President Obama's proposed budget would rule out legal horse slaughter in the U.S., but an overabundance of wild horses has the Yakima Nation Native American tribe in Washington state asking Obama for help in lifting the ban on horse slaughter. The tribe's letter says its reservation is overrun with more than 12,000 feral horses, which through overgrazing are causing serious damage to the environment, the letter states, reports Agri-Pulse, a Washington, D.C.-based newsletter.
“We don’t understand why it is OK to slaughter many animals in this country, but for some reason horses are considered sacrosanct,” the letter states. “We should not manage these horses based on purely emotional arguments, story books or movies we saw as children. There is a market for horse meat in many parts of the world and if we can create jobs, humanely reduce overpopulated herds and feed others, it is absurd to prohibit it. Surely a well regulated processing plant is far more humane than what is happening." Agri-Pulse is subscription-only, but offers a free trial here.
“We don’t understand why it is OK to slaughter many animals in this country, but for some reason horses are considered sacrosanct,” the letter states. “We should not manage these horses based on purely emotional arguments, story books or movies we saw as children. There is a market for horse meat in many parts of the world and if we can create jobs, humanely reduce overpopulated herds and feed others, it is absurd to prohibit it. Surely a well regulated processing plant is far more humane than what is happening." Agri-Pulse is subscription-only, but offers a free trial here.
I like the fact that Obama is against slaughter. How about, instead of killing the horses, geld a selection of the colts during round up instead of killing them. That will help maintain the population, and is way more humane.
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