Horse slaughter

[cert]

From the Cow/Calf Weekly

Horse Slaughter Ban Is Important To Cattlemen
Many months ago, some friends and I were talking about the proposed ban on horse slaughter and its ramifications for ag. At that time, I didn't consider it a major issue but as one looks at how this issue has evolved into H.R. 503, "The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act," it's obvious it's a major issue for the beef industry.

In our society, the horse has never been considered a meat animal, which reflects my beliefs as well. Horses are unique animals and rightly so. No one is going to be in support of horse processing, but it's a very important management practice.

A recent National Cattlemen's Beef Association editorial equated passage of such a bill as a slippery slope leading to dire changes in livestock agriculture. It becomes especially concerning when one considers some of the supporters of this bill. One can't help but see this bill as a serious threat to our business.

If issues such as these are defined or decided based on emotion, then we have to understand horses are the easy target, but not the last target. Animal harvest must be done humanely and in a sanitary manner, and such laws exist already to provide such animal and human protections.

As a college kid, I worked for a weekly horse auction. The fact is there's a percentage of the horse population that's going to be disposed of every year -- that's the reality. The cattle industry has a vested interest in defeating this bill. We can't let emotion-based restrictions occur, in any business.
-- Troy Marshall

 

[RoperAB]

I dont agree with the slippery slope in this case.
Horses are all together different than livestock. Horses are way smarter than cattle. They injure themselves way easier as well.

This is what you should do. Contact a horse slaughter plant. Tell them your training to be a farrier and you want some horse feet<detached> to practice on.
This should get you in there.

You will see foundered,sometimes badly injured, scared horses fighting it out in close quarters. These horses are shoved together and grained up.
You will see scared Horses being lead into a bloody kill floor where they are lined up and shot one after another.
Even if you have a strong stomach you will have a hard time watching this. Horse slaughter is way different than the beef industry.
I say let the french eat snails instead of old Dobin!

 

[OldDog/NewTricks]

Yea! Pass this law - learn what real curlty is, what it is to watch you watch you Old Friend die a long slow painfull death - to watch you horse lie in pain on the ground unable to get up while you try to comfort it by hand carying food and water. (It Not Legal to Shoot It)

When you horse dies you won't be allowed to bury it on your land with the respect it should have so you'll call the Tallow Co and you last viewing will be of you friends body being drug by a cable into that beautyful Tallow Truck (a sight you wont soon forget) an it will only cost you $200.

Of cource you can pay $1000's for a Pet Cemerty that is on Least Land < http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Pet+Cemetery+on+leased+land&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8 >only to have the land owner deside he wants to build there and digs all the remains up and hauled off to the dump with a Judges Approval

Oh Yes there's the 1000's in Laywer fees you spent to try to stop this!

 

[RoperAB]

I thought it was only commercial slaughter?
Why would they make it against the law to put a horse down yourself?
On trips to the mountains I always make sure I have a firearm just so if one did break a leg or something I could put it down right away instead of making it wait hours<days> for me to go back home to get a rifle.

 

[skidboots]

Here in Texas, we have 2 horse slaughter plants. Back 2yrs ago, horses were bought at local auctions for as high as .60 per lb. Then held in pens till a big truck from Dallas came by to cram them all in. However, those guys won't pay more than .35 now, so the market must have slipped. Also the Govt regulations regarding the tracking of animals sold at aictions have resulted in some hefty fines for some folks who were holding animals till the truck came.Coggins testing is an expensive deal to horse owners in this area.
What I object to is healthy animals, young and some aged but well trained and safe, being bought and traded by these shady guys, just to make less profit than they could make shining shoes on a street corner! After years of imprinting and service to mankind, to be treated that way. I'm no softie, I kill and eat too, sure some have to be put down, but when my old roping horse dies (shes 25 now) I'll get out the backhoe and plant her standing up, faceing West...thanks very much!

 

[the_jersey_lilly_2000]

Sounds to me like basically, they take your right to put a sufferin animal down, so they can come in and charge you with animal cruelty later. :roll:

Won't happen here........SSS and cry about it in private.

 

[IL Rancher]

We deal with it a lot here in Illinois as there was/is a plant near Dekalb. It burned down a few years ago and they rebuilt it afteer/during a long legal fight. Most of the meat was shipped to France and Czech republic aparently as the comsumption of horse meat is way down in most of western Europe (That is partially why prices droppe from .60 to .35)..

Th laws regarding putting down a horse are getting pretty strange, they kind of fall between livestock and pets.. IE, al the protection that pets have with all the practicality of being the size of a "cow" when it comes to final disposing. There were some reports of from putting the animal down legally to burial/rendering you where looking at several, several hundred dollars....

I have such mixed feelings about this proposed legislation that I don't know which way is up anymore... I wish I could say I felt about it in a black and white manner but I just don't//

 

[RoperAB]

Is the market down or are the horse packers just breeding their own?
There is a huge horse slaughter plant in Fort Macleod AB and for the last few years they have been buying way more than they need so they can breed them themselves and raise their own horses for slaughter.
Im just guessing because the Fort Macleod plant actually has horses on three different outfits in the area but they must have over 20,000 horses at any given time down there.

 

[IL Rancher]

We were looking at a farm that had made a bit of money on th horse meat trade a few years ago and when I was talking to my dad about it (he works in Europe) he had said that a lot of the countires in Europe were not eating as much Horse as they used to for whatever reason... There are, as far as I know, only 3 horse plants in the US that process for human consumption. The two in Texas and the one in Illinois.

I really don't know much about the industry as eating horse meat or seling horse meat has never been soemthign I have thought about. Perhaps I should think about it more. All I know is the buyers for the plants did not hae a good time of it as their names where published by folks and the horse people got al over them about it.

 

[RoperAB]

There are three horse slaughter plants in Canada as well.
I can see the government banning these slaughter plants but I see no reason to take away an individuals non-commercial right and duty to put a horse down when necessary.
Im thinking that the original article might have taken what the government is trying to do out of context?
Besides such a law is un-inforceable anyways. If you put your horse down who is going to know? Who is going to care?

 

[OldDog/NewTricks]

California Laws ?????

Downer Horses (to get around the Law)(as I understand it) must be shipped Out-of-State and and unloaded before they can be shipped to a horse slaughter plant in Texas or Mexico

 

[Faster horses]

The people who talk about this problem that I know of, worry about others turning horses loose all over the place and then it is the ranchers problem, though it isn't their horses. Who wants to have to kill horses and bury them?

I'm a horse lover and I don't like talking about killer horses. But we have to have some way of disposing of undesirable horses. Have you seen the stats on them? There are a LOT of horses that go to kill each year. What will happen to them if that route is barred?

 

[katrina]

I have mixed feelings about this subject. And the dobin theory I understand completly, yet there are some real rotten no good sons-a- beaches that need to be put out of their misery. And the economics of it. Wouldn't it drive the horse business down???

 

[OldDog/NewTricks]

Fight This :!:

From: Cathy Liss, Legislative Director [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, August 22, 2006 9:34 AM
Subject: [BULK] - SAPL eAlert: PLEASE JOIN US AT THE RALLY FOR HORSES


< http://rs6.net/on.jsp?t=1101382278312.0.1011161163132.909&ts=S0197&o=http://ui.constantcontact.com/images/p1x1.gif >
< http://www.saplonline.org/Alerts/Action.gif >


PLEASE JOIN US AT THE RALLY FOR HORSES
US House of Representatives to Vote on H.R. 503

August 22, 2006


Dear Humanitarian:

If you are available, please join the Society for Animal Protective
Legislation (SAPL) at the Washington, D.C. Rally for Horses in support
of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (AHSPA).

When: Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2006 at 10:00 a.m.
Where: Cannon platform on the lawn of the US Capitol, at the corner of
Independence Ave. and New Jersey S.E. (see arrow on attached map
< http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=ifx4xxbab.0.z7hayxbab.lzn5wn6.909&ts=S0197&p=http%3A%2F%Fwww.saplonline.org%2Fpdf%2Fcaphillcomplex.pdf > )

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

The US House of Representatives is expected to vote on H.R. 503, the
AHSPA, on Sept. 7. This vote will represent the culmination of five
years of campaigning by concerned constituents on behalf of the horses.
Since SAPL and the Doris Day Animal League began their national campaign
to end horse slaughter for human consumption in late 2001, more than a
quarter of a million horses have been brutally killed in the three
remaining US slaughterhouses and sold overseas to be served to the
patrons of upscale restaurants. As we continue our fight to end this
tragedy through passage of the AHSPA, we must remember an estimated
2,000 horses are slaughtered each week as the bill awaits adoption by
Congress.

We can still make a difference. The American people are being heard
through the calls, emails and faxes that have flooded Congress, and
legislators are listening. However, we must redouble our efforts and
keep pressure on Congress to act strongly and decisively now. Please
continue to contact your Representative (you can be connected to his or
her office by calling the Capitol Hill switchboard at 202-224-3121), and
encourage your friends, family and coworkers to do so as well. While
support has been overwhelming, we can do even better for the horses.
SAPL will not stop its campaign on behalf of America's horses until the
bill has passed and the brutal horse slaughter industry has been
abolished.

If you have any questions, please contact us at 703-836-4300 or
[email protected], or visit SAPL online at
www.saplonline.org/horses.htm
< http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=ifx4xxbab.0.v6qurvbab.7lzn5wn6.909&ts=S0197&p=h
ttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.saplonline.org%2Fhorses.htm > . You might also wish to
purchase a shirt, hat or bag at www.cafepress.com/sapl
< http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=ifx4xxbab.0.gfrzsxbab.7lzn5wn6.909&ts=S0197&p=h
ttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.cafepress.com%2Fsapl > to promote our fight and to wear
to the rally. As always, thank you for your help.

Sincerely,

Cathy Liss
Legislative Director

P.S. Please visit our new website, www.compassionindex.org
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=ifx4xxbab.0.97hayxbab.7lzn5wn6.909&ts=S0197&p=h
ttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.compassionindex.org%2F> , to locate your legislators and
see how they stand on animal welfare legislation.

Sign up for SAPL eAlerts to receive the latest legislative news
on what you can do to help us protect all animals.
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ttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.saplonline.org%2Faction.htm>

If you are unable to view this SAPL eAlert, please click here:
http://www.saplonline.org/Alerts/rallyforhorses.htm
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Forward important SAPL eAlert!
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[RoperAB]

yet there are some real rotten no good sons-a- beaches that need to be put out of their misery. And the economics of it. Wouldn't it drive the horse business down???

How would it? If you have a horse that needs to be put down give it bucket of grain. When his nose is in it shoot him in the brain. Coyottes will have him gone in less than a week. If you think a lot of the horse hire a backhoe to burry him.
I have probable less money than the rest of you on here but yet I will eat the cost of not selling a horse if I know he is going to end up at a slaughter plant.
The only ones who would really be affected by this are the PMU outfits and I think that industry is done for anyways.
Plus if we could get the French to stop eating horse meat this can only help the beef industry.
France annoys me. They protest our seal hunt. They are dead set against ourfur industry but then they go out and eat the most noble thing that God ever created.
The only good thing France ever done is sink the Rainbow Warrier :lol:

 

[kolanuraven]

I'm with you on this one Roper. I'll be damned if I ever send ol' Sam to the pack house!!! He's old now but has earned his keep many times over through out the years with devotion and that HUGE heart he carries!!

People laff @ me cause I keep my old cows if they've done good for me...and my old bulls also. I've a retirement pasture for them and that's where they go till they can't go no more! Mind you, not everyone of them gets that chance....a lot get sold ( all my sales are private treaty deals) but the special ones get special treatment.

And when they die or have to be put down...no gun for me. I call the Vet...and we do the " big pink shot" of meds in the neck vein and bye bye...all nice and quiet. The backhoe will be on the way and the hole will be dug in the critter graveyard!

 

[Faster horses]

We have our good old horses put down too. We let them live as long as they have a good quality of life. Right now we have one horse that is 27 years old and he has been a grand horse all his life. Right now he is getting some special feed and he looks pretty darn good. And he's big.
16'1 and always weighed 1435#. He was like riding a piece of glass, so smooth, real cowy, and just one of the real good ones. He'll be buried right here with his old friend that we put down last year.

I hate it when people let those good old horses starve. We had a neighbor in W. Montana that would let them do that. He thought he was being kind, but far from it. That is just cruelty.

 

[kolanuraven]

I'm such a sucker that if I see a horse starving or being mis treated.....I'll go buy it and bring it home!

It may live 1 yr, 3 yrs or 1 week after I get it home, depends on what shape it's in when I get it, but for whatever little time that may be it's life will be peaceful and as comfortable as I can make it!


I know, I know.... I'm a ' liberal sucker' to do such things :roll: :roll: :roll:

 

[Faster horses]

I'm a softie, not a liberal, when it comes to abusing animals and I'll admit it. They can't speak, so I speak for them. The people doing that are not ones I care to be around so I don't care if they like it or not.

We went to look at a milk cow in the early 80's down in the Bitterroot Valley. When we got there, there were all these horses walking around with blankets dragging on the ground, they had walked in them and made big holes. The saddles were sitting on the fence in the rain, really a nice looking place. The milk cow was too thin to buy, but the real kicker was the bottle fed calves in the barn. There were a lot of them and they listlessly looked up at us...they hadn't had enough to eat for a long time.
This woman was in the middle of a divorce, or so she said. Quick as we got back to Missoula we got the sheriff and turned her in. I followed up on it and they confiscated all the animals. We would have filed a complaint if necessary.

What I don't get is, she had neighbors. Why did they allow this to go on?

We also used to buy horses from a guy that was just plain mean to them to get them away from him. But he just bought more so that didn't work.
We finally banned him from coming to rope because of how he treated his horses. They were always fat, but they sure didn't have much fun when he was riding them.

Gotta get going, this will bog me down, thinking of animal abuse...I say animals are VICTIMS of who owns them.

 

[RoperAB]

What I don't get is, she had neighbors. Why did they allow this to go on?

Probable because they know there name will get leaked out. It always does around here.
Then everybody will hate them and avoid them. Even the ones who are good with animals will not approve of reporting another rancher.
Here is the thing. What I call abuse somebody else might not. Most dont want to empower the PETA types. Im against PETA types to because they are way to extreme and crazy. So its kind of a slippery slope that nobody wants to take.
Look at the wack jobs that protest rodeo. Who wants to be associated with them? Not me.
Like there are people around here that really should not own animals.
One of them was reported but really nothing was ever done. He was reported about a horse. Well the horse wasnt really being abused but when they got snopeing around they noticed the 50 dead calves that he had laying around through neglect. Nothing was really done about it except they made him bury them. This guy was going through a divorce as well.
I have never reported anybody.There were lots of times I have felt like it though. Maybe I just dont have the guts to do it? I try to help them out with the animals instead. This doesnt really help though Some people just have no empathy. As soon as you stop helping or unless you just follow them around its just going to happen again.
I have seen horses shut in a corral for days without feed or water. Prolapsed cows left for a week in corrals without feed and water or any kind of medical attention until they die.
Seen guys punish horses for bucking them off. Seen guys half starve colts before they had guts enough to get on.
Then there are the well meaning acrage owners who just do stuff out of ignorance.
The list goes on and on .
Some people just dont have any empathy. I think it has something to do with having to easy of a life themselves? If they knew what it was like to suffer maybe they would be more caring?
Maybe we should beat the hell out of these guys! I like that idea better than reporting them :wink:
Anyway Faster Horses I think you did the right thing. Although I think its easier to do it to somebody you dont live around.