New European regulations will require horses bound for slaughter to have detailed medical and drug records or be quarantined for six months, MacQuarrie reports. Race horses that have been injected with painkillers and steroids can enter the market with little or no oversight. Brenda Hemphill, a Maine horse farmer who is called a "kill buyer" by critics because she purchases horses to sell for slaughter in Canada, told MacQuarrie her business "provides an alternative for horse owners who can no longer afford their animals' upkeep or find them a suitable home."
Low-fat, high-protein horse meat can fetch prices up to $20 a pound as a delicacy in Europe, MacQuarrie reports. Critics say allowing horses not raised as food to be sold for food poses a risk to humans who consume them. Others view slaughtering as inhumane and say the industry needs to find a different solution to rising horse neglect and abandonment during the recession. Slaughter advocates counter that selling unwanted horses for meat can circumvent animal abuse. "What’s the best outcome for a horse?" Hemphill said. "That's where I'm coming from." (Read more)
An Illinois bill, which we have previously reported, would have reopened horse slaughter facilities in the state. The legislation has died in the Illinois House, Kevin McDermott of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
I do not believe re-opening slaughter houses in the U.S. again will stop any of what these self absorbed money grubbers say it will . Big horse breeders should be regulated , line breeding and in breeding should be scrutanized . What would happen if we just stopped breeders for a year ?? Can you imagine how many horses that would help from being unwanted ? Horses help build the country we live in and deserve better retirements . They are not garbage you can throw away because his color is not what you wanted,or his ears are not small enough and head not refined !What about the mare you bred over and over subjecting her to vaginal abuse by sewing her closed then taking scissors to re-open her He is not a emotionless race car you can send to the junk yard because he is no longer fast enough to win your races !These are are gods creatures and do us a service for which we give them death ( Brutally ) . We have men in prisons who rape and torture women and children and we treat them better when they should be sent to a slaughter house . Pro-slaughter activist say this is a more humane way of dealing with these beings , I ask who are these people who agree with this ?? Are they those who profit from over breeding only to keep a handful and trash the others ? Why does no one seem to care that our big breeding farms are the main cause for all our (supposed un-wanted horses)! It is unfair and unacceptable to the horse and to those of us who do love them for them.
ReplyDeleteThe American horse is a hero , he is a millionaire and a baby sitter, a divorcees best friend , a physical therapist ,a farmer, a lumber jack, a trainer, and a inspiration for all that America used to stand for ...
Kirsteen Haley
Horse lover