Back to Main Page
Horse Slaughter
State level legislation has shut down the slaughter plants in Illinois and
Texas, but the insanity is not over. Horses are still being shipped by truck
and by boat outside of the USA for slaughter in Canada, Mexico, and Japan.
What kind of horses are slaughtered?
No horse is safe from slaughter unless it's under the care of a responsible
person. Those who have met the sadistic fate of slaughter were once
children's ponies, show horses, family horses, retired show horses or horses
from families who just can't afford them any longer. Once they are in the
procession of a heartless and greedy individual they are immediately at risk
of being inhumanly slaughtered for human consumption.
Stolen horses also often end up at slaughter houses. Slaughter is an easy way for a horse thief to make a quick $300-700 on a stolen horse and the evidence is destroyed.
90% of
horses slaughtered for human consumption are young, healthy, sound horses
who deserve a better life.
Who eats horsemeat?
The biggest consumers of horsemeat are France, Italy, Belgium, and
Japan. Horsemeat, considered a delicacy. It is used as an alternative to
beef.
No living being deserves to endure the insanity!
Last year tens of thousands of US horses were forced to endure the ultimate of horrific deaths, slaughter. Three foreign-owned slaughterhouses in the United States killed horses for human consumption. They were Beltex Corporation in Ft. Worth, Texas; Dallas Crown in Kaufman, Texas and Cavel International in DeKalb, Illinois. All three have been closed due to changes in state law.
That
does not mean though that the problem is over by any means though. Our
horses are still being transported under deplorable conditions across our
borders into Canada, Mexico and Japan to be sadistically slaughtered.
Conditions of transport are appalling. Horses are typically hauled for at
the least 24 hours without rest, water or food in trailers that provide
little protection from weather extremes. They are often forced onto cattle
trailers with ceilings so low they injure their heads. Many horses are sick,
lame, pregnant or blind. All are in distress even before being loaded.
Once at the slaughterhouse, the suffering continues unabated. Horses are
left for long periods in tightly packed trailers, subjected to further
extremes of heat and cold. In hot weather, thirst is acute. Downed animals
are unable to rise. All the horses are moved off forcibly when it’s time to
unload. Callous workers, using fiberglass rods or electric prods, poke and
beat the horses’ faces, necks, backs and legs as they are shoved through the
facility and into the kill box.
Subject to extreme overcrowding, abuse, deafening sounds and the smell of
blood, the horses become more and more desperate, exhibiting fear typical of
“flight” behavior, pacing in prance-like movements with their ears pinned
back against their heads and eyes wide open.
Before having their throats slit, repeated blows with captive bolt pistols
are often necessary to stun the animals. Terrified horses writhe in the
holding stalls (known as the “kill box”), legs buckling under their weight
after each traumatic, misguided and ineffective blow to their heads.
Death,
the final betrayal of these noble animals, is protracted and excruciating.
My perspective...
If horse slaughter had glass walls so that you and your family were forced
to experience the horror first hand, nobody with a sane mind would allow it
to exist. Just because the walls aren't glass it does not make it
acceptable!
Only the coldest of hearts would
ever participate or condone such a horrific act as horse slaughter.
Personally I wouldn't trust anyone who is that cold hearted and sadistic!
How can you help?
Do not sell your horse at an
auction! Many of the horses at auctions are bought by killer-buyers.
Consider the following options instead.
Donate your horse to an equine rescue organization.
(I've only heard of one rescue that
slaughters horses if they are difficult, but to be on the safe side ask for
a written agreement that the horse will never be sent to slaughter or
adopted to anyone who will not sign an agreement that the horse will not be
sold to slaughter. Personally I know that here at Tiny Hooves Foal Rescue
we'd have absolutely no trouble signing such an agreement, and I'm sure that
any other reputable rescue wouldn't mind either.)
Make arrangements with a retirement farm; both with proper references and a detailed agreement that the horse will never be sold to slaughter.
Donate, sell or lease your horse to a therapeutic riding program.
Sell the horse privately to an
individual with proper references and a detailed agreement (in writing) that
the horse will never be sold to slaughter.
Please support the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act to end horse slaughter in the US and prohibit the export of horses for the same purpose. Bill # H.R.503
Link to Congressional legislation:
http://www.compassionindex.org/
Contact your
representatives:
https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml
Let's all stand up and commit ourselves to be the voice for the voiceless. They definitely deserve our help.