all the slaughters are closed

Doesnt this mean that the horses now will be shipped farther, (Canada and Mexico) for more days with no food/ water and no USDA to monitor the handling of these poor horses. Mexico slaughters horses by slicing thru the spine in 2 places and cutting them up while alive so that they bleed out. I'm not so sure shutting down OUR own slaughter houses was such a good idea.
What do you think??
I mean, the killer buyers are still buying at the sales and they must be doing something with these horses, I know they are not taking them home and saving them
And since the only 2 places left are out of the country I guess that means they are tortured more than they were when we had kill plants Hmmm....
kinda makes you think twice huh?

Yep, which is why I have never been a huge anti-slaughter fanatic. Where will all the horses meant for slaughter go now? Instead dying a horrid but quick death, they will go to useless homes with no care, food, water and die a very slow, painful death.
The issue is not slaughter its self. It is breeding and over populating with unwanted horses. Until breeders have limitations, this problem will be endless.

On a better note, what part of TN are you from? Anywhere near Johnson City?

Hi I am from Jamestown area on the southside of BSF and I am 8 miles from East Fork Stables and campground.

I agree with both of you. It is a sad thing indeed. What would have been better than shutting down the slaughter houses would have been better laws (and upholding those laws) for more humane treatment in the shipping and actual slaughtering. Unfortunately, all those "tree huggers" have done is to make more horses suffer. They are now patting themselves on the back for a job well done, and will now ignore the horses that are currently suffering.

It still hasn't been banned yet as far as I know, so there's still a chance that they'll be re-opened and also, they're opening up slaughter houses on the Indian Reservations. I don't want to sound like I like slaughter, but I believe that it's necessary for the horse industry and it help's all of the unwanted horses, at least this way they wont have to suffer for however long they live with abuse, no food or water ect. Though I agree with everyone who said that it should be more humane, especially the transportation. People only want the "best" horses and all of the "okay" ones are forgotten and end up being mistreated :(

TxHorseMom:
The "tree huggers" haven't "won" yet.

Friesian,
I sincerely hope not. I have never, and never would (will if it becomes legal again) use a slaughter house. But I to feel that it is a necessary evil, and would like to see more humane treatment.

Where did you hear that indian reservations were going to do this? Do you have any literature or references I can see? I'm not saying I don't believe you (I hope you are right!) But I am on other forums and I know they would like "proof". Thanks!

Here is how I feel about this whole slaughter stuff:
There are a lot of horses out there *wild, abused, happy, and/or healthy*. Because there are so many horses, if they all lived and if they all died natural deaths, and we all put them into the ground after they died, then don't you think we would run out of room for all of the dead horses.
When you cut a spine, doesnt the victim lose feeling? If so then it's not so bad, they can't feel whats happening to them. Also, horses are slaughtered for food right? So if people eat the horses it's much better then just putting them into the ground.
I'm not saying i'm ok with it, I find it very disturbing! It is wrong and yes it is mean, but if the horses are killed instead of beaten and abused, I find it slightly better.
Yes I am afraid of my horse being stoen, sold, and sent to slaughter, but if a skinny, old horse is sent off then the horse is just serving another porpuse for the humans.
don't get me wrong I LOVE horses with all my hart! They are all I ever think about *honestly, just ask my friends and family*.
I have just spent so much time being sad about all of this slaughter, but I have found something worse than slaughter! It's called abuse.
Please don't yell at me for letting you know how I feel, I do love all horses and I would never ever EVER eat a horse or kill a horse.

They steal the horses so the horses can be at the slaughter house so the killer buyers can make more $$$$$$$$$...does it sound very reasonable? No. It is get out of the hand now about the slaughter house so I would like to stop it now. There are some debate about stop the import/export the horses across and from the united states...so...let us see what happen about it...actually, "dressage queens" are fight about it now so they can keep import their top-breed horses, of course.

If horses were bought by the killer buyers...I would not say a word about it 'cause the owners do not care about what kind owners they sold to and it is their faults fot their loss. And the killer buyers do pay to get their horses.

Why even say this? God knows I'm not one of the people that import horses, I don't have the money - however, I do appreciate a very well bred horse without being a "Dressage Queen". The horses are generally imported for breeding because a). The European warmbloods originate from Europe & are not found in the states and b). Are used to establish a certain number of WB in the states with high standards. There are limited amounts of European Warmbloods in the states - imports are used to prevent line breeding and to use different breeding "stock" to better the breed. The states do not have a true warmblood to work with. Why criticize this of all things, really? These breeders are using very high quality horses and are generally, improving the breed (which is the object of breeding). They are not back yard breeders or those breeding less then par horses to over populate and create horses that are conformationally defective. The registries for these WB also have high standards to endorse good and selective breeding. I would much rather see someone import a high quality and well selected horse to breed then an average Joe that will create offspring that is limited and only adds on to the population.

I want to put in my opinion about horse slaughter. I personally wouldn't let my horse to go to slaughter however if there are people who raise horses for slaughter, fine by me. To me, slaughter is a place for those unwanted horses. I see way too many backyard bred horses around here. What if I wanted to find a purebred horse but the country is overrun with backyard bred and pushing out the quality breed out. I would like to keep horse's bloodline healthy as possible. I'm not into breeding horses myself so it's not something I can do to contribute but hope that there are people in country who have money to continue doing this.

The animal rescue would be overrun with unwanted horses and then they would have hard time to keep the horses well fed and as well have vet visits. Granted, I'm not up to current news so I don't know what the situation is like at these places at this point. Anyhow... I'm ok to keep horse slaughter as this place is going to be used as last resort provided that the horse have been given a chance to find a new home via humane society, horse rescue, and etc.