Slaughter ban sending horses across borders

Source: Washington Times

GAO says policy has led to ‘unintended consequences’

Congress imposed a back-door ban on horse slaughter in 2006 to try to improve humane conditions, but a new government report says it has backfired and the same horses are now being exported for slaughter in Canada and Mexico, and they likely are suffering more along the journey.

The Government Accountability Office said the policy has led to “unintended consequences” such as depressed prices for all horses and an increase in reports of animal neglect, abuse and abandonment. GAO said Congress and the Obama administration may need to revisit the entire issue.

“Those horses are traveling farther to meet the same end in foreign slaughtering facilities where U.S. humane slaughtering protections do not apply,” GAO said in unusually blunt language that said that the horses are sometimes shipped in too-small containers for hundreds of miles, and that the inspection regime is too lax to help.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jun/23/slaughter-ban-sending-horses-across-borders/

Clearly, this was something that lawmakers were hoping would just be swept under the rug so they wouldn't have to deal with it.

Institute a ban on exporting horses for slaughter then! I have a friend who just rescued 5 foals from slaughter at the Canadian border last month. The were due to be slaughtered that very next day--the day after the mothers had just been slaughtered! Yes, the perpetrators separated them from their mothers and basically slaughtered them in front of their foals. The horses were in terrible condition.

:hi:

with the slaughter of cows?

thought that was a real unique and good point didn't you? lol.

Read my post below. #33. Maybe you can be enlightened...but I doubt it.

I am a vegetarian. Be that as it may, horses are tremendously emotional and smarter than dogs or pigs. If you must, kill them, do it humanely. Don't butcher their mothers and make them watch. They understand what's happening.

some have no problems with cows being killed for meat, but balk at the idea of doing the same for horses. And I agree, if you must do it, do it humanely.

that horses are more intelligent/emotional (whatever that means in this context) than pigs or dogs.

Also we don't have an arbitrary cut-off for intelligence in terms of slaughtering animals for meat.

If so there'd be quite a few humans lined up at the chopping block.

I have a big problem with people killing cows..and horses. I have pet cows and two formally wild mustangs.

as I said to someone else, a lot of people have no qualms slaughtering cows, but cringe at the idea of horses.

in the past 20 years. We've even been to the BLM pens in Nevada and Colorado to rescue horses and bring two back each time for training as we have 2 round pens where they can begin their new lives. We do this to "give back" to the sport and make ZERO money off this. I own and operate a 40 stall barn and currently 2 of our BLM success stories still reside with us with new owners.

The BLM has even held "exhibition" events at our farm as we are the go-to facility in the midwest for showcasing what can be done.

I put this out there only so you know that there are those of us who are heavily invested in "saving" horses too but who also recognize that there must be a more options at the end than abandonment and neglect. Because banning horse slaughter only brings on more of that. Just like banning abortion only brings on more back alley abortions.

Feel free to PM me for personal confirmation. I am happy to give supporting documentation in the form of literally THOUSANDS of local news articles on our personal quest.

...the pro slaughter horse people and you sicken me to my very core.

Your argument is weak and simple minded. You cannot get your mind around anything but killing them so they don't starve... Slaughter is a handy way for a horse breeder to make a profit..usually AQH breeders who like their horses big like finished cattle. They can breed 100 mares....keep just the good ones... the others that can't be sold...they can send them to slaughter...get their money back. Slaughter encourages ignorant and over breeding practises. Slaughter is the final solution for the ignorant horse owners.

A horse is a luxury item..people should only buy one if they can they can feed one or know it's well trained enough to sell to a good home if they run into financial difficulty/health problems in the future. We own about a thousand acres and our horses will be taken care of for the rest of their natural lives, even if my husband and I were to die tomorrow.

I have been to the BLM corals..I got two horses from the BLM. It's all about money isn't it with you people. You refuse to consider other options..like spaying the mares or gelding the 'not so good' stallions.

Your talking to someone here who has owned horses for 41 years and ridden them for 50. I will not be PMing you. I'd rather talk to a fucking freeper.

status items or self-righteous-do-gooder-show-off items. Every single one of the BLM mustangs we've ever trained are in their forever home. NONE have ever been re-sold and all will die a natural death with their forever owners. Nice ASSumptions there.

Horses are partners in our lives which is why I advocate humane, responsible, loving treatment as integral to a person's relationship with them from start to finish.

Good luck with your horses. I don't do "one-ups" nor do I do insults.

Most of the people who oppose horse-slaughter know nothing about the animals and do not work with them. They're basing their decisions on books and movies.

Entirely predictable.

I knew when this law passed
there would be horses starving and meat dealers would find ways around it.
Hay prices have gone up,horse sales have dropped dramatically. So horses sold for meat are shipped to Mexico and Canada. The trip alone for horses is very stressful.Mean while folks are still breeding.I bred Arabians for years many years ago. Back then there was a waiting list of buyers,not meat dealers.
. Quit breeding 20 years ago. Still have the last 3 that will live the rest of their lives with
me.
I hate to say this as most here will not agree but the law needs to be changed and humane treatment enforced.

don't forget starvation, neglect, and abandonment that also were "unintended consequences" but none of that compares to all the false feel-good emotions of the well-intentioned but ignorant supporters of this kind of shit

they remind me of other pro-life idiots

What they *want* to do is have a law that says, "Citizens shall maintain horses at no public coast, regardless of changes in family/business economic standing, concerns or desires."

Problem is, when you have a horse and can't maintain it or see a reason in maintaining it you don't, and the legislators don't want to incur any cost for it. While some advocates may be able to incur the costs of maintaining a horse for a decade, most can't and many of those who can are quickly maxed out. So they want others to do what they want.

It would be much more efficient if the legislator simply mandated a quick, painless and socially acceptable system of euthanasia for unwanted animals that is also cheap and easy to implement.

There have been a number of families in my development that have been forced to move to apts. where they couldn't afford or weren't allowed to have their pets. If you're broke you're not going to spend $200 to hire a vet to put the animals down. To kill them yourself is to incur the wrath of the local authorities, since only they have the authority to license and delegate the power of life and death over pets. The response was that a pack of 5 or 6 dogs roamed the neighborhood for 6 months until the local animal control authorities rounded them up and did what the owners wouldn't or weren't allowed to do--put them down. That was after they savaged a puppy that had escaped somebody's back yard. The control authorities didn't round up the cats.

- part of the reason there was finally enough pressure to stop it. The answer to this is not to re-institute slaughter but to ban cross-border transport for slaughter and to - as we should have for dogs and cats as well - institute strict regulation of breeding that includes fees that would pay for sufficient animal welfare officers and provide for humane euthanasia for unwanted animals.

Too many horses are bred in this country - and too many dogs and cats.

Owning any animal should be strictly licensed and strictly regulated - and breeding any should be not only strictly regulated but very expensive.

The alternative is accepting 4 - 6 million unwanted pets destroyed in shelters every year, uncounted abandoned, abused, feral animals and inhumane slaughter.

With the economic slump, cases of neglect and abandonment of horses has spiked. There was a story just last week of terrible neglect in a town close to ours. One horse might not survive.

Horses are a luxury item. I hate the idea of slaughter, but really, is neglect and abandonment any better?

several years ago the last slaughter house in the usa was closed by the efforts of one woman here in northern il. i posted about this woman and her efforts. i got replies from people who were defending slaughtering of horses to sell over our borders.

but if we slaughter pigs, cows, chickens, lambs, turkeys, fish, etc - why not horses? :shrug:

But America's love affair with horses will probably always interfere with that. In trying to do "the right thing" we end up causing more harm.

never understood it- horses have to be the dumbest animals on the planet. Hell, they make dogs look smart.

But that won't stop horse owners from anthropomorphizing. Its dangerous for both the owner and the horse imho (maybe not as dangerous as the Grizzly Man). Horses are the loveliest partners in work and pleasure but optimal success requires acknowledging their instincts and parameters.

It's just because people are nuts. This outcome of the ban was widely predicted. The problem is, the same people who argue for not killing horses (because "they're just like people! ... that we keep as slaves"), are often the same ones who are all for using the animals for sport and amusement, no matter how abusive that may be. Those "sports" only exist because of their association with gambling. I just assume that it's because some cognitive abilities would have to exist before a cognitive dissonance could take place.

Except they are smarter, more aware and more emotional. It is why we do not see horse meat for sale in the supermarket. Not to mention humans owe a great debt to horses for our entire civilization.

Where horses used to be used for farming, transportation, and war, they are now pets.

Just fucking read it!

Hawkowl's, above), but I don't consider them compelling foundations for public policy. The 'truths' of inter-species debt or the superior nobility of horses are opinion, not fact; I'll defend your right to hold those opinions, but I reject the claim that people who don't share them are wrong in any way.

The rightness (or wrongness) of using animals for any purpose is largely in the area of personal morality. I consider it moral to eat animals (with caveats about humane treatment), and it seems illogical to me to single out this species or that as off-limits. One person's pet is another person's pest is another person's prey (speaking generally, of course) - as far as I'm concerned, those who consider horses to be not-food shouldn't eat them, and those that consider them food are free to do so...

cruel treatment DURING the slaughter. And the horrible conditions the are subject to during transport. And the chemicals that are given to horses that should not be in the food supply.

And it's just a suck-ass way to treat an animal that (probably) was a companion, a co-worker.

HUGE difference between humane euthanasia and slaughter, even when the slaughter is under "good" conditions.

It's not the death itself, it's the suffering.

I have 19 horses on my ranch. 7 rescues, 3 of which were saved from slaughter. For the record I also have 20 dogs, all strays. All well cared for from the proceeds of my sheep dairy. I've seen one person hit the nail on the head in this dialog,too many backyard breeders. Never breed unless you have a buyer already lined up.

If you think they were killed humanely in the U.S. I'd suggest you look at some of the videos of horses being stunned (electrocuted) slung up by their heels and then hammered to death. A bullet would be much more humane.

Now race horses are an entirely new development. Used to be racing stock was bred for soundness and longevity. Now they're bred to race 2 or 3 years and off to the slaughter houses. That's why you see so many more broken bones these days.

And for those of you who see no problem with slaughter, well Will Rogers said he never met a man he didn't like.....but he also said "A man that don't love a horse there is something the matter with him"

Please stay...DU needs caring, humane people like you. There is an evil element here that needs to be balanced out with good. (I have two former BLM mustangs that I gentled).

It would be a win-win! Provides jobs and decreases the labor pool! :sarcasm:

Oh, yeah. We are already doing that. Just not here but in Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc.

as it perpetuates the disaster transport scenarios in the OP. Livestock owners of any type have to be able to humanely dispose of their livestock.

We need humane treatment from birth to slaughter, not a ban on slaughter altogether. Banning it is akin to banning abortions: it doesn't mean it won't happen, it just means it becomes an ugly, unsafe, dangerously bad practice.

What is banned is the slaughter and sale of horses for consumption. Horses are put down humanely every day. The remedy is to make the export of horses for consumption a felony.

There is no law against puppy slaughter because they are simply put to sleep. Not slaughtered, butchered and sent to Asia where a great many cultures eat them. If they were, there would (will be eventually) a ban on puppy slaughter.

Euthanasia can cost up to $300 and the renderer pick-up truck will run about $400. If a person had an extra $700 or more to spend to euthanase a horse, they probably would do that.

But in these desperate days, that's not an option for many.

I'm as sentimental about my horses as anyone but honestly, if they have value as horse meat, it's a better solution than burning them and toxifying the air, or expending the fuel to dig a hole big enough to bury them.

I have two. Everything about horses is expensive. In the vast majority of cases, people can afford the euthanisia and disposal of the carcass. They are just too irresponsible to pony up the money. It costs about $200-300 just to feed a horse for a month. So, two months of food expense is not unreasonable for end of life obligations.

for their horse. It's wasteful, expensive and in some cases not healthy for the environment. Selling a horse for horse meat is a "greener" alternative. If you've been in the biz for any length of time, I'm sure you know people like that. Horse slaughterhouses needs a Temple Grandin to ensure it's done humanely. Since it's a premium type of meat for some markets, the consumer is willing to "pony" up the money so the slaughterhouse treats the animals carefully at the end.

As to the cost, you are awfully cavalier about someone else's money. I wouldn't dare to presume to tell someone how they must spend that much money. I own and operate a 40 horse boarding barn and have seen ALL types in my 25 years doing this business. While my operation is high end, I know enough people who are scraping by. I wouldn't dare be such a jerk as to dictate to them how they allocate their precious dollars especially when I know they're struggling.

I do dare. If you can't afford the death of your horse, don't buy one. I see plenty of people driving $60-70,000 cars to the barn, spending on frivolous items. Put aside a month or two of board to take care of your horse. Euthanisia is simply vet care. Again, if you can't afford vet care, or food, or a farrier, DON'T GET A HORSE. No sympathy on my part. No sympathy for stingy, stupid, pet owners, or parents.

a horse.

Circumstances change. What might have been financially feasible at one point, may become much more precarious after losing a job, health, or some other family catastrophe.

You don't see nearly as much uproar about pigs and cows.

Some of us hate all the animal killing. But for you I'll explain..

Throughout history horses have worked their whole lives for humans.

Some examples are;

Going into battle with humans.

Going down the coal pits.

Hauling their food and supplies across thousands of miles.

Pulling heavy farm equipment and ploughs.

Hauling human dead in coffins.

Carrying pregnant women and trusted with their children.

Running their hearts out for human entertainment.

Soaring over jumps that are over 7 feet tall with a human on their backs, just to compete. They love to compete.

They are devoted and trustworthy even though they have the power to kill with one strike or to run away and never be caught. They will stay at your side through thick and thin. They are horses, the most noble creature to ever walk the earth. But to you, who needs all this explained, they are just another meal or another dollar. SHAME ON YOU! Know your betters!

O.K.......

Do you realise that is what the right wing say about the liberal agenda.
I'm glad I have a good heart. I'm better for it.

Chickens are used for entertainment (and sheep in some rural areas, yech)

So that leaves being up to jump high.

Meh, not impressive.

Horses are large dumb animals functionally not all that different than cows. Just far more likely to eat something stupid and die or run away from something that doesn't exist and break a leg.

Don't buy in to the stuff you read in books or watch on disney movies. Actually spend some time with horses.

They are dumb and pretty useless in a mechanized society.

/no doubt some people think their horse is incredibly smart. Likewise people think their cats are geniuses despite all evidence to the contrary.

I'm not going batshit at your post. While your framing is less than subtle, there's truth there.

And I'm in the business of horses that run fast and jump high so for me, that's a big value there! But honestly, I know they require respect and due diligence in order to facilitate the best relationship possible.

But I will say in defense of horse sports and horses in general in a mechanized society: our sport is the old military test: 3 Day eventing. having horses/horse people who are capable of that much stamina and heart can and will prove themselves when/if we ever revert back to a non-technological age. I remind you of Sarah Palin's botched history lesson!

Paul Revere's horse famously REFUSED the wall on the way to Concord. He fell off and was immediately captured by the British and interrogated. William Dawes fell off AFTER the wall and was knocked unconscious. He managed to escape detection by lying immobile for 3 hours at the base of the wall. Only Dr. Samuel Prescott who rode many, many hours/day for his practice stayed on and gave the alarm that the Regulars were coming (stuff that Sarah Palin).

Horses have been used in Afghanistan, Iraq and in the Waziristan areas of Pakistan. When/if the US falls off an economic cliff, horses as farm animals and labor will be used again and horse masters such as ourselves will be called upon to train new generations to drive and work with them for productivity.

Horses are being used right now to provide cable services in rural VT. http://vtdigger.org/2011/05/22/draft-horses-the-transportation-method-of-choice-for-high-tech-fiber-optics-in-vermonts-remote-locations/ plus many farmers still farm with them of course.

They are woven into the fabric of US history and will play a role in events to come I'm sure. I would never denigrate their potential in the future of our country.

But yes, they are not the sharpest knife in the drawer...

So are a lot of other animals not traditionally considered "food" in America.

Anyone want to guess what Guinea Pigs and Gerbils were originally bred for?

Hurray for good intentions mixed with political clout and complete ignorance!

...why not horses?

Does the cuteness factor of an animal determine whether it is or isn't slaughter worthy?

And please don't tell me it's because we owe horses some special historical debt. That is one of the stupidest arguments I've ever heard.

Everyone knows what this is about. When it comes to cute animals, we often make policy based on emotion rather than logic.