Are you pro-slaughter? POLL

I dislike the wording utilized in the poll, and I choose not to vote because of it. The word "slaughter" is used in lieu of the more acceptable "processing" to make it seem more reprehensible.
It's kind of like calling it "pro-abortion" instead of "pro-choice" xD
I don't think anyone is PRO ABORTION....and I don't think people in general are pro SLAUGHTER...but people can sympathize or at least comprehend that there are circumstances in which decisions which we might personally find distasteful may be warranted or at least, understandable...

What BSMS said ^^.

I detest the need for it, but I also am a realist and without it, we're in deep guano. And NOWHERE else is as careful about the conditions under which we slaughter animals as the U.S.

And for whomever wanted to call it Processing rather than Slaughter, no let's don't try to make it P.C. And sugar coat it til we don't know what we're talking about. Call a spade a spade, not a lady shovel. We are talking about killing horses, not giving them perms and pedicures.

Very true DA- it is what it is.

I am pro slaughter. Not matter what you call it, its the same stuff. If we didnt kill off the old, crippled, unwanted horses then we would have overpopulation llike we do now. That's why the horse economy is in the crapper. There are to many horses and not enough people to care for them.

You can live in your fairy tale "people with stop breeding" world. I choose to live in the real world where breeders don't stop, horses die of starvation and slaughter is a saving grace for dying horses and people alike.
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The problem with trying to control things on the breeding side is that horses live 20-30+ years. Some of our current population was bred in the 80s. It is tough to judge demand 25 years out.

I didn't own a horse in 2000, but I heard it was a seller's market back then. How many 10-12 year old horses do we have bred at a time when it looked like limitless homes? BTW - my three are 11-14 years old, bred from 1997-2000, one wild. How many people breeding think about how many horses will be available 15 years later, or care?

The "product" has a very long self life, and most buyers are looking for something under 15. I don't like it, but how many people buy a horse for their daughter when she is 10, and don't know what to do with it when she is 19, in college, and has lost interest in horses? The unhappy reality is that the horse may be 18, have 10+ years of useful riding available, and more years of life - and have very few willing to even consider him.

I don't like slaughter, and I like a lot of horse owners and buyers even less, but I don't see how I can change either.

That goes both ways, demon. Quite frankly, I've never seen a slaughter house (for cows, chickens or any other animal) referred to as a "processing plant" except in annual reports. Im not sure why people are arguing that its described differently for horses?

Im neither of these. Im not happy with the status quo and not happy with any alternatives put out there. I'm just not sure what the answer is. It sucks.

I look at it this way....

Not everyone is going to feed and care for old, crippled, useless horses. There are not enough homes to take them in. I would much rather see that horse go to some use instead of wasting away. Slaughter makes those horses useful, instead of a burden.
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I personally don't think it matters what you call it - I am pro slaughter.

I think this is a good thread.

I don't like the thought of horses being slaughtered. But I don't like the thought of cows being slaughtered either. I'd prefer to wear rose colored glassed. But I still eat meat.

But, I would prefer to see a horse sent to slaughter and killed within a matter of minutes as opposed to months of suffered on little to no food/water.

People just don't know what to do with the 30 year old, useless, lame, arthritic horse. Horse retirement homes can't take them all.

But, then again I think there should difference between a "pet" horse and a "slaughter" horse. Example. We give our horses shots and deworm them. Would you want to injest that stuff? I wouldn't. Therefore if we are going to eat horse meat in the US, I would rather see horses bred for meat like we breed meat cows as opposed to using our pet horses.

Then again, this isn't a perfect world.

I guess I'm pro-slaughter. As long as it's done correctly and as humanely as possible.

Also not voting.

I am not pro slaughter or anti slaughter. I do not like the idea of killing any animal, especially inhumanely, but I also do not like the idea of allowing untrained 15,16,17 year old horses or badly build unsound two year olds to be 'saved' when there are thousands of hard working, strong, honest horses out there being abused or neglected. But...like many have said- our world is not fair, nor is it kind. If the horses that are being slaughtered are going towards feeding people, then I guess that's a better purpose than just sitting around waiting for nothing.