Bill to Halt Horse Slaughtering for Food Fails in Illinois House

Bill to Halt Horse Slaughtering for Food Fails in Illinois House

By Ginny Skalski Associated Press Writer
Published: May 28, 2004

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Graphic footage of horses being butchered and a personal appeal from actress Bo Derek were not enough to persuade Illinois lawmakers on Friday to ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption.
The measure was aimed at keeping the Cavel International Inc. slaughterhouse in DeKalb - one of only three U.S. slaughterhouses to kill horses for human consumption - from reopening this spring, more than two years after the building was destroyed by fire. Belgium-based Cavel exports the horse meat to Europe.

The proposed ban failed in the House on a 51-60 vote.
"I have never seen anything slap Illinois agriculture in the face more than this bill does," said Republican Rep. Jim Sacia, who argued it would be wrong to bar the slaughter of any livestock, no matter how unpleasant it looked on tape.

Derek, a spokeswoman for the National Horse Protection Coalition, urged lawmakers last week to ban the practice, and the Senate passed the bill.
Opponents questioned the constitutionality of the measure, saying it would be wrong to legislate what people can eat.

Rep. Charles Morrow, a Chicago Democrat, also complained about Derek's involvement, saying: "I find it insulting that we're now governing by celebrity."

AP-ES-05-28-04 2200EDT

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBNHWU2TUD.html


This is a very sad day for animal lovers like myself.

for many, many species of animals, the only reason they still exist is that they are useful or amusing to humans. As species after species disappears, ONLY those (like horses, cats, dogs, cattle, sheep, goats, etc.) that have utilitarian or entertainment value for human beings are likely to survive. The French and Belgian appetite for horse is no worse, actually, than the American love for chicken and beef. The sad fact is that the next decade will almost certainly see the extinction in the wild of rhinos, elephants, mountain gorillas, tigers, and several other large mammals. If horses can survive because a few million Europeans like to eat them, so be it. Would you rather see them go extinct?

(Medium Rare) :silly:

That was bad!

:silly: (Gee, and I was sorta proud of that one.) :P

It had me chuckling. Years ago, I spent a fair bit of time at the racetrack though (not Belmont).

put numbers and colours on them, then a very short man with a whip, put'em in a line, and bet the rent money on which one can be made to run around in a circle the fastest...

fugging horses are gonna go eggstinkt if eurotrash dont eat them,slaughtering horses is "agriculture",celebrities aren't citizens.waddakrokoshit.

Well it looks like Bo Derek IS good for something and I commend her efforts. This was close and it may not be too late, public attention may be all that is needed. This is the first I've heard of it.

if someone thinks that eating a horse is worse than eating a cow, pig, chicken, lamb or fish- I'd like to know why.

meat is meat, and if it's a product we can actually export, i don't see a problem.

And hey is for horses,Mister.

Horses, in this country, are thought of as pets by most people. It is like eating your neighbor's dog.

Anyhow, a lot of the horses used to be somebody's pets. I don't think the horse slaughter business is something most people know about.

Did you ever wonder why the Europeans don't eat more of their own horses or raise more of their own horses for meat? It's probably cheaper to buy some poor, mistreated animal from an auction in the US, and eat him instead.

We have bred horses for thousands of years and we ride on their backs and make them pull loads. When they get old or lame, we kill them and send them to Europe so they can eat them. That's what seems wrong.

And yes, I'm a meat eater, but I don't like to eat my pets or servants.

Edit: grammar

Imagine the utter horror they must feel knowing that us Americans are slaughtering tons of these beautiful holy creatures for hamburger - keeping them in pens their whole lives only to have their throats slit.

Slaughtering horses is no better nor worse than slaughtering cows, pigs, or dogs. Cows and buffalo pull loads as well, and in many Asian countries they are the "workhorse" on the farms.

I am a vegetarian, and in an ideal world we wouldn't be slaughtering mammals to eat their flesh because we could live perfectly fine on vegetation, fungi, seafood and insects. But horses are just as viable as cows or pigs (which I think are smarter than horses and dogs!) for human consumption.

best to live a vegan lifestyle and think its barbaric to kill ANY living creature this way. A perfect world is worth striving for and I do my best and won't give up. This meat eating lifestyle is literally killing us and the planet as well as the millions of intelligent lifeforms. I think what bothers me most is the killing for export only and the fact that horses are considered companion animals in America. The hurdle of viewing sentient beings as commodities to be bought sold and killed is the largest one to get over, but we've got to keep trying.

Intellectually, I certainly can see your point. Intellectually, I can even see the point of cannabilism. I can see the point of eating all animals and even humans - for the sake of survival. The trouble is, this is not an intellectual subject. It is an emotional one.

Edit: Emotion is very valid reason for not seeing certain animals as a regular part of one's diet. In fact, if someone killed my dog (more like my child) to eat her, I'd probably do some killing of my own.

I would be put in prison because I would do the same to them because my pets are my family.

They probably were someones pet at one time.

:cry:

include cat or dog on your list; dogs at least are considered "meat" in other countries.

I'm someone who thinks eating a horse is worse than eating a cow, pig, chicken,lamb,or fish.

Why? Because my horses are members of my family. I could no more eat a horse than a dog or cat. Unwanted or abused dogs and cats are euthanized. Unwanted or abused horses are sold for slaughter at auctions around the country.

When you are actually the people involved in raising and slaughtering meat, rather than leaving it to a factory/farm and buying it neatly packaged, you draw a line between meat animals and other animals. You don't form relationships with your food.

I don't mean to spark a flame war over whether or not people should eat meat. My point is that horses are on the wrong side of the "food" line. They are bred and raised to do other things for people. Just the act of teaching them to allow human touch, haltering, leading, etc., requires an act of trust on their part. Eating horses violates that trust.

Besides, I like my horses better than many people.

That's right--Slaughterhouse Slew!

Sweeter, leaner than beef!

Because people eat it and it makes money hardly is a good reason for saying it's o.k. My question is, "Where do you draw the line." I live in Korea and they eat dog, in China they eat cats as well as dogs. If the state was considering a ban on eating dogs and cats would you be less supportive of killing the animals for food.
Personally, I think it sucks and I'm sorry the Illinois Legislature allowed the place to re-open.

Unlike animals intended for consumption from the beginning of their lives, horses, for the most part are trained and socialized by humans for, work, sports and companionship. They often develop strong bonds with the people they interact with. This makes, in my opinion, a strong moral distiction between slaughtering a horse and slaughtering a steer.

A horse who is affectionate and trusting with the people he interacts with can end up at the slaughterhouse for any number of reasons. Horses live for over twenty years. Most horses have many owners over their lives. Once a person sells a horse they lose all rights to what happens to the animal. If the new owner's not happy all to often it's off to the auction.

There are several things which make horses different from other companion animals; horses are big, horses are expensive to keep and horses, like humans, are generally expected to perform useful work for the greater part of their rather long lives.

I'm a horse lover and really, I don't know where I stand on this issue. I think its reprehensible to slaughter an animal which has learned to trust and even to love humans, but like animal shelters that euthanize unadoptable cats and dogs, I don't see any other practical solutions. Adoption programs are great but the truth is that there are more horses than there are homes for them. The racing industry alone produces thousands of horses each year that will never win a dime and that by the time they are done trying in cheaper and cheaper races are so physically devestated and mentally shellshocked that they are untrainable for any other use. There are horses that, sometimes for no fault of their own, are dangerous to handle or so devestated by age and infirmity that they cannot perform the functions that their owners demand of them.

Euthanizing a horse and disposing of the carcass cost big bucks--$300 or more. Even if you shoot the beast yourself (not an easy thing to do humanely) you still have to pay to have the carcass hauled away--or hire a backhoe to dig a grave--if your local laws permit it.

It's a tough issue and one on which no one's come up with a perfect solution.

and I appreciate a rational discussion of the issue rather than the jokes most are throwing out (the things some find funny :crazy:). Why not a lethal injection like we do to our other beloved pets? If you saw what went on in the slaughterhouse I don't think most would have a problem banning this practice, it is barbaric and I unfortunately saw some footage of this on the news (it haunting me for days).

It is, however, expensive--both to kill the horse and to get rid of the carcass.

There are apparently three ways to euthanize a horse. The first and best is sodium pentobarbitol, and it takes a shitload--15ml per 100 lbs body weight, or six ounces in a 1200-pound horse.

Next is Sucostrin, which isn't too common because it's not pleasant--it is a paralytic that causes the horse to drown in its own fluids. I found a veterinary school website that has a page about this chemical--it is used in surgical procedures, but obviously not at a dosage that will kill a horse. On this page in caps is "not for use as a euthanasia agent." It is, however, exceedingly cheap and it's not a controlled substance, as is pentobarbitol.

The third is to just shoot the poor thing. Not commonly used because of the danger to bystanders.

Okay, so however you proceeded, you are now faced with the task of getting rid of a dead horse. I guess you could just bury it in the pasture, if the state will allow you to do so. You'll need about two hours' backhoe time, but if the land is yours this is the cheapest way.

There may be horse cemeteries--I know about pet cemeteries for small animals; would an operation that provides final resting places for cats be willing to accept a 1200-pound loved one? Probably not.

Large-animal cremation is possible--figure on spending $300 and getting back fifty pounds of ashes.

If there's a rendering plant in the area that will take the horse, they will turn it into industrial gelatin and dog food.


Given all that, you can probably see why people choose to have the horse slaughtered--only one phone call to make: "Please come get Old Dobbin"--and they even pay you!

Many people do choose to have a vet put their horses down using chemical methods--the downside is the cost and the belief on the part of some horsemen that shooting a horse properly done is more humane.

It is quite possible for even an experienced vet to get the dose wrong and have the euthanization go horribly awry. Imagine an animal with a broken leg struggling for its life as the drugs slowly take effect. Needless to say, shooting can also go horribly wrong. In order to do it properly, you have to hit him in in the right spot. If you miss, it's horrible. The use of a humane killer, or captive bolt pistol, as is done in slaughter houses is humane, provided the animal is calm at the time and the bolt is positioned properly on its head. The question is how could a horse, a notoriously high strung animal be calm enough to be shot with a humane killer in the atmosphere of a slaughter house? Activists claim that there are alot of misses and many animals are not properly stunned. The industry claims the opposite.

For me it's not the method of killing that bothers me, I've seen horses put down both with chemicals and with a bullet. Done correctly both are quick and humane. I am concerned about the treatment of the animals in shipment and up to the moment they're killed. There's a big difference between taking a horse out behind the barn and shooting him and shipping him off to a slaughter plant thousands of miles away and and having his life end in an atmosphere of blood and fear.

In short, if it was well regulated so as to avoid stress to the animals I could support slaughter as a necessary evil.

He was sold to a Japanese farm in 1996 and sold to a slaughterhouse in late 2002 because he didn't produde much: http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/nation/8783576.htm

http://spadafori.typepad.com/woof/2004/05/the_dark_side_o.html http://kaufmanzoning.net/horsemeat/

tasty and nutritious