxic effects it has to humans (e.g. cancer/death). Also, according to our own food laws, it is absolutely illegal to be slaughtering horses as human food for the very same reason.

[Seedersandleechers]

14. Welcome to Du

You provided valuable information I was not aware of. Thank you.

[Liberal_in_LA]

16. ugh