Horse Slaughter, Rescue Bills Spark Controversy

[The Straight Story]

Horse Slaughter, Rescue Bills Spark Controversy


A legislative bill this session calls for the creation of a state agency to inspect meat-processing facilities so horse meat can be sold across lines. Those who favor the bill say horses past their useful life that cannot go to slaughter often endure less-humane end-of-life situations. (Sandy From/The Sun-Telegraph)

LINCOLN – If Sen. Tyson Larson of O’Neill has his way, he will one day be able to slaughter his quarter horses in Nebraska.

That’s because Larson is sponsoring a bill to create a state agency to inspect meat-processing facilities, in part so horse meat can be sold across state lines. The bill would appropriate $100,000 per year to pay for the agency.

.....

Without inspections to ensure horse meat was processed according to federal law, it became illegal to transport horse meat across state lines. After horse processing facilities closed in Texas and Illinois, the American horse slaughter industry, which previously sold horse meat for consumption in Europe and Japan, was effectively gone.

Jim Korkow, a rodeo stock contractor from Pierre, S.D., said not being able to slaughter horses is bad for horses and for his business’s bottom line.

“Each year, I have horses that are ready to retire. They are done,” he said. “I’m running a ranching rodeo operation, and the damned thing is turning into a retirement home for old horses. Consequently, I just watch them here and no matter how much you feed them, you can’t help them. They deteriorate and lose muscle mass. It’s saddening.”

http://www.suntelegraph.com/cms/news/story-213301.html

[bklyncowgirl]

1. This is ridiculous. Rodeo guy's operation turning into a retirement facility.

First of all, I agree that this guy's old saddle broncs are probably not animals that are going to be easily rehabilitated into little girl's lesson horses. They ended up at the rodeo for a reason. That being said, there's nothing at all stopping this guy from taking his horses to the local sales barn and selling them to the meat men. (I would hope that he wouldn't try and sell them as nice broke pleasure horses but let's just say, it's been known to happen--some people I know many years back bought a horse at auction after the rodeo came through town and let's just say, as the pharmaceutical enhancement wore off--and the horse quickly discovered that ordinary mortals are much more easily bucked off than rodeo cowboys--they got a very unpleasant and expensive surprise.)

Let's say rodeo guy has moral qualms against having his horses shipped to Mexico or Canada. I could certainly understand and applaud that. He could, however, put the unwanted animals down himself. A rodeo contractor should know how euthanize a horse humanely with a gun--arguably a more humane method of euthanasia than lethal chemicals--and one which enables the carcass to be used as animal food. Of course this guy's not going to get anything for a horse processed for dog food--therefore he won't make money off of it.

Money, of course is the whole issue. All ethical arguments aside, there may be a humane way of killing horses for meat, but it would not be one which one could get maximum profit. The assemblyline methods used for other livestock are not humane for these sensitive, panic prone animals. Thats why the U.S. horse slaughter operations were closed down in the first place. Despite supposed humane regulation, the places were pure horror houses. I agree that the ban has made it worse--now the poor animals are shipped even further to their deaths. Canada has similar regulations as those which prevailed in the U.S.. Mexico has no regulations whatsoever and accounts of the fate awaiting horses at some of their plants are bonechilling.

As far as a law requiring the horse rescues to take any animal given to them, that's just plain crazy. Most of these rescues--at least the reputable ones--operate on a shoestring and are most interested in animals that they can rehabilitate and adopt out. Unless some funding to enable these rescues to euthanize animals that cannot be rehomed--the way dog and cat shelters do--is included this would simply put them out of business.