U.S. House Passes Ban on Horse Slaughter
Wednesday May 2, 2007
The U.S. House approved a bill that would end horse slaughter and prevent horses being sent to plants in Mexico and Canada. The bill is now destined for the Senate. But the three U.S. slaughter plants have already closed. What does this mean for the horse industry? Click 'comments' below to leave your opinion.
Comments
I realize some people have unwanted horses that they cannot afford to put down or care for. There are so many of us who love and respect the horse, we should be able to provide some kind of relief or these people.
I’m very glad — as a horse owner — that the House passed the ban on horse slaughter.
I feel they need to keep the slaughter houses open. I own 8 horses and they are a part of my family. However, horse negelect is going to rise because people have no where to take elderly horses. We need to let the life cylce complete itself (or help it.) I know humans in other countrys eat horse but we also use the meat in Zoo’s and other places to feed wild life. I think it is a neccessary evil to keep slaughter houses open, I would prefer them to place restraints on the horses they slaughter (over a certain age, or crippled.)
I htink this is a great decision!!
Horse owners should be completely against this bill because there are thousands of neglected horses every year. I personally feel that it is better for a horse to have an instance painless death, rather than possible months before the horse dies a painful death of starvation. I think that all horse owners would rather see a horse have a happy life than a painful, and difficult life. The humane association has stated that the humane deaths at slaughter houses are instant and painless. I don’t think that this bill should pass, instead I think that the horse transportation should be better, since horses would be transported crammed on two floor trailers.
im so glade that the horse slauter houses are being banned. i am a horse lover i really don’t have a horse but if i was able to i would provide a sancuary for harses where they would have a long, heathy, happy life.
I think long term this will be a bad decision for horses in general. I don’t think horse that is old and or cripled will receive as good of vet care, hoof care, quality feed, and general maintence as show or riding horses. Ron
Reading the comments that say they are glad this bill has been passed in the house troubles me. I grieve for the horse industry when horses that are injured or crippled will be euthanized (giving them no useful purpose) or worse yet, put out to pasture. During the past few years, feeding healthy, productive horses has been difficult due to droughts in areas of the United States. Where are we going to find pasture for all these unwanted horses? Then, once we find pasture, how are we to afford to care for their hoof care, vaccinations, deworming, health care, just to name a few. I have 9 horses of my own, and am fortunate enough to be able to care for them adequately. My oldest is 30 years old, and I will keep him in my pasture until his last day. I love all of my horses, and none are for sale. They are a part of my family. But, unfortunately, slaughter houses are a necessary part of life.
I am a horse lover/ owner. I have gone to sales and bought horses that would have ended up in slaughter for many reasons. I have to limit myself to one a year because the upkeep of these animals is great! It takes allot of extra care, time, and money to bring these animals around to being useful again, and not all of them can. If I had all the money needed to care for these unwanted, end of the road horses, I would love to provide them with the care and love they deserve, but it is not reality. Reality is that there are more unwanted horses than there are homes for them. the horse market is very soft now because of these bands and allot of people who could not afford to buy a horse, now can. But once they get them, the horses are negleted, because the new owners can not provide a proper care for them. I have seen so many more cases of neglect and abuse since the bills have passed. I have even heard of owners, who are unable to find a home for there horse that they can no longer care for take them somewhere (like a forest) and turn them loose! I would rather put strick laws on the care and treatment of horses at slaughter than leave them unwanted, uncarefor in someone’s back yard or back field to slowly die and suffer. When i see these animals, i think, “What are we dong to you!?!” Horses lovers and animals rights people must see what “good” can come of having a slaughter house for horses. It hurts me to think of it as an end for such a nobal animal, but being starved to death is not nobal in any sence. We don’t tie up our dogs or leave them in a pen when they are to old to care for any more or pass them on at an aution to let them be someone elses problem, we have them put down or we keep them comfortable until thier last days. Until some one comes up with a better plan that slaughter for these Horses, then we should not pass the bill to ban slaughter.
Personally I am completely against horse slaughter. I’m happy to see it getting banned. For those of you that consider it a necessary evil, I see what you mean. How the price of horse will go down, the industry will be hurt, and there might be a rise in neglected horses because these slaughter houses take the old, unwanted, or crippled horses. But I do have something to say to it all. You’re quite wrong on some of it. The price will go down it will hurt the economic side of the industry, but that’s more because we are breeding too many mediocre horses. The industry wants safe mounts, and adults, not babies anymore. As for the rise of neglected horses, I don’t see that happening too much, maybe to a small extent. But really I have been to a sale barn with a kill buyer and after I looked at the “kill pen” I didn’t see any skinny horses there, few were crippled (and hardly any beyond repair) and there were not “old” horses there. What I saw was a lot more potential than lost-causes. Kill buyers are not doing the industry some great service by taking the horses that are no longer good, or even ones that have been neglected badly. They take what has meat on it, not the old, skinny, unwanted horses that they lead you to believe. And there is a better plan, stop breeding so many horses and when your horse is “past it’s prime” and you can’t find a good home for it –having done your research, then put it down instead of sending it to auction.
I am very happy about this. I own 3 horses and couldn’t imagine them being killed. Why not sell or give it away to a good home. Or if the horse is ill, just have it put down. There is no reason to have horses crammed onto trailers, often without food and water for long periods of time. Then, killed. What have the horses done to us? Well, let’s see. They’ve taken us for countless trail rides, worked hard and won ribbons for us, and given us a shoulder to cry on. To thank them for their kindness…we kill them. Yeah, makes LOTS of sense.
I believe the bill referred to here is HR249, the wild horse protection bill. The federal bill to stop all horse slaughter is still in the committee for the House of Reps. American horses are still being slaughtered at Cavel in DeKalb, Illinois.
There are a lot of mis-truths out here. The pro-slaughter side has used the “poor neglected horses are turned loose” line for years. I’ve lived out in the country for over 10 years and have never even heard of, much less seen, a dumped horse. Horse slaughter is NOT humane. Killer Buyers load horses in double decker CATTLE trucks and the same type of stun bolt gun is used to disable a horse as is used on a cow. Horses have longer necks and move around so the bolt that is supposed to be driven into their brain do not always hit the desired target on the first try. When the Cavel slaughter plant in Illinois burned down some 4-5 years ago, horse neglect did not go up. When California made horse slaughter illegal, horse theft went DOWN. Yes, “humane” euthanasia is needed for injured or sick horses, but do not be fooled into thinking that the Foreign-owned slaughter plants in Texas and Illinois care about a humane end. The slaughter plants charge the Killer Buyers to dispose of the old, ill, and injured animals. And FYI, Dallas Crown still advertizes zoo meat for sale. It is the illegal killing of horses for human consumption that has been ended. These plants, owned by Belgian and French corporations, have been breaking our laws for YEARS, period. I for one am glad that they’ve finally been held accountable for it. And bottom line, don’t take on any animal if you can’t afford it. You can have a vet destroy an animal for less than the price of a saddle.
The slaughter houses serve a purpose. There are horses that are simply dangerous and must be removed to protect people. I have known far too many of these horses. Often they are the product of well intentioned people; they have good bloodlines, beautiful conformations, and wonderful potential but have been ruined by their owners with abuse or neglect. I have taken in horses that were beaten and/or starved by their owners, left to run free until 8 or 9 years old still wearing the foal halter that is now grown into their skull, abused through horrid ‘breaking’ techniques, etc… I spent 10 years rehabilitating unwanted and neglected horse and I am sad to say that not all could be rehabilitated to become useful and safe. I personally have taken some of these horses to auctions and made sure they were marked not to be sold to anyone but the kill buyers. I did not do this because I wanted to or because it was the easiest thing to do. I did it because I had exhausted all other options all of these horses had been worked with by me and when it was established I could not help them I paid at least 5 other trainers, per horse, to try to help them and some just couldn’t be saved. I don’t like the idea of slaughtering horses but I do know and understand that they serve a purpose. I hate to see where the dangerous horses will go now that it has been banned; hopefully not in some unsuspecting persons back yard.
The majority of slaughtered horses were for meat, not “helping the sick, elderly and crippled”. This means those horses were probably thick, meaty, muscular, maybe even ride-able. If you think we should kill old horses, what about that human grandma you barely talk to? She’s not bettering society in any way. Got a human slaughterhouse? You know, with the bolt guns for her Alzeimer-ridden brain and chains for her not-so-fit body. Yeah think about it…doesn’t make sense. If a horse is suffering, you have vets for a reason. They can put him/her down. Do it humanely. It’s not difficult. Taking lives to make a profit absolutely disgusts me. I’m glad these steps have been made.
I think that if the government is going to put a bill like this as a law they should have a better thought out solution. I love horses, but there will be an overabundance of horses if this bill goes through. They should have a plan for the horses that would usually be sent to slaughter. I think that for people to send their horses to foreign countries to be slaughtered is wrong by the inhumane way that they are treated. They should make it legal for American horse slaughter houses to be open and have regulations just like they would in any other kind of slaughter house. If equine slaughter houses were treated like other slaughter houses then if they felt the need they could package the meat and sell it like they do beef or pork.
i beleive in the slaughter houses i chaleng anyone that doest beleive in horse slaughter for meat to not use anything that has to do with slaughter. horses are animals so are cows and chickens. if you have a right to tell someone that they cant eat horse meat then practice what you preach give up your steak, chicken eggs and fish. also do away with your leather seats and the belt for your pants.until you give up all this then you have no right to tell somone else to do so.
I feel that all tha slaughter plants should re-open..because they are some of us that make our livig by trading horses and rodeoing. and then they are all these people that jus wont a horse for a pet & end of letting it starve or giving it away..they shouldnt of got it in the first place.. yes we have many horses and we trade and go to 4 different sales a week and rodeos also we do alot of showing..and if you really think about it the killer plants are at the bottom of everything(rodeos, horse sales, shows the olympic games..etc) if you take the plants away before to long all of other horse relative things will be gone..i have 3 horse that i would never get rid of jus bc the simple fact that they are money makers and i love them dearly and they are pets but they all 3 got jobs and are not USELESS like most trading horses or horses that are going to be killed..
Someone made a comment that they think slaughter houses should remain open. Are you kidding? Do you have any idea what horses go through when they are led off the trailer into a slaughterhouse. Before they pull up, the horse knows whats going on, besides they can hear the screams from the ones that went before them, and they can smell the blood. Give me a break, no horse should go to a place like that, and you call yourself a horse lover. You are no horse lover, you are a horse recycler. In other words, when they can no longer win any more fancy trophies for you, or you have ridden them into lameness, or they are too old to be useful to you then lets send them to a horrible, disgusting undignified death. Like I said, “YOU ARE NO HORSE LOVER”, as a matter of fact I feel sorry for the horse that ends up at your barn.
I you all love horses than you have to agree that banning slaughter was a stupid blind step to take. The consequense is thousands of horses homeless and starving. The bill was passed by so called humanitarians and politicians who had never even stepped in horse crap, but now are up to their knees in it. We all eat cows and hell they die the same. Let the French have their steaks and put some horses out of misery.
THis is a good thing.. yes horse neglect is a very cruel thing.. but so is dog neglect.. there are laws that make it illegal to shoot your dog.. and I know from first hand people that the so called “humane” ways of ending a life are not as it is presented for the Dekalb slaughter house.. some sit for hours without water until their time comes watching & listening to the horse ahead being killed.
This is NOT a life cycle.. after all unwanted dogs even have shelters to go to.. There should be laws on taking the easy way out when relating to life.. any life..!!
The cruel truth is most who go to slaughter are for a buck not to help the animal..
Not to mention would you want to know you ate or fed something that was sickly to yourself your household pet or your child…Unhealthy animal = unhealthy consumtion.. dah!!
For those in favor of slaugherhouses view
http://www.defendhorsescanada.org where you’ll see from undercover investigations what occurs from transportation > behind closed doors.
$5 per week for (2) years would pay for the cost of putting a horse down. If one can’t afford that than they shouldn’t own a horse. Bill HR 6598 – Sept. 23/08 – going forward to ban shipping horses to Canada/Mexico etc. makes owners responsible for taking care of their animals. FINALLY! A rare breed of people now-a-days. For people losing their jobs in slaughterhouses- get a real job!
I think that horse slaughter should not be banned, go ahead and put them out of their misery rather than being starved to death.
HORSES SHOULD NEVER BE SLAUGHTERED OR EATEN OR USED FOR THE PRODUCTION OF GLUE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PEOPLE NEED TO STOP BREEDING HORSES. I HAVE PEOPLE ASK ME IF I WILL BREED MY MARE THE ANSWER IS NO AND TO THOSE WHO WANT HORSE SLAUGHTER TO STAY DO ANY OF YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW THEY DO IT IN MEXICO WILL, THEY USE A BIG BUTCHER KNIFE AND SLASH THEM IN THE NECK UNTIL THEY DIE!!!! IS THAT WHAT YOU CALL A QUICK DEATH NOT HARDLY!!!! SO THINK TWICE BEFORE BREEDING IT WILL SAVE A LIFE
Ok I personally think that closing the slaughter houses was a very big mistake. I own, love, and care for several horses that are definately part of my family so I do not take the thought of horse slaughter lightly. Since the houses have closed, the horse market is pretty much hosed, there are way to many horses in this country and not near enough people that want them. The amount of cruelty and neglect has escalated extremely fast. The price of feed has shot up over the past few years and people can’t afford to feed their horses, so what do you think happens to those horses. THEY ARE FORCED TO STARVE TO DEATH. That angers me more than sending a horse to slaughter. We even have laws to make sure that the whole process is completed humainly!!! So what is worse in your eyes, a horse dieing in a slaughter house so it can feed someone or something and still have a purpose after the animal is dead, or starving to death out in some pasture! You deside. If the horse slaughter houses stay closed, then we need to have some laws passed restricting breeding rights or something, there are so many horses now that you can’t even give them away!
Well it’s been a year now and how about those prices? How about all these horses being dumped off in people pastures. Has any of you “Horse Lovers” been to a local horse auction lately? Its terrible to see so many great horses suffering. There’s so many skinny ones and no one wants them.
Instead of stopping the slaughter houses perhaps they should have been made to be more humane! I am sure all those poor dogs and cats that died last year due to tainted food imported from China suffered a painful death. Why not use resources from our own Country? We have allowed a select few people with their own agenda to rule this coluntry. The majority of horse people would have no objection to the humane slaughter of horses. The humane slaughter of horses for food seems more reasonable than to let so many horses suffer in a auction yard or sit about starving and freezing this winter.
Why not put this to a vote among the general public instead of letting someone who thinks they know what you need, tell you what to do with your own animals. Next thing will be your child, then your own body.
Not very many people are looking at this from a Veterinarian point of view. Animals have rights yes, but look at it this way. All three US horse slaughter plants took care of 100,000+ horse a year. Because of that we didn’t have them running around people’s pastures, getting hit by cars, starving to death, or dying from exposer to the elements. All of you ‘horse lovers’ that don’t have the money to do anything with your horse so you let it go in the ‘wild’ thinking it will survive are wrong. The horse will starve to death, get picked off by predators, die because of exposer to the elements, or get hit by a car. The chance of it surviving after receiving human care for it’s life are slim at best.
The pictures that our lovely PETA and Human Association are showing us with thin mistreated horses are actual pictures from the UK, Mexico, and Canada. These places are where horses are beaten to death. In the US they were rendered unconscious by a captive bolt gun; painless. Then yes their throat was slit while they were still alive but they could not feel this, they are unconscious and the chance of them waking up is very very slim because of the captive bolt.
When did we decide that eating horse meat is wrong? Horse meat is low in fat and cholesterol and high in protein. Yes horses that are usable, of good condition, and sound are sent to slaughter. Why is this? Would you want to eat a thin, diseased cow? No. What about zoos? How many of you like zoos? Zoos feed horse and rabbit meat to their animals that eat meat. How are they going to get this if there is no horse meat in the US? Are they going to pay $20+ a pound for it in Europe and have it send over seas without it being USDA approved and have it kill animals? Or are they going to start eating out beef, chicken, and pork supply? Think people, do your research before you say horse slaughter is bad. Are you out of a job? There’s a job. Get some training and do an animal good. For all of those that are saying that eating horse meat is wrong and cruel; you’re racist. It’s a culture that makes that choice to eat meat. Do not patronize a culture for what they eat. slaughtering horses should be brought back, the only reason it’s now banned is because PETA and the Human Assoc. are liars and have good lying lobbists.
Horses destined for slaughter in Canada are processed in the same way they were in the US. The are not beaten to death. But yes, truck loads of horses do come from the US, often in poor condition.
I think that horse slaughtering is not that bad even though it sound like it is, but people don’t realize that it is very useful to the economy. Some people really exaturate all of the bad things and don’t take the time to think about everything and everybody that are involved in horse slaughtering.
Many horse owners like myself don’t want horse slaughter to be ban because it helps us all. Without horse slaughter, there will be wild horses running around, no one is going to want to take the time to break these horses to ride or take care of them, they will get way over populated, and we will have to see all of our good horses that will eventually get old and crippled suffer and die right in front of us.And from personal experience, that isn’t exactly a very good sight.
When it all comes down to it, everyone has to realize that horse slaughtering isn’t all bad, like I said, it is very helpful and not everyone looks at everything that is involved in horse slaughter.
think about it.
After reading all the comments on this page I realize that some people are truly blind to read into anything. Now that the slaughter houses are closed, the horse population is going to increase. I myself own 7 horses, they are national show quality horses and I would never send one of mine to a slaughter house. But a horse that is unridable, old, and basically worthless what do you do with it? If you have it put down you have to pay a ton of money and then find a place to go with the body because you cant put it in the ground. Another option is turning the horses loose. Then what.. overpopulation. We will have horse road kill, horses dying in the wild for not having proper care, hunting regulations on horses? It is a future possibility. Then there will be stories about hunters coming into pastures and shooting peoples horses as their trophies. Is all this is going to do is cause problems!!!! They should have put certain regulations on the slaugter houses rather than just shutting them down. Im not going to say Im for killing an inocent animal, but letting an animal suffer… thats just wrong. The horse industry has already been harmed by the economy after this, I dont know how much longer the horse industry will be around.
The slaughter house ban, although it means well, is also a cruel and unusual death sentence for horses across the country. Cruelty cases against horses have risen since the bill was passed, from horses being turned out on the desert to fend for themselves or being left in corrals with no access to food or water if any at all. PETA wants the cruelty against animals stopped. By supporting this bill people have condemed horses to more cruelty than they would have endured in the slaughter houses. At least there they’d be put out of their misery!
i luv horses personaly and i guess it is one way to get rid of them but they could always sell them or put them in the human society so someone can still care for them
Okay but there is no reason to slaughter innocent horses if you do need to drop them off some place Me and my cousins have a barn
There are u7ntold numbers of people out there who would LOVE to have the horses that are being taken to slaughter. Often times you can watch the “Kill Buyers” at auction. They’ll take the biggest, heaviest and cheapest straight to mexico. I’ve watched it with my own eyes and been helpless to change it.
Maybe some of the young horses can be saved and the old horses can find homes with people who can care for them but CAN’T afford the crazy prices that most of the breeders with starving horses ask for.
The problem with horses starving is not the lack of homes for them to go to, but the greed of the Breeders who won’t sell at a lower price or just GIVE the horse away before it starves.
A horse doesn’t have the free will to move along if the food runs out. But it’s owner has the option of doing what is best for the animal.
That’s just the bottom line.
Now that horse slaughter is banned in the U.S. horses are taken to Mexico where they are hit with air powered nail guns which sometimes kill them before they are hoisted by chains and butchered. HBO did a segment on the plight of the unwanted horses now that this stupid law was passed and it is not pretty. Horses are also being shipped to Canada where they are slaughtered. Here in Las Vegas horses are being left to roam in the desert, freed near near large stables or tied to horse trailers while the owners are out trail riding. Zoos, which are not known to be profit centers, are paying more for meat and finding it difficult to obtain. That law was as ill conceived as the Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act. And don’t dispute that unless you have read the entire act which covers less than one full page. Ed
first (ed) this law is not stupid k even though it didnt stop all the slaughtering it helped; sadly some i know stupid freaks in retarded mexico canada and the crazy middle east will still do it just for greed they dont care about animals or any thing else they’d slaughter people if they could and you know it
i know the cruelty to animals has risen since the bill but the people who just turn them out are so stupid they shouldnt even be allowed to own a horse if they had any sense at all they would know tame horses cant survive in the wild but if they cant sell them and cant pay for them and neglect them they could put them down if they have to so they would be out of thier missery but sending them to be slaughtered is just plain evil and extremly cruel id ruther have my horse put down then sent to mexico to be chopped up in pieces and sold; any human with a heart would
and dont even say that it puts them out of thier missery because it dont it is so much more humane to just put them down instead of having them sent through millions of cruel stock yards or being brutaly shipped off to mexico and by the time they git there they would have picked up so many diseases that they have already suffered and its not humane any way
an animal epecally a horse being sent to a forien place and being chopped up and sold to insane foieners who will do no telling what with aint what i call humane in the first place at all
im a horse owner myself and ive experienced dieying horses some died by thier self but my fav had to be put down because of colic and if you dont know what that is you have no room to talk about hrses its sad but it had to be done and now im glad it was because we both suffered through it and i always wanted the best for her were not rich but we make it she never had much just an old used saddle and bridle that wasnt the right kind any way and a halter and a leadrope not even a barn with stalls but that was all we need to be happy because we loved each other
she was 18 when i got her and 20 when she died but she was the best horse anyone could ask for ive had more hrses since her but i think shell always be my fav
so if you think that slaghtering horses is humane or its right in any way you should be slaughtered yourself because i dont know how old yall are but im 12 almost 13 and i have more sense than you if you think its right
eating hrses is wrong and disgusting horse slaughtering is terribe and evil SOME PEOPLE say that slaughtering is good for the economy but would you kill a horse so the tax collecters and the people in the big houses on the hill can earn another buck thats were all our money goes anyway and with oboma as president how could things get much worse it would take a while for wild horses to spread all over the u.s. and they die of natural causes and poachers every day and some people will capture them and break them but im sure they are beautiful to watch anyway even in pictures they are one of the most beautiful things in the world
i understand that there are some things that we just have to take and get over it ive had experience with dieying old crippled horses and none of my horses so far had shone sighns of dieing they just did but my fav one had signs and we knew we had to put her down i have seen negnected old crippled horses and although it hurts me i can take it without (crying and whining LIKE SOME PEOPLE)im more used to seeing that then healthy horses owned by rich city slickers who think they know about horses and cry over evey little skinny horse
all my horses are healthy but ive seen pretty bad looking ones
I’m glad the us did wat we did! I ride horses so thank God that don’t happen here! if it did i would really move or protest against them! DON”T EAT HORSES!!!!!!!!!!!