CBC Horse Slaughter Article

Precisely! I think that would help curb a LOT of the overpopulation problems.

There would still be people like my mother's uncle who doesn't care about the horses at all, and just wants to make a buck, but those are less common than the ones who feel they're doing good. I think education would help tremendously with those who just don't know any better.

I would agree with this. The only exception is, look what happens to people on this forum who try to educate. The so called breeder just will not for a moment think that their 'perfect pretty pony' could be remotely too inferior to breed. The knowledgeable people here to try to reason with them and it goes no where. I believe most people out there just flat out refuse to be educated and that's really too bad.

That always makes me sad to read about, and I just got done reading a thread from earlier in the month about it.

My horses are the mostest beautifulest evar () but I'm glad we got Dixie before the other buyer did. The previous owners were skeptical because the woman was inquiring about Dixie's breeding history and wanted to be able to return her if she didn't get pregnant. Don't tell Dixie I said this, but she's just not good breeding stock. Back toes out, pretty downhill, etc.

I wish everyone could look honestly at their horses and ask themselves, "Is my horse REALLY worth breeding/breeding to?"

Horsemeat is not "feeding the hungry". The meat is sold not given away. In the US deer meat is donated to food banks to feed the hungry. In the Nature Valley Farms photo its shows a huge amount of meat by products being spread out on the land. It that was a cattle,pig,chicken,etc. slaughterhouse the heads,intestines,stomachs,etc would be used and not tossed outdoors to rot. Many pounds of flesh are being wasted when they kill horses. Many horses that are killed are sound healthy animals whose former owners are not even aware of their fate and would not have sold them to slaughter. They were useful animals who should have had long lives. Many times kill buyers have lied to people and told them their horses would have a good home. People who care about their horses have had them stolen by people looking to make some dollars selling them to slaughter. www.netposse.com lists lots of horses who were stolen and most probably ended up in slaughterhouses. There are people renting government land in the US practically free that are raising horses and cattle. THey do not care about producing quality horses and they do not spend hardly any money raising them and they do not care if they go to slaughter. They only care about how much money they can get. The US government has spent millions keeping mustangs penned up so that these people can make money at taxpayer expense. Public land should be used by the public and not these greedy ranchers who are profiting at their expense and the expense of the horses. Anybody who claims to care about horses and does not care if they suffer from cruelty is not telling the truth. Why would anybody who cares about horses favor a cruel death for them over a quick painless one being held by the one that owns them in their own stall or pasture either via bullet or injection. The body can be rendered,buried or cremated. Slaughter is not necessary not humane and its strongest advocates are people who never ever cared about horses.

K. Agree to Disagree.

Kentucky you seem really down on ranchers and I think some of that dislike is really misplaced. Our country would be in a world of hurt without the ranchers.

And you changed the statement about not caring for horses if you support slaughter.

You said " Anybody who claims to care about horses and does not care if they suffer from cruelty is not telling the truth."

People here that support slaughter are saying they would support humane slaughter. That's a big difference than supporting slaughter by cruel methods. The truth still remains that it can be legislated. However, the bleeding hearts would rather have the slaughter be outside our country so it can't be regulated out at all. It's okay, as long as it's not in our country I guess. That is a sad thing.

What do you see the difference between rendering and slaughter?

What should be done with the unwanted horses out there that can't seem to be adopted out or sold to people?

Humane slaiughter was legislated many years ago and has not been enforced many times. Horse slaughter in the US was no more humane than that in Canada. Horse that are unwanted and unadoptable could be humanely euthanized. Rendering plants accept animals that are already dead. In some places humanely euthanized dog and cat bodies have been rendered,.Humane slaughter of cattle has not always been enforced either. "They die piece by piece" about the horrors at a cattle slaughterhouse and other horror stories about cattle slaughter are the reason I stopped breeding cattle and eating beef. The captive bolt gun many times did not stun the animal which was hoisted fully conscious,poorly stuck or left unstuck and the animals went down the line bellowing in pain as their feet were cut off and they were skinned and did not die until near the end of the line when their heads were cut off. It took about 10 minutes of sheer agony before their suffering ended. Congress and others promised to end the cruelty but there have been other stories of cruelty since then. The captive bolt guns lose power unlike real guns and become ineffective. They have sometimes caused pain without any loss of consciousness.

It is about enforcing it and I think it could have happened if the politicians really pushed it. You can be certain it's no more regulated in Mexico or Canada. There's no reason the horse or any other animal couldn't be humanely dispatched prior to slaughter.

Solon, I am pro rancher 100%, I was talking about back yard breeders and those breeder who are don't know much about breeding.

Thanks for pointing that out, I thought you were including the ranchers in that!