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Facilities sought for restoring horse slaughter

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Now that legislation has been signed lifting the federal ban on horse slaughter– the focus among horse groups is finding suitable plants for processing.

Sue Wallis, co-leader of United Horsemen and the International Equine Business Association, tells Brownfield they have a great network across the country looking for facilities in places where meat processing is common practice. They are considering, Wallis says, “Those facilities that are existing, that are already processing large mammals and that could be relatively, quickly, retrofitted for the unique characteristics of horses.”

Wallis says the horse processing facilities that were shuttered in 2007 when amendments passed banning the USDA from inspecting horse meat – will not be reopened because those states where they are located have passed laws banning horse slaughter (Texas, Illinois, California and Florida).

Once plants are in place, Wallis says, it’ll take years to recreate the market and reverse the damage done to the welfare of horses that have been left behind.

Wallis says, “When an industry takes as big and as deep and as hard of a hit that the horse industry has taken, it’s gonna take awhile.”

Wallis says the tide turned away from the animal rights/anti-slaughter movement when the Congressional G-A-O report this spring detailed the problems that were caused by the elimination of horse processing in the U.S. She believes that knowledge and understanding of the situation will prevent most other states from enacting horse slaughter bans in the future.

AUDIO: Sue Wallis (23:00 mp3)

GAO Report:  Unintended consequences from cessation of domestic horse slaughter

103 comments
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  • I have have had two of my horses( 1 gelding for over 31 years & 1 mare for 32 years) when the time came they were put down & buried out past the barn. We had another mare that died and she was also buried here where she lived. I myself could not take a partner and send them off to slaughter, mine died with dignity.
    That said, not all horses are in a position to go that way, I would rather see them put down humanely than some brutal way like they do South of the border.

  • You know you are a new paper, you would think you could print the whole report, the GAO, not just the proslaughter side, Years, to rebuild they have said this is to help the current problem they plan on breeding more horses, so just what are all you cattle ranchers going to do when they fight youfor grazing land then?????

  • Wallis is right that the GAO had blinded those in Congress who only read a sentence or two of any bill or report. Many only read the summary and didn’t even check on the details. You can look at a breakdown of this report and see where it went wrong with lies and old data at Equine Welfare Alliance website. The GAO used many old facts from past GAO and many anti slaughter groups were not even contacted and the ones that were have no statements in the report. The GAO makes one statement that I know is false that the Cavel slaughter plant that was burned down was burned down by activists. If one pulls the police report they will see that there was no evidence to show that. And the owners of the Cavel plant made off with $5 million from the insurance which they used to move the plant and build the state of the art plant. Well it didn’t turn out that way and one of the things that put the plant out of business is all the environment violations that they collected and didn’t pay until they went to court and were trying to get their TRO. They had no intention of paying them otherwise.
    But it is hard to trust a report that is filled with unproven facts and hearsay. It’s too bad that not one part of the government that is supposed to tell the truth is in realty just like the government and lies at every chance.
    And how can it be that only 3 Congressmen have now sentenced over 125,000 horses to a torturous death against the objections of over 75% of Americans who do not want horse slaughter back in the US? I would not build that plant yet; they could have shoot themselves in the foot since now we must get the laws passed and that will end all horse slaughter, even to other countries. Wallis has given true horse lovers no other choice now. Call your Senators to pass S 1176 and call your House Reps., to pass HR 2966.

  • Oh please, Wallis has been blabbering about this for a few years now. She claims she has interest and it turns out she was just blowing smoke. The GAO report also called for a ban. That is what Congress really wants and members have been saying it. The ban would keep them from going to Mexico while the defund language wouldn’t. Anyway, no real business is going to invest in anything when there is still a federal ban bill in the works and the defund language will easily go back in when up for a vote or the Democrats regain control of the Congress. The only way it came out now was because the current bill was finalized by three big Ag supporters. The language still has support from Congress.

    I think we need to look into Wallis after all of this. She appears to have financial gain in her future.

  • I suggest that if anyone wants to have a horse slaughter facility in their local, that they read this article at the link below. And that, is just the tip of the iceberg. The cruelty, the screaming of the horses….on and on. How can anyone in their right mind consider slaughtering an animal that comes when you call them, does tricks, and responds to you with kindness and a whinney. When I was 12 and knew IT ALL, I was thrown from a horse in the dead of winter. It was my fault. I was galloping and she slipped. I went over her head and was literally knocked out. When I woke up, she was there, and she was nudging me with her nose – trying to wake me up. If you think for one minute there is any way you can slaughter a horse humanely…guess again. Or if you think there is any way there is financial gain involved, guess again.
    **Comment edited by Admin. (Link not shared.)

  • I am really starting to believe that Ms. Wallis likes to hear herself talk. She has NEVER backed up anything that she has spewed with actual and factual proof. As far as her latest rantings, saying that there has never been any inhumane slaughter anywhere, and all of the documentations are false, I guess that Ms. Wallis is calling the Canadian government liars. All of the cruelty that was documented, and all of the paperwork (that accompanied the horses), was authenticated by the Canadian government. The bill that was recently signed by the President only runs until September 2012. Ms. Wallis is nothing more than a congressional lobbyist! Hell, she doesn’t even own a horse! And how was it back in 2010, Ms. Wallis was able to get Bill HB122(livestock dispersal bill) passed in Wyoming? She had a conflict of interest…the bill should never have been passed!!! This woman needs to be serioulsy investigated by the proper authorities!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • I agree on the check Sue Wallis, out, someone needs to ask why she is allowed to ethicly, bad spelling day, why she can have all these business that she is pushing and co chairing and what not, and be representing herself, wehn she is an elected official, I could be wrong but is that not illegal, or something,

  • i am so upset with the 3 men who have decided the fate of our beloved horses, never understand how 3 men can decide this. something is wrong with this picture. and u want us tax payers to foot the bill of 5 million dollars? are u nuts? they cut money from ss, medicare, etc. but yet they want 5 million to go to open foreign owned slaughter houses here? we’ve been thru this and majority of americans don’t want horse slaughter here! americans don’t eat horses! use the money to help owners with humane euthanasia if they need it, slaughter is not right, have u seen video’s of horse slaughter plants? i have and it is gruesome! no companion deserves to die like that! stop the over breeding, 100,000 surplus horses could be controlled if u quit and stop the breeding for a year or two. i support many rescues out there, will never send mine to slaughter. this is america’s shame if they let this betrayel happen again ! bad enough blm gets millions of dollars to round up our mustangs every year , only to put cattle in there place, not right!! rather see beautiful free horse anyday!!!and the government says we’re in a deficit? stop wasting tax payers money and leave the horses alone!!

  • Its about time someone thought of the horse. I am for horse slaughter because I love horses.j
    Lets have some common sense here. You have to have this no matter how ugly it may be.

    If you truly love horses you will see this.

  • so, the last 2 states that hosted US horse slaughterhouses don’t want it back, eh? wonder why that is! ’nuff said.

  • I spoke with an equine embryo transplant veterinarian JUST LAST NIGHT on the horse slaughter issue. He is NOT pro slaughter AT ALL, however he says he “has to cull about 60-70 mares” a year out of his program due to age or other reasons (that have nothing to do with age) so he can have a successful business. He takes them to auction and he said “I know that a lot of them go to Mexico or Canada to slaughter…I don’t like it, but even if I can euthanize them, where would I bury 60-70 mares each year”. When the US plants were open, he went to visit a kill floor in Illinois out of curiosity and to know what really happens. He said “I would never chose to do that again”.

    Here is the deal!!!! REDUCE the breeding!! AND have every single breeder pay a yearly fee (nominal) that would be sent directly into funding for sanctuaries and safe havens for horses. I will tell you what kind of places need to be built are crematoriums for horses and a place for HUMANE EUTHANASIA via barbiturates under the care of a licensed veterinarian and then cremated or properly buried. Slaughter should NEVER EVER be the answer to our own economic mismanagement. Period. Get a soul folks!

  • What a boondoggle! It wasn’t really profitable in the 2000’s just before it closed. Even if taxpayers shoulder the burden enough to make it profitable, at most when all three plants were operating at full capacity they employed maybe 150 people. Keep in mind a good 90% of those are jobs inside the plant: high injury rates, high turn-over, almost minimum wage, and no health insurance. When those people get hurt (which is likely to happen) without insurance they end up on the taxpayer funded Medicaid. And frankly, are these really the jobs the government should be catering to in order to create? Why not put this energy and tax subsidy into better paying (and more desirable) jobs? Heck, even my local Walmart supercenter employs that many people, and at Walmart the full-time employees get benefits including health insurance!

    If we want to create Ag jobs, put America’s energy and resources into creating GOOD ag jobs. Invest in an industry that will keep the profits in America and that produces a product we need. For example, right now there is a shortage of organic foods of certain types. Oddly enough organic hay is in demand, as it’s needed for organic dairies & livestock operations. But in my region there is a big learning curve, so farmers don’t know how to produce & market it profitably. Why not put the energy into that instead of forcing US taxpayers to subsidize the inspections on USDA horsemeat that we would never buy and 70%+ of us find distasteful?

    As a horse owner and someone who does horse reasuce, all my research shows that neglect/abandonment is NOT correlated with slaughter. American horses are being killed in numbers comparable to 2007, and yet it’s not protecting any horses from neglect/abandonment. Not too long ago 150 Arabs were seized off an Arab breeder’s farm. She could have sent them to slaughter, and she did not. I’ve spoken to people who need help selling their horses BECAUSE slaughter is where a good % of the ones at lower-end auctions end up. Horse owners should have a safe place to resell their horses. And anyone with any sense knows the true value of the horse is in his speed, athleticism, breeding, training, and companionship — never his meat. Keep horses valuable and not reduced to mere pennies per pound; let’s ban horse slaughter once and for all!

  • And oh FYI!!! 85% of the horses sent to slaughter are YOUNG, FIT, HEALTHY and include our wild American Mustangs…..AND mares in foal and young horses as young as 6 months or younger….like those form the PMU business. You readers know what that is don’t you? Mares being used to produce Primarin for human females when a synthetic drug has been out for years. Those foals are sent to slaughter if they are male, and the females once of age go right into the pee trap line up!!! Get educated. Pull your head out of your horses ass….or your own, and read up. LOTS of misinformation out there and the PRO slaughter folks are heavily funded by AQHA, Arabian Horse Ass., the race tracks, PMU pharmaceutical companies, and many others. There PR may be steller….but their intentions are in the gutter with NO vision except for making a dollar of the belt or purse made from a foal, stallion or mare. Wake up people…get with the program and EVOLVE!

  • There is NO money to be made in the horse slaughter business for the US. Cavel was a mess with lots of fines for eviromental destruction. The foreign owned slaughters pay no taxes here.
    ***This comment edited by Admin. One sentence was deleted.

  • This publication seems to specialize in promoting the propaganda of the horse meat lobby instead of the concrete statistics – financial and otherwise – related to horse slaughter.

    I am scratching my head about why Agriculture would support horse slaughter, both from an economic perspective, and from an ethical standpoint?

    From an economic perspective, horse slaughter is an economy killer. It kills jobs and demand for agriculture-related services that LIVE equines require.

    Here’s some simple math: A live horse contributes between $2,000 and $3,000 per year mostly into the regional economy in feed, hay, bedding, boarding fees, farrier, vets, tack and equine equipment suppliers, etc. When you send a horse to slaughter, that annual economic contribution is reduced to the one time fee paid to the kill buyer. In today’s market, it’s between $300 and $500. So in effect, for every horse slaughtered, YOU ARE TAKING $1,500 TO $2,500 OUT OF THE LOCAL AGRICULTURE ECONOMY – just for that year alone! How many agriculture jobs does that represent?!?!?!

    In the state of Indiana for example, horses contribute $2 BILLION per year to the economy. You would have to slaughter 4 MILLION HORSES every year – in Indiana ALONE to make up for that! Wake up people!

    And from an ethical standpoint, cattle raisers are required to manage herds strictly, from birth, in terms of meds given. Horses are not subject to that, and receive routine medications that are not only not tracked whatsoever, but are also BANNED from food animal production. So I would like to know why cattlemen think it’s fine to send horse meat to market with a high probability of containing substances banned from the food supply? How is that responsible?

    • Clean it up, friends, or your comments are not going to be posted. If you have to use bad words or verbally and physically threaten others to get your point across, I am not going to share your comment on this site.
      No swearing. No verbal threats. No personal attacks. No physical threats. And I am not going to share links to other website. This is a place for YOU to comment.
      Thank you!
      -Admin.

  • My apologies and acknowledgment for my above typos! This subject and the REAL story behind all the Pro slaughter crap STINKS and pisses me off. My father is a veterinarian and we are horse owners. Again…the misinformation out there is ENORMOUS. But I tell you folks…if you go down that trail. It will be like climbing Mt. Everest and finding yourself slipping down the other side of the mountain right into Chinese territory with a red rifle in your back, tape across your mouth, and handcuffs around your wrists. Watch the kill videos on You Tube….and yes even the ones in Japan where they wash the horse first before INHUMANELY killing it while it rears and struggles. We have a lot of “unwanted” children out there. We have a lot of “old and crippled” folks out there. Hey…where is the slaughter plant for them? Exactly! Once again humans deciding the fate of another species just because we can.
    **Edited by Admin. Final sentence deleted.

  • The concern over the GAO report is people like Wallis can take a portion of it and run with it.
    The report did not state to open up slaughter plants, it suggested that our lame reps. in D.C. either allow horse slaughter or BAN it. Since Horse slaughter is not HUMANE, the public wants it banned well over 70% of them do. Why has there been no hearing on this topic in D.C.?
    Again the ignorance of humans and false information is going to bring slaughter of horses to the U.S. again. How many people think the HSUS ended horses slaughter in the U.S? Some think folks that know nothing about horses got the plants closed,, welcome to the real world folks. Us taxpayers pay a BIG price for having horse slaughter near our home. While the foreign people reap the financial rewards of a horse slaughter plant, Sue Wallis has not told the public how much it will cost a local community to maintain a plant in their home. WHO will pay the EPA agency when the waste of the horse plants are left at the plants, and who will pay when the waste erupts into the homes where the horse plants for slaughter will exist.
    WE all need to be concerned that our reps back in D.C. will vote to eliminate benefits for children, yet a small committee of the Ag Approp. bill, decided to get slaughter plants funded by USDA again. Where is that 5 MILLION dollars going to be pulled from?? This country cant balance a budget yet gives about 5 MIllion to horses slaughter? Shame on Herb Kohl for supporting horse slaughter in the U.S.
    It is time this country stop the over population, via OVER BREEDING, and stop making so many babies, the more foals we have the less value we will see for horses.
    Using slaughter as a disposal, is just plain WRONG

  • CanAmFam:

    The livestock interests see a ban on horse slaughter as a “direct hit” against their industry. In other words, they believe the US must be able to slaughter horses in order to protect their right to slaughter other animals.

    Do not be fooled — the pro-slaughter movement while cloaking itself as well-intentioned horse advocates, with the horses best interest in mind, has absolutely NOTHING to do with the animal’s welfare.

    This is why industries like cattle, pork, poultry and fur all support the reestablishment of US horse slaughter.

    The three politicians who removed the defunding language from the Ag bill receive thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from companies and organizations like Pfizer, the National Cattlemen’s Association, US Meat Processors, and the AQHA among others who have a vested interest in seeing horse slaughter return to the US.

    Sue Wallis and her supporters are simply a front for these much larger and politically influential groups who prefer to stay in the shadows. They know that arguments like “slaughter is better than starvation”, “helping the equine market”, and “property rights” will garner more support from the general horse owning public than if people understood it was simply about protecting Big Agriculture’s interests.

  • Horse slaughter is ethically wrong, inhumane, unnecessary, promotes over breeding, produces toxic meat that is unfit for human/ animal consumption and does nothing to reduce the real problem… over breeding by equally irresponsible, greedy profiteers.

    United Horsemen and the International Equine Business Association promote horse slaughter for one reason… PROFITS. That’s it. Profit alone is NOT a good enough reason to allow businesses to operate that will only benefit the owners of those businesses. Slaughter houses do nothing to enhance local economies and to claim otherwise can’t be proved, because the evidence does not exist. The majority of Americans are against slaughtering horses and selling the end toxic products to our neighbors overseas.

  • Funny how the states that had slaughter plants are the ones that have banned horse slaughter. Wonder why that is, hmmmm.

  • These are not livestock animals that have been raised for food, nor are they all old, abandoned and unwanted. Among the horses that go to slaughter are: well-pedigreed race, show and competition OVERSTOCK, the sick, the injured, pregnant mares, babies over 6 months old, family pets stolen out of their pastures and wild Mustangs.

    Horses are extremely sensitive and intelligent animals and do not have a diminished fight or flight response.
    Also, they are herbivores, which means for optimal well-being they should be allowed to graze almost constantly. So beginning from transport, where they are crowded into a livestock trailer and driven for up to 28 hours at a time with no rest – and often with no food or water as has been documented on many occasions – the slaughter process is inhumane.
    From that point on, they are herded from one strange enclosed space to another, upping the level of mental discomfort to the point where they become physically agitated and end up falling and injuring themselves or other horses, and trampling and sometimes maiming or killing horses who could not get up during all the excitement. These animals can smell the blood the closer they get to the kill floor and in their last ditch effort to escape, they are often poked with electric prods and beaten in order to get them into the kill boxes.
    Once they are in the area where the actual killing begins, they are stunned (NOT killed, and NOT necessarily unconscious), then hung upside down by their hind leg and then their throat is slit and they are bled to death.

    There is a reason that horse slaughtering facilities were closed and banned in the US, and it’s not because people were trying to “push a vegan agenda,” or whatever else Sue Wallace, etc. might like to claim. It is because of all of the violations that occurred during all phases of the slaughter business, from transport to butchering to the environmental issues that came about in the areas around these plants.
    There were health violations, both due to improper and unsanitary butchering and horses that had untreated infections mostly due to untreated injuries during transport. But mostly, there were many, many violations of humane slaughter laws (which you can find copies of the documents online and read them with your own eyes).
    Unfortunately, you can’t blame the violations solely on the people running these operations; horses are different mentally and physically than livestock animals that are bred for food.
    They will NEVER lose that fight or flight response when they sense they are in danger, and when they are in that state, this makes them a danger to the other animals they are crowded into trailers and kill pens with, and it makes them dangerous to the slaughterhouse employees whose job it is to handle them.

    Aside from the the actual slaughtering process, the meat of our domesticated horses is tainted with common everyday equine products such as Phenylbutazone, an NSAID that is used for relief of pain and discomfort of minor cuts and scrapes, to arthritis and everything in between. Also, wormers say right on the package “not for use in horses intended for human consumption.”
    Slaughter horses are supposed to be drug free for at least 6 months before being processed, and to withhold these medications and allow a horse to exist in discomfort or to purposely allow them to be infested with parasites is cruel and inhumane.
    It is plain and clear that horses are NOT meant for food, and there will NEVER be a humane way to slaughter them.

    In this economy, I don’t want to see politicians promising jobs and wasting approximately $5 million of taxpayers’ money to help fund the reopening of an industry that is going to fail, just like it did before.
    If these pro-slaughter people want to help right the problem of overpopulation in horses, than they need to start at the source: the blatantly irresponsible practice of overbreeding. In an economy where there is less demand for horses and the supply is plenty enough, why are people continuing to breed? Because they are crossing their fingers for that super-champion that’s going to make them or sell for the most money. I think the money being solicited from the government to help fund the pro-slaughter could be better used to treat the actual problem, and not the symptoms of overbreeding.

    Also, there needs to be a system where the people who are already working in the slaughter and transport industry (legally or illegally) are actually firmly and effectively governed, and are following all of the current laws in the slaughterhouses and transports that are being run in the US now. Because last I checked, we don’t even have the budget for enough people to properly inspect and enforce the laws in those.

  • What a joke the USDA is….inspect horse meat? Hello!? What a joke that is. The horse world isn’t exactly regulated on when and what kinds of drugs and supplements we are giving our horses. Think your horse is sore? Bute him. Looking a little colicky?? Banamine to the rescue. A little jittery?? Here’s some ACE. I don’t know, I would rather see my horses humanely euthanized and cremated before ever hoping they go to a good home if I had to sell…and auction???? Not even an option. This is just disgusting. What’s next? Processing dogs and cats too? Horses are just as loyal and if not more intuitive and their trust is even more precious cuz of the fact that they are prey animals. The decisions of those in power are truly disgusting and do not represent a majority but the almighty dollar always wins.

  • It is a tough topic. The majority of Americans are against the slaughter of horses. About 70% I believe. I am appalled that Congress may be granting, at our expense… the taxpayers, 5 million dollars a year for USDA inspection of horse meat. I would rather see that 5 million dollars spent on saving a life. The pro side keep saying there is no money for the rescuing and rehabing of unwanted horses but 5 million dollars a year would save a lot of horses. Surely all those who want to turn our beloved horses into just a commodity can find something else to grow to eat. Surely it can be done.

  • Oh and I have a mare from Camelot…headed to slaughter. Can’t imagine life w/out her and she is very talented. Wish I could let her breeder know where she was headed as well as her owner(s) that sent her to auction.

  • Thank you Stephanie Graham. Amen!
    @Andrea Bennett –You leave me speechless with your stupidity. Have you ever watched video inside a horse slaughterhouse? What is wrong with you?
    **Admin did not edit this comment, but advises person commenting that I almost deleted your first sentence. I asked you not to verbally attack others.

  • Why Wallis plan won’t work

    Sue Wallis wants us to believe returning horse slaughter to this country will restore the horseback culture, but the lack of horse slaughter is not the only factor that has dropped horse prices. The GAO report says prices dropped from $110/head on the cheaper end to $140/head on the higher horses. Sue Wallis will tell you horse prices dropped 25%, but that is based on a $433 horse bring $323 without slaughter. Not enough difference to make or break the farm.

    Horse prices have dropped more than the $110 to $140 which the GAO report attributed to the lack of American slaughter, but part is due to the economy, and part is due to the fact that there are less riders in Gen X than there were in the Baby Boomers. We have had a perfect storm of events bring some horse prices to unsustainable lows.

    Sue will continue to have her followers believe slaughter will cure everything, and it is to the point that they won’t even look at other options. They wave the flag and yell property rights, as if owning property gives you the right to sell it for any purpose you want regardless of regulations to the contrary. Sue may actually get her way and have funding for USDA inspections returned, but that isn’t the end of the solution.

    Her next hurdle is to get a new state-of-the-art Temple Grandin style plant built. This is going to be a major investment so it will have to make money to pay itself off. She will have to show there is a market for the meat before the plant will be built. Since this is a high dollar plant they will have to have access to the human consumption market to get the prices they need. According to Sue’s documentation about half of Canada’s horse meat goes to the EU and our horses aren’t qualified for that market. That leaves the less regulated markets as the target.

    EU passed legislation to adopt a passport system for health and drug verification in 2008. It will be fully implemented by 2013 and at that point American horses won’t go to Canada. Since EU is a leader in food safety regulations I won’t be surprised if other countries emulate the regulations EU passed only three years ago. There will in all likelihood be countries that will buy American horse meat. It is just a matter of finding out how many.

    Sue tells us that drugs in horses won’t be a problem because, “Most processors are moving toward broad spectrum third party lab testing to absolutely verify food safety and purity in meat.” When asked where this information comes from she replied, “My statements about lab testing are derived from telephone conversations and personal visits with processors, laboratories, and scientists in regards to how best to address possible contamination.” We know beef plants are implementing real-time testing for pathogens in order to prevent contamination from e-coli. This is easier to do since the pathogen would be found on the surface of the meat. Comprehensive testing for drug residue would be much harder and is not done on every animal in real-time.

    Given this information it is difficult at best to put together a business plan for a profitable plant. Sue will have a hard time finding an investor who will risk his capital on this venture. She may ask her followers to invest some of their portfolio in this venture. They are believing what she has put forward so far, so they are the best target to believe this will work. She can probably convince them that they will become wealthy on two fronts, since the horse business will be saved and they will own part of a successful business. Many desperate horsemen may bet the farm on this venture and if it doesn’t all go as Sue plans, they may very well loose everything.

  • I don’t think the issue is what to do with our old unwanted horses and that is what people are not recognizing. Even if I think it is a good thing to bring back horse slaughter in the US so the horses don’t have to travel to Mexico or Canada, this doesn’t answer the number one question. Which horses are we going to slaughter in the US? There are already great concerns and new laws being pushed by the EU because they do NOT want our horses. So unless we are going to start breeding horses for meat here in the US, which horses will go to slaughter and who is going to eat them? Even IF I loved to eat horses, I would want to eat a horse that was bred for human consumption, not a horses that was bred in the US for sports etc and has been given wormers, lasix, bute, fly sprays etc. Who is going to eat those horses? I can imagine that most American’s would NOT want to feed their family and children ANY animal that was not bred for human consumption.

  • ‘Now that legislation has been signed lifting the federal ban on horse slaughter– the focus among horse groups is finding suitable plants for processing.’
    What ban? Slaughter was never Federally banned in the US.
    That states that had it will tell you what it’s like to have one in your backyard, I guess if they are to be built the first one can go in Sue Wallis’ backyard?
    For more info on the environmental impact of these plants go to the kaufman zoning website of Mary Nash’.

  • THIS IS DESPICABLE. I thought I was ashamed of how our country treated animals before. Now I can see it will only get worse. Based on how we treat one another, the animals surely don’t stand a chance. How can we be fighting so hard through rescues and fosters and transports of all kinds of animals, yet be reinstating horse slaughter?? For anyone that thinks this is HUMANE or only involves old or “broken” horses, you are grossly mistaken. HORSE LOVERS DO NOT ENDORSE HORSE SLAUGHTER.

  • Dear Admin ~ Watch a horse slaughtered and then tell folks to not be upset. Sue, plays the system, a small group of corrupted law makers buy her game to their own $$$, and then remove the protections from our horses. It is America that is suffering here, the horse is a very visible victim.

  • Oh what a bunch of bull (bleep). The fact that the US has continued to slaughter horses at the same rate as before the closings. It is painfully obvious that there was little to no direct effect on the horse market. The worst recession in history, rivaling the Great Depression is what produced the negative effect on the horse industry. The beginning of the economic decline started in 2005-2006 and has been spiraling downwards every since.. Sue Wallis and her followers delivered misinformation remarkably well and it was enough to turn the tide as she brainwashed simple people into believing her. Mark my words, we will continue to have large numbers of horses that are neglected, abused and abandoned from now to kingdom come. It will wax and wane with the tides of the economy as will the value of a horse. The horses will continue endure the cycle of breed, dump repeat until enough people stand up demand better stewardship. We have truly taken a huge leap backwards. And Sue Wallis, backed by big Ag lead the way.

  • The article that Christy Lee was referring to was from former Mayor of Texas Paula Bacon. She resided over a town with a slaughterhouse for a few years and has written a report identifying some of the concerns. It’s an interesting read. You can google her name and horse slaughter and I’m sure you will find it. I’m not so sure this comment will see the written page tho’ as the admin editor might not want folks knowing how horrific the situation was. My assumption is that the admin editor of an ag magazine is likely pro-slaughter?

    • Karen, whether the administrator is pro or con on this topic is not an issue. Journalists at Brownfield Ag News set aside their personal views when covering a news story. If we are doing COMMENTARY (My commentary is Cyndi Young’s 2 cents) it is handled differently. News is news. Unfortunately there are many news organizations out there today who seem to have forgotten the ethics of journalism. But that’s a topic for my COMMENTARY, not a news story. It would be best if you didn’t make assumptions.

  • All, Just look at the poll and see again that 70% are AGAINST horse slaughter. Stop the slaughter houses and pass S.1176 and HR 2966 and save our horses from a cruel and inhumane death and save the consumers who are eating our US toxic horses and don’t know it.

  • A child is dying needlessly every 3 seconds along with 60 Billion animals a year.

    Lost your house? Beat by a cop or a mob? Lost your job? Lost your pension? They are all valid issues that are all caused by not accepting life as the most important of all. The problem is not proven to be caused by people, but it is our responsibility to clean it up. Keep things prioritized and never loose sight of the goal: Respect for life.

    The most important thing in life is life.

    1. “The most important thing in life is life”; a truth.

    2. “The most important thing in life is life”; a self-evident truth.

    3. “The most important thing in life is life”; a most important self-evident truth.

    The above is a self-evident truth because it cannot be debated, discussed, thought about, etc., without life.

    Acceptance is a person’s agreement to experience a situation, to follow a process or condition (often a negative or uncomfortable situation) without attempting to change it, protest, or exit.

    Hypocrisy is the state of pretending to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that one does not actually have. Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a kind of lie.

    Killing or hurting an animal, human or otherwise, without the actual need to do so for survival, it a hypocritical action against the belief and acceptance that the “The most important thing in life is life”.

    All truth passes through three stages.

    First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. Arthur Schopenhauer

    We have said to stop killing and respect life and it is ridiculed. We have seen that about 10 million children and 60 billion animals die violently every year. We are waiting for the acceptance of the most important self-evident truth: The most important thing in life is life.

    Past, present or future, the objective is always the most important of all. When you are serious, just let me know.

    ——————————————-

    ——————————————-

    “A spirituality that is only private and self-absorbed, one devoid of an authentic political and social consciousness, does little to halt the suicidal juggernaut of history.

    On the other hand, an activism that is not purified by profound spiritual and psychological self-awareness and rooted in divine truth, wisdom, and compassion will only perpetuate the problem it is trying to solve, however righteous its intentions.

    When, however, the deepest and most grounded spiritual vision is married to a practical and pragmatic drive to transform all existing political, economic and social institutions, a holy force – the power of wisdom and love in action – is born.

    This force I define as Sacred Activism.”

    ― Andrew Harvey, The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism

  • Lots of valid points in the comments above. For those who still believe that it would be great to have horse slaughter in their community, please read the document “when horse slaughter comes to town” from 2011. It is fully referenced for anyone who cares to dispute its findings.
    Lots of cons, very few pros to having a slaughterhouse in your communtiy. If you dont read the document, let me highlight a few of the more special features that having horse slaughter in your community will allow you to enjoy:
    – increased crime rates, pollution of your water supply and ground water, decreased property values, high incidence of employee injuries, stigma for your community, protests in opposition to slaughter, unregulated horses entering your food supply, illegal dumping of horse entrails, failure to pay taxes or fines… Well, you get the picture- and it is not pretty. If you want your property values to go crashing into the ground (farther than the economy has already driven them) then horse slaughter in your community is your ticket!
    **link deleted by admin – if you want to find it, google it 🙂

  • Are we a nation of complete ingrates…? Greedy, gluttonous ingrates? I am asking because while I may be an extreme horse activist and witness on a daily basis that HORSES are healing military vets who cant sleep, and giving a chance to gang youth who might not otherwise…I see them healing the traumas of childhood grief…all without uttering a word! So I know how much horses give to humanity, I can see and feel it! HOWEVER for those of us who don’t witness these intuitive, sentient beings, these healers and teachers for humanity…have we really forgotten HOW we got here???

    The proverbial HORSE WE RODE IN ON? Who built our roads, cities, fought our wars, died on the battlefield for us with huge courage (a flight prey animal no less), who harvested our crops, tilled the land, settled us from the east coast to the west…these animals are not beasts of burden ….they are our brawn, our strength, our heart and our freedom.

    HOW DARE WE TREAT THEM THIS WAY!
    I don’t agree with most slaughter in general, mainly because there NO respect for living beings…but have to say “hello” to the idiots who think that horse meat is a good business to be in…its a sinful business and on top of all of it the meat is contaminated…why? Because most every horse that is cruelly slaughtered was someone’s companion, pet, beloved friend…they were never intended to be on a plate and shouldn’t be now.

    Its unhealthy all the way around, in every way.

    What needs to happen is that we stop seeing any animal as an expendable creature with no meaning…we all here for a reason…we all want life…its time to stop thinking (in an unbelievably arrogant way) that humans are the only species to consider (and we are really bad at that anyway)…

    Life is about balance! For all! Greed and inequality only cause pain and suffering, even to the greedy, eventually.

  • OH and YES – the slaughter of our cherished, beloved and legally protected wild horses….is….ILLEGAL!!!!
    The law states that “they shall be protected” period.
    there is nothing in there about all the lies and messes that the BLM is claiming…no starving horses, no overpopulation problems…just lots more..GREEED!

    It is illegal to slaughter an American Wild Mustang or Burro…so please tell me how and why it is happening?

    grrrrrrrrrrr

  • This evil practice is getting ready to rise again. Horse slaughter is so cruel that some pro slaughter had to turn their head and leave at the site showing the horrific process and cruelity. It takes a no heart, no feeling person to do this job. You can’t convince me otherwise. What I fear is that there will be horse breeders (horse camps) just to take horses to slaughter. What a shame that we will not be heard on this issue. What a shame our president signed and probably didn’t even bother reading the implications. Once again we will be supplying other countries with our horse meat. I can’t understand why the USA has to be the supplier. Is it because once again we (Obama) wants to look good to ANYBODY? I don’t ever read how these countries are supplying horse meat. Shame on you Obama!

  • Hey Cyndi Young. Thanks for making your own comment rather than just deleting things that people wish to express and not saying anything as to why and how. I agree with the NO swearing, verbal threats, personal attacks or physical threats. Not necessary and actually counter productive. Folks are passionate about animals whether they are eating them or not. But the links? Your educated readers who have commented above want to educate others. People can chose whether to click those links or not. Forks Over Knives is a great documentary rooted in science and nutrition. But again..I respect your need to moderate. Thanks Cyndi.

  • Please, I am tired of listening to this *** woman blabbering on. She is addicted to Horse Slaughter. Why? How can this woman want Horses to be killed in this country or any other? She is an abbheration..I don’t find it normal for a woman to devoted herself so thoroughly, for years, to the killing of these magnificent and noble animals. Horses are a part of us. They have served us all through the ages in so many ways. They’ve carried us to new beginnings, hauled our loads, carried warriors to war. They’ve given endless entertainment to millions in various forms of sport. They still do to this day.And, they listen to us and give us comfort when no one else understands our problems. They are therapeutic and an aid to our Veterans. The killing of our Horses is not natural and, being a Christian, and I understand that not everyone is, I believe that murdering Horses and Burros is so against the laws of God and nature. It would be, for me, almost the same as eating a dog or cat. We in this country are supposed to be civilised. How can we say that we are when people in authority heed the witterings of an unbalanced woman who has an unnatural hatred for Horses. This business, if it comes to fruition, will sound the death knell for millions of our precious equines and it will be on the heads of the descision makers but, on our doorsteps. How can you live with yourselves, Sue Wallis supporters? Time to back off and show some empathy for the Horse who helped settle this great land of ours. It’s not to late to stop this train…
    ***edited by Admin.

  • Pingback: Facilities sought for restoring horse slaughter | Stop Horse Abuse

  • I do not understand why any responsible publication would run an article like this, quoting Sue Wallis and her many untruths. She can’t wait for the slaughter business to start up again and protect the welfare of our horses? Gimme a break! Horse slaughter has gone on at pretty much the same numbers since it was closed down in the US, so what’s the difference other than the fact that Ms. Wallis is not making the money she imagines herself making? As for slaughter being more humane in the US, that is complete baloney. And why does she think all those states that had slaughter plants outlawed slaughter? There is plenty of info online from city, county and state officials who list the horrors of what the slaughter plants did to their areas and how hard they had to work to close them down.

    And completely, and irresponsibly left out of your article is the simple FACT that in the US, horses are not raised for food and are routinely administered drugs like bute and ivermectin, that are banned from food animals. Horse meat is rarely eaten in the US and gets shipped to the EU–the only way it does that is by kill buyers falsifying papers stating that they know the animals are drug residue free. The EU is cracking down on that as you print this article, so there goes the largest part of Ms. Wallis’ market.

    The answer to the unwanted horse issue is to quit over-breeding. Quit the breeder incentives. Quit (like the commenter above) breeding 60-70 horses you don’t need and have no market for. Puppy mills, foal mills, they are the same. And any publication that promotes this type of misinformation is to be chastised. Journalism is for the exposure of truth-not the promotion of misinformation. Shame on you.

  • Sue Willis and United Horsemen have misled the entire country.. They have based their whole campaign on “let’s save the horses from neglect and starvation”. It was a fraud from the beginning. In her own words ( I can’t repost here because of rules, but very easy to find) she has an entire organization ready to roll which is all about making money in every way possible, including breeding horses for slaughter. Her plans are to charge every horse owner to register and chip your horses. then if it stolen or purchased fraudulently for slaughter, the chip is to allow you to BUY your horse back, and ship it, home + reimburse for shipping and vet costs to slaughter.
    Horse owners have been fed and swallowed the whole package of lies, while she fronted for the big money of those that actually stand to make money by not changing their practices to meet a changing & challenging market.
    I hope that every person who has ever owned or admired or loved a horse, will see WAR HORSE, then if as I predict, strongly believe that this noble animal, who has served man/woman for hundreds of years, and still is our companion, and sport partner, and way into another world uninhabitable by machine, should never be cruelly slaughtered for food, they must call their Legislators and insist that they support HB2966 and SB 1176.
    Two more points. Slaughter of horses is never humane. Sedated euthanasia is humane.
    Horses are not cows. I like cows, too, but they do not have the same relationship to us. Cows don’t carry us over fences, or chase other cows with us on their backs, romanticize our neighborhoods like the Derby, or Saddlebrook Ranch, or cause little girls to have a whole collection of them to play with until they are grown up…and sometimes afterward.
    Think about it.

  • It’s clear that the American Public does not want horse slaughter in the US. The GAO had three recommendation, one being completely ban horse slaughter and the transport to slaughter. Stop the overbreeding and adjust to the demands of the economy. As CanAmFam states, a live horse generates more money into the economy than a dead horse.

    I have a question for this publication, do you normally promote selling meat which has not been raised under food safety standards or is Big Ag so unconcerned about food safety? Should we the American public be concerned that Big Ag is supporting cutting corners on food safety? Just another case for eating local and organically.

  • Horse slaughter is wrong. It is wrong in every way possible, it is unethical,morally wrong, financially irresponsible and certainly not viable. It is cruel and vicious, it has never been humane. It will cost the American taxpayer millions to fund inspections, and we are not even talking the violations and environmental pollution that will be created. This too will cost the American taxpayer, financially and environmentally.
    It is an outdated, antiquated cruel industry and frankly I am surprised and disappointed that in the 21st Century we are even reconsidering bringing it back into the US. If it is so economically adventageous then why is Canada not rolling in the green and why is Mexico so poor?
    I notice the pro slaughter advocates ALWAYS fail to address the issue of the horse flesh being contaminated, and you bet your boots it is! I am proud to say you better not eat MY horses, they have consumed BUTE when required and have been wormed and have had Fura -Zone applied topically. The risks to the health and welfare of consumers is enormous…these are carcenogenic substances if consumed, especially to children so Sue Wallis’s attempt (bad pun maybe?? certainly in poor taste to me) to feed this flesh to our children in school programs or prisoners might well run into opposition from all decent Americans. Come on, it is time for us to grow up and become an ethical humane society and stop delving in the dirt. I hope and pray that horse slaughter does NOT become a reality even though there are some advocates literally frothing at the mouth to get it running.

  • I enjoy a ZERO MEAT diet, and believe that the slaughter of horses, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys…etc is a horrible practice without health benefit or social conscience. Meat is dead. Meat is murder. Meat is cruel. What’s next dog and cat slaughter? This trend must be stopped!!

  • All concerned with the slaughter of horses needs to sit down, very quietly, and view “The Misfits” starring Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe and then perhaps see where their position is focused…..

  • I have 7 horses that will all die here,or at my daughters place. First they will LIVE~feed,vaccines,trims,attention,clean water.
    I have raised foals and I am happy to say that all of my foals went to good/great homes. When I did sell they got good homes. I know because I have kept track of them. I do realize that it is not always realistic to be able to do that. I was curious.
    I used to believe that the things Sue Wallis sights as her truth~ where slaughter is concerned. I think times have changed and it is not a solution to the numbers problem!
    My fear is Horse Theft! I fear for my horses,they are well fed and I fear the well fed may be targeted by thieves. Don’t try to tell me that Inspectors are going to alleviate stolen horses from being slaughtered, not all stolen horses
    .I would urge the reading of Kaufman Texas Mayor’s letter to the NY Times.
    I Thank you for the opportunity to speak out,for the information needed to make responsible, informed decisions…..very important.

  • Not to mention the horrible treatment of these horses~shame on me for not including that! any people in the horse industry say they love horses and want slaughter so they do not suffer a horrible death!!! WHAT???? That makes no sense !!!!!!!
    How could you love something and ignore the cruelty!!! it is proven over and over that many,MANY horses that end up slaughtered were still useful productive animals! Shame on Sue Wallis for lying to people about such a serious issue. her agenda is purely financial,it is obvious.
    Thank you once again for the opportunity to express my feelings.

  • The only thing I want to stress is the fact that the pro-slaughter group have fabricated all point they tire to make regarding the cruel, inhumane treatment, and violent death to horses that are bought by killbuyers and shipped to processing plants. The horses are abused in transit, as they drive 100’s of miles without stop for food or water. They are in overcrowded trailers, often not segregated, stallions with mares, mares in foal, and foals in with the stallion. Get the picture yet. Once at the plant, the means of rendering the horse unconscious, in order to kill them are abusive to the extreme. By the fight/flight nature of horses, there is no humane way to kill them. They sense the fear and the death of horses around, as a result their flight defense kicks in and they panic in their attempt to flee. Because of this the stun gun, or bullet to the head at the right angle is impossible, along with the fact that the kill shut is designed for cattle. Hmmmm does a horse look like a cow in size and stature. I think not. All horses, sometime during their life, are given medications that are ban in meat meant for human consumption. There are studies that prove these drugs to be carcinogenic. Drugs like bute will remain in the muscle and bone marrow. To test for this drug is costly and requires more than the regular testing, There is no way to monitor this situation, as there could be numerous owners of one horse, and no paperwork to prove they have never been given the said drugs. Even right now, paperwork was been forged in regards to this issue. These pro slaughter individuals think that they will be able to raise horses, free of all medications, so meat is not tainted. We all know what happens when a horse is not de-wormed on a regular basis, and the de-wormers contain drugs banned in meat for human consumption. Sometime along the line most of these horses will need bute, that is just the medical fact with horses. I stress, for all those out there, that may doubt, PLEASE EDUCATE YOURSELVES. Some of the pro slaughter people/person featured in the article doesn’t even own horses, has never owned a horse, and has very little knowledge of the physiological and psychological nature of the horse. Beware!!!

  • My local MP here in Canada sent me an email saying horse meat is the 3rd ( # THREE) processed meat! Worth 2 BILLION a year as an industry in Canada. So the people like Sue Wallace smell the money that should be kept for those in the united states………MONEY changes everything. Right or wrong it is ALWAYS about the money! The whole slaughter industry needs to be re-vamped. There is nothing healthy about eating STRESSED meat of any kind. There are HUMANE, cruelty free ways of doing this. Support you local small family farms. See how your food is raised & handled. ps….Obama disgusts me…he is really is a puppet for the money people!

  • The thought of restoring horse slaughter in the USA in barbaric! We need to focus rather on getting legislation passed to prevent American horses from the horrific trip down the slaughter pipeline into Mexico & Canada. The whole slaughter concept is shrouded in darkness and deception, seeking to benefit only the already wealthy of this Nation. What is in the horses best interest is to encourage AQHA members to stop over-breeding and saturating the market. Encourage the BLM to manage the wild horse & burro populations rather than removing and zero-ing out wild herds forever. There is no way all the pro-slaughter jargon can convince a logical mind that the restoration of slaughter in the States is a good idea and what’s best for American equines and people.
    Who in their right mind would support processing toxic meat for human consumption or for pets for that matter. Who would support the violent torturous killing process once they know the truth…there are solutions that are supportive, encouraging, and morally correct, let’s support the implementation of them!

  • With the economy 14 TRILLION in debt, where does this or why would this come into play. When I watched one of the Dept of Ag’s one meeting live stream, they stated how food safety is one of their most important concerns and yet, here we have an action that is totally opposite of that. Sue Wallis has stated that she would like to see inmates, homeless and school children fed horse meat and yet it has be stated and documented that certain meds, never leave a horses meat…So with that said, why would this even be considered? Who could with clear conscience want to feed children horse meat..Oh, yes they eat it in Europe and other countries eat dogs and cats. Sad….We ship live horses to Japan, 3 to a crate and they are “wired” together so they cannot move, please tell me where the humanity and compassion is when doing such a thing to a wonderful horse (s), please tell me, there is none. The words often muttered from Sue Wallis is she wants what is best for the horse and in a nut shell it is the Horse Industry that she cares about. Again, it is all about the $$$$, not the horses well being. Very sad, very disturbing…

  • A few things I don’t get about horse slaughter for those that support it:

    1.) If you are a breeder that supports slaughter…are your stallion and mare producing such bad foals that you have to send them to slaughter? If so…why are you still breeding them together? Are you going to advertise that your stallion (or mare)’s foals are slaughter material? Isn’t that going to make your stallion look bad and make less people want to breed to him? Aren’t you working to better the breed not make it worse?…if your horses are having to be slaughtered, then you are obviously saying they aren’t good enough to live.

    2.) If you are a horse owner that supports slaughter…do you realize that you will have to start following a strict protocol every single time you give your horse anything? In Europe all horses must be microchipped by the age of 6 months and have a verified passport. Everything your horse ingests will have to be completely documented! You will have to have your vet give even the most basic medical treatments to prove that your horse has not come in contact with certain banned substances.
    Do you also realize that your horse will be at higher risk for theft? When the horse slaughter plants were open in the US, there were more cases of horse theft in those areas and surrounding areas. Why? Because horse slaughter plants are the easiest places to get rid of a stolen horse. Most plants will not receive the information on a stolen horse before it is processed due to the issues with getting law enforcement to declare a horse stolen. It is estimated that there are currently between 40,000 – 50,000 horses stolen a year (and many are never found again!)…horse slaughter plants will push that number higher. Do you really want to risk your horse being stolen for slaughter?

    3.) If you are a cattle producer that supports slaughter…If horse slaughter exists and becomes a fixture here in the US, what is that going to do to your cattle business? What product do you think it is going to take the place of???? Hello…if horse meat ever becomes widely available and the price per pound drops it is going to sink the beef industry!

    4.) If you are a mayor that supports slaughter in their town…have you talked with the mayor of Kaufman, Texas or any of the other towns that used to have or currently have slaughter plants? Do you really want the massive issues that they had/have…environmental, etc? Oh and forget tax revenues…have you seen the tax papers from those places…$5 in taxes isn’t going to get you very far! Especially when you are paying out the rear to fix the damage that the plants create! Have you ever seen how many are shut down for environmental problems…and haven’t paid the fines they have gotten?

    5.) If you are a company planning to open a horse slaughter plant…do you realize that the only ones open today are owned by foreign companies? Do you realize that they have cornered the market for horse meat sales? You won’t make a dime because you will have to go through one of the companies already present to make your sales!

    6.) If you are a doctor that supports horse slaughter…do you realize that you are putting people at risk for cancer, aplastic anemia, etc?

    7.) If you are a tax payer…do you realize your taxes are now going to pay for horse slaughter plant inspections instead of going to programs that we need in this country???? Do you also realize that the representatives that are pushing slaughter are planning to use horse meat in your child’s school, in nursing homes, etc and that because of the medications used in horses they are putting your child, elderly relative, etc in danger of cancer, aplastic anemia, etc?

    8.) If horse slaughter here in the United States is a cure all for unwanted horses, starvation, neglect, abandonment, etc…why are Canada and several other countries that support slaughter currently having the exact same issues in their countries?

    Just a few things to think about!

  • The following is from a post by Dave Duquette celebrating the possible return of horse slaughter in the US and my response.

    Zorro says:

    November 18, 2011 at 1:25 am

    “The Moran amendment that was on the House bill that was still – that left the riders on the bill — the House version, was stripped off in conference (committee). And, the language has already come out – and – there’s no riders prohibiting the inspection of horse meat,” says Duquette.

    Don’t celebrate just yet. Just because it was stripped out does not mean it is now ok to go ahead. I have spoken to the USDA personally. They are cutting back. They can not afford to fund the inspections they are responsible for now let alone add horse meat to their plate. Especially for foreign markets. The only way Americans will eat horse meat is if they are unaware.

    Here is an article I just finished

    Horse breeding in America…..from a former breeder, and horse seller

    It is the “pro” slaughter peoples contention that there is approximately 100,000 unwanted horses in America each year. And it is the advocates against slaughter that claim if there are any excess horses it is because of over breeding.

    Now it doesn’t take a rocket scientist or advanced mathematics to figure this out but simply a little Google time and a few phone calls. This resolution should address both sides of the coin.

    Here are some of the numbers turned in by associations.

    AQHA: Approx. 130,000 to 160,000 per year

    APHA: Approx. 35,000 per year

    Jockey Club: Approx. 30,000 per year

    Those are some of the more popular horses in the US. Many of the other breeds such as Appaloosa, Arabian, Morgan, Tennessee Walker, Missouri Fox Trotter, Spotted Saddle Horse, American Saddle Bred, Standard Bred, ponies, Belgiums, Clydes, Friesians, Vanners, Rocky Mountain, POA, etc. range from 5000 to 15000 each year. (These numbers reflect horses registered) Although not specifically all “foals” that number works out to be correct when you average out each year.

    This of course does not take into account the “unregistered horses” each year. Take for example the “Jockey Club” Many TB’s are used for racing but many are also bred and used for jumping, dressage, etc. so the numbers are just a starting point.

    Consider this….

    The major players account for approx. 200,000 horses each year. Considering that there are more breeds than one person can count, taking into consideration even 10% of all horses in America never get registered, it would be safe to assume a MINUMUM of 500,000 horses are born in America each year. Realistically the number could be as high as one million but for argument’s sake let’s stick with 500,000.

    If there are 100,000 unwanted horses in the US as the pro slaughter people claim, that would call for a 20% reduction in breeding to alleviate this, only 10% if the number is really one million.

    With all the back yard breeders in the US it is truly impossible to get an accurate count. However pro slaughter factions claim that 100,000 horses need to be slaughtered every year to keep the market going.

    The bit of research I have done I have found out some interesting facts. Prior to the close of slaughter plants the same number of horses were being processed as there are today. I have also found that slaughter has not been stopped at all. Although slaughter plants have closed in the US, the dirty deed has been turned over to foreign markets. Wait…..American horses being shipped off to foreign countries?????

    Ok….having been a breeder (currently own 3 stallions that have not been bred in over 3 years one of which is one of the most magnificent examples of his breed) having gone to these auctions, having been in the business of breeding and selling horses prior to the close of slaughter plants…..I have noticed and heard a few things.

    The most curious of these things is all the complainers. People that use to dabble in the $500 horse have seen those prices dwindle to nothing. People say openly that slaughter is good for the market. It gives us an outlet to dispose of cheap, undesirable horse. Just fatten them up and they are worth $300 to $600. This low end market has been seriously affected and the people who have lost this outlet claim that slaughter will resolve it.

    Some basic economics here.

    I build horse trailers. I am a home owner, I buy and sell used trucks and do some farrier work. I use to train horses, breed, board, buy and sell. When the economy went haywire the first thing I noticed was the price of steel skyrocketing. Next was fuel costs. These two factors caused the horse trailer market to increase costs of all it’s products. When the cost of living goes up, when jobs are cut, when the housing market fell apart, when much of America became unemployed, I changed my game plan. No longer were people spending on trailers, horses, training, etc. Everyone was cutting back. I realized I had to change the way I did things simply in order to survive. Now with all this talk about surplus horses I must scratch my head in amazement. Why then are breeders not cutting back? The home builders stopped building, when cars stopped selling they slowed manufacturing…this is basic survival. You don’t create product in a market that can not support it. So…although I use to be on the other side, my basic common sense has brought me here. It is not a matter of who is right or wrong. It is the first thing they teach in basic economics….”The Law of Supply and Demand!” So with that being said, I will not breed until the market can support additional horses and in the interim I will share my opinion to whoever will listen in hopes of improving the quality of life for the wondrous animals we call our friends and family!

    ~ Z ~

  • It’s all about money, why don’t these people breed cows? They are easier to care for, feed, don’t get sick as easily, the price per pound is a greater return for those wanting to make money. Remember the Chick Filet commercials? The cows had billboards saying, “EAT MORE CHICKEN.” So maybe we should have horses on billboards saying, “EAT MORE COWS.” LOL

  • The restoration of horse slaughter is a long time coming. I have been in the horse industry for over 30 years and have seen the ill-effects shutting down horse slaughter has done to our industry both from an economic stand point and a personal, humane stand point. In 2007 thousands of horses where turned away from the slaughter houses and flooded our market driving prices down for those of us who breed, show, train and truely love our horses this killed us financially. From a personal stand point I have seen more horses abandonded, turned loose to fend for themselves (or get hit by a car killing not only the horse but innocent people). Those horses that are aging, or have other physical/health issues have not been properly cared for. Not all due to the shut down of ’07. A lot of this is just due to the economy in general. People just couldn’t afford the meds/vet care needed to keep these horses comfortable for the duration of thier life and they have suffered greatly because of this. Prior to the shut down people had an avenue to rehome these horses. Now that has just not been an option. Believe me when I say that there is no creature on earth that is more majestic than the horse. But there is a place for slaughter in our industry. Just like, agree with it or not, there is a place for hunting certain animals to keep thier numbers down so they are healthier as a whole. I have personally been to a slaughter house and, yes, it made me sick BUT these animals are not tortured or starved or housed for long periods of time in filth. The time frame from when they arrive to the time they are “put down” is very minimal and it is a quick process. These horses are not tortured.

    And as for the portion of this problem, which is HUGE, the breeders. There was a major shift in the horse market. This has been established. So…..when this happened breeding should have become darn near non-existant!!!! It was OUR resposibility as the “smart” ones to stop unneccessary breeding practices. My personal opinion…..if you don’t have a stallion or mare that are not cleaning it up in the show/competion arenas…..don’t breed them!!!!!! The problem lies in the fact that the responsible breeders, those that truely watch what they are breeding for, cut back dramatically if not shutting down opporations all together. The irresponsible breeders continued to be irresponsible. If you want a baby because it’s cute buy a rabbit, or a dog, or go get a pregnant barn cat and see the whole process in your closet but DO NOT ad to the problem in the horse industry.

    Off my soap box. Gonna have some more coffee and enjoy my 5 days off with my horses.

  • Zorro, you have hit the nail on the head. It’s a shame that more breeders don’t understand basic economics. If there is no demand for your product, you either adapt or go broke. Wallis has given them a way to blame everyone but themselves for a problem they themselves created.

    I hope the market does come back. If the economy doesn’t improve and the unemployment rate stays flat, many people who previously could afford a horse might not ever be able to do so.

  • I really think that Brandi Qualset says it best above!
    We woudl never send our dogs to a slaughter plant, even though it is a delicacy in other countries- why is it that we will do this to our horses that have provided so very much to us over so many, many years? How can humans validate such a cruel and inhumane method for disposal? We train them,. we bond with them and we earn their trust only to turn around and handle them the way they are in slaughter houses. How very, very cruel are humans ??

  • So the states that used to have horse slaughter plants can’t anymore, because the states passed laws making it illegal?

    What does THAT tell you?

    I’m with Zorro. If you can’t feed them .. and as long as the supply outstrips the market demand for new foals … don’t breed them!

    I’m a retired CPA. The way I see it, an economic segment has more than one variable, and breeding (supply) is totally ignored by the folks who would bring a polluting, property- value-cratering horse slaughter plant to a neighborhood near you.

    By now it’s obvious, horse slaughter is all about money. Horse slaughter would be less attractive to the breed and dump contingency if the IRS code had regs to require payback some of that lobbied-for fast depreciation, and recapture lucrative investment tax credits, if an owner “disposes of” a horse too soon. Dusting off my tax professor hat for a moment, the American taxpayers are subsidizing over breeding and slaughter already with fast depreciation for horses, and tax credits, and non profit status for pro slaughter lobbying. We’re paying already WITHOUT the USDA inspections.

    But the tax code is already in place to deal with tax benefits from breed and dump: You can’t take all those tax benefits then “disappear” the horse and not pay something back. How cool is that! How about the IRS sends out field auditors to collect some of those back taxes, plus penalties and interest? There’s no statute of limitations for fraud, they can go back more than 3 years.

    While they’re at it, we ought to be tracking cash payments from kill buyers, audit the tax returns of pro-slaughter owners to see if it’s all reported, nail on fraud penalties if the amounts warrant, deport illegal slaughter plant workers, crack down on those rampant transport violations. Catch the horse thieves selling to slaughter in the underground economy. Follow up on what is really coming back across the border from Mexico in those “empty” horse slaughter trailers.

    Catching the slaughter gang breaking laws is like finding a fly on a manure pit in July.

    The fines will help balance the Federal budget.

    Wait, it gets better. If, and it’s a big if, a slaughter plant opens in the US, we know the horses will have drugs banned from the food supply. Once it’s happening on US soil, that involves the FDA criminal investigating arm.

    I am wondering why these people are so eager to come back to America, where it will be so much easier to catch them breaking all these laws.

  • As a horse owner for over 35 years, I and my horses spent 15 nightmarish years in Dallas, TX with Beltex in Ft. Worth on one side and Dallas Crown in Kaufman on the other. Professional horse thieves were taking horses from places that anyone would have considered safe. Personal friends of mine had their horses stolen, and my horse escaped by a hair’s breadth. That slaughter house in Kaufman was every thing Paula Bacon says it was only worse. How anyone could possibly want to have this back is more than I can understand.

    Sue Wallis is the most egregious liar I have ever seen. This woman is a State Representative in Wyoming. She has promoted pro-slaughter bills there that would directly profit herself. She has done the same thing at the Federal level. Now that slaughter plants can – theoretically – reopen here, she has gone from the “non-profit” United Horsemen to the very much FOR-profit International Equine Business Association – that is, horse slaughter plants. She has lied about slaughter being humane – “humane harvesting” as she calls it. She claims that no horse has ever been injured in a US slaughter plant, “not one.” With hundreds of pictures, videos and FOIA documents from the USDA showing graphic injuries, Sue says “not one.” Incredible!

    The worst thing she has done however, is to convince the agriculture/livestock industries that the anti-horse slaughter movement is made up of non-horse owing Animal Rights radicals who want stopping horse slaughter to be the first step in ending ALL animal agriculture. This lie is as dangerous as it is idiotic. Almost all of us are horse owners, many, like me, eat beef. We are NOT vegans, nor do we pursue ANY agenda other than protecting our horses from being brutally slaughtered and shipped overseas for someone’s dinner. Sue Wallis is the one who does NOT own horses. She knows nothing about horses or those that love them and think of them as companions and partners, not meat on feet.

    She has also tried to convince the public and legislators that there are no toxic substances in horse meat which has been proven to be false, and selling adulterated meat is unlawful here, and everywhere else that I can think of. I cannot understand how she gets away with these lies and conflict-of-interest issues. But then, there are a great many things going on that I cannot understand.

  • I agree with “Zorro” above, further more looking at the poll on the right, it appears that overwhelming majority of Americans are against horse slaughter. So why ist I ask that our Congress supports the 24%, the overwhelming minority? Some of the politicians might find themselves voted out of office! I would like to empasize the ethical side of slaughtering horses. HORSES ARE NOT RAISED AS FOOD ANIMALS IN NORTH AMERICA, THUS THEY ARE FULL OF PROHIBITED SUBSTANCES, IT IS A HUGE LIABILITY TO SELL TAINTED MEET! The other thing I completely detest is all the PHONY, “I LOVE MY HORSE” people who so “love ” their horses yet tthink nothing of sending them to the most horrific death! ……C’mon people slaughtering horses CAN NEVER BE ACOMPLISHED HUMANELY! That’s a fact, just go watch some footage from “Kaufman zone”, the Texas Slaughter plant before it was closed!

  • It is awful the way it is done as it is left to people who will work in those conditions. As a kid, we raised our own animals, the butcher came to us, was very kind and quick. The animals were never stressed as that was important for the meat. Sadly, it is a good answer compared to horses starving slowly and abandoned, but the current method seriously needs to be re-vamped. I suggest a separate place to process than where they are dispatched, and that they are dispatched only by QUALIFIED persons. It is a money making industry, but the horse advocates need to help make it better!

  • Slaughtering horses is not only a horrible thing, but a way of stabbing america in the back. Horses founded this country, without them, we would never have gotten to this point in history. The horses owned this land long before we did. They have a right to live, just as we do. They were meant to carry us from point A to point B, they are meant to be our friends, a loyal companion. To slaughter them is wrong on so many levels. The slaughter of horses should be banned from the US in every state, and people who do not obey that law should be put in jail for major time. Horses dont deserve this. They were never meant to be food, and it should still be that way.

  • Jennifer ~ As you are surely aware, no horses were “turned away” from anything. Our slaughter houses simply relocated to Mexico and Canada and it was business as usual. Even that infamous GAO report that Sue Wallis love to cherry-pick plainly said that we have actually exported slightly more horses to slaughter since the domestic plants were shut down than we did when they were operating. That same report also recommended completely banning horse slaughter and transporting horses across borders for slaughter.

    With just as many horses being slaughtered as ever, how could the non-existent absence of the “slaughter option” possibly influence ANYTHING? It didn’t, of course. IF there indeed has been an increase in neglected and abandoned horses – something that has never been actually documented – it certainly didn’t have anything to do with slaughter one way or the other, proving that slaughter is NOT the answer. Perhaps it was the tanking of the economy. Ya think?

  • “reverse the damage done to the welfare of horses that have been left behind.” So sending sensitive animals who have served humans for years on a nightmarish trip to the deathhouse is somehow good for their “welfare” ?? This is strictly about money, and horse-slaughter is a shameful dumping ground for the excess breeding of horses–again for money. People who really care about horses will fight this forever, don’t get comfortable just yet, Sue.

  • For Jennifer, Krista, and anyone else that has been misled by the myth that slaughter prevents starvation, here is some pertinent information that negates that claim:

    – There has never, ever been a study proving a link between availability of slaughter and reduced equine neglect, including starvation.

    – We’re still sending the same number of American equines to slaughter as when the US plants were open and yet equine neglect has risen. That in itself is the best proof of a non-correlation between the two.

    – Correlation of increasing neglect and abuse of ALL animals, including equines, in periods of economic distress (specifically high unemployment) IS proven. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize we are facing the worst economic circumstances since the great depression today and that adverse animal welfare as a result is an unfortunate side effect.

    – A mere 1% of the American horse population ends up at slaughter every year. That will never be an effective population control method. And global demand for horse meat is on a downward trend, at the rate of -12% on average per year.

    – Record levels of adverse equine neglect are being experienced in countries like Canada and Ireland, who HAVE horse slaughter plants.

    – Availability of horse slaughter increases hoarding, which increases levels of equine neglect. Consider this quote from a state rescue manager:

    “It’s time to ban horse slaughter altogether. It would be at least 1 inhumane practice put to an end. I’ve been in horse rescue for years and I can tell you that the people who let horses starve in their backyards will always do so, selling them to auction is not an option for them BECAUSE of the slaughter threat-heaven forbid you suggest they even cut down. If slaughter were banned, more people would see auction as a viable way to re-home their horses since they don’t have to fear slaughter. For those who would “rather See a horse slaughtered than starved”; you have never in real life seen a horse slaughtered or you wouldn’t say that. At least starving horses can be and are often rescued. I really don’t understand how people think that a starving horse is the result of lack of slaughter when just as many horses are being slaughtered as ever before, if slaughter was the answer to starvation (omg, just saying that is crazy); we wouldn’t be seeing ever increasing #s of starving horses. We’re actually seeing people who can’t afford them “rescue horses from auction” because they might be slaughtered, and then starve in their backyards. So if anything, slaughter has been causing more horses to starve.”

    Slaughter has not worked so far to have any effect on equine neglect, nor is there any reason for us to believe it will, based on hard statistics and experience in the U.S. and elsewhere. The reason people want slaughter has nothing to do with equine welfare. It’s so that irresponsible breeders and owners can continue unfettered breeding and have an outlet to dump their less than perfect horses. Full stop.

  • Sure, let’s just continue supporting foreign businesses who pay nothing in taxes and don’t give a rat’s a$$ about the US. Betraying animals who have done their best to do everything that was asked with a horrific death after who knows how long suffering on trucks and in pens without adequate food, water or vet care for their illnesses and injuries is just an added bonus for Sue Wallis and her friends.

    Slaughter does nothing to reduce horse neglect or abuse just like abortion does nothing to reduce child neglect or abuse. There just isn’t any connection.

  • I personally have 3 horses that Ive saved from the feed lot in Wa. They are wonderful horses my kids 16 and 11 ride them. They will live with us forever..

  • just one comment – CanAmFam is right — there is MORE neglect because people are afraid their horses will end up slaughtered if they sell them or give them away. maybe the first person won’t send them off to Mexico or Canada, but the second or third might. So rather than risk that unacceptable possibility, people will keep a horse they really can’t afford, and also will take in more horses than they can manage. I personally know someone who took in four additional horses because their owner wanted them gone; my friend knew it was either her or the slaughterhouse, so now she is stretched thin, caring for a few too many. We are creating hoarding situations with slaughter and increasing neglect and the potential for neglect. In addition to this, expect an increase in horse theft if there’s a slaughterhouse conveniently located nearby, making it easy to steal a horse and flip it for a few hundred dollars. I know that I would NEVER sell my horse because I would NEVER put him at risk for ending up in a slaughterhouse, just because he was too costly or too injured or too old. I would sell everything I own first. Are there too many horses? If so, breed less! Other than wild mustangs, few, if any, horses are bred and foaled without the direct assistance of humans, who made a conscious choice to bring another equine life into the world. Slaughter as an outlet for irresponsible breeding is just not acceptable.

  • It seems if the coverage of this publication/media outlet is truly unbiased, then why was only Sue Wallis interviewed?

    • Brownfield Ag News contacted the Humane Society of the United States for an interview when doing the November 16 story. (If you read it, you will note that Julie Harker wrote that no one from HSUS had returned her call.) These are news stories, not opinion pieces, written by a journalist, not a biased commentator. If you want to read commentary, read “Cyndi Young’s 2 Cents”, also on this website, or Steve Kopperud’s “Inside D.C.”

  • Anne-Marie, those who are fighting to stop horse slaughter have nothing to gain if slaughter stops and nothing to gain if it keeps going. There is no monitary gain for us. We do it for the love of the horses. But all of those who are fighting to bring it back only do it because they will gain from the draining of blood from horses. Horse slaughter is only about the money that the horse sellers can make off the suffering of horses that go to slaughter. Its all about the money.

    And if you look at Congress and those who support horse slaughter they are doing it also for the money. The Anti-Slaughter groups do not have the money to “donate” to the campaign funds of Congressmen and that is why most do not even stand to listen to our speeches as to why we want their help to save our horses, both wild and pets. We do not have the funds to pay the big time lobbyists like Stenholm to do our bidding. Again its all about the money to get Congress to hear us. Horse slaughter is only about the money. Sad! Sad to see where the human race is going. Is all about the money!

  • To Krista, and others: The pro-horse majority of Americans – who want horse slaughter banned – have no responsibility to make horse slaughter better.

    Telling the majority of Americans – who want horse slaughter banned – to somehow do the impossible – make it better – makes as much sense as telling child advocates they should make a weekend with Jerry Sanduski better for the boys he raped. No. Can. Do.

    Americans – except for a small minority who engage in it – disapprove of pedophelia, and except for a dwindling minority, we don’t support the abuse of horse slaughter.

    The 70% (who support the horse slaughter ban) also have no responsibility to pay for the sins of over-breeders, hoarders and puppy mill style horse breeders like disgraced Thoroughbred breeder Ernie Paragallo, now in prison for starving horses to death while he collected millions on Wall Street as an investment banker, and pocketed a share of the $100,000 per foal stallion service for his horse Unbridled Song, sire of deceased KY Derby 2nd place winner, the filly Eight Belles.

    Does anybody know if the Jockey Club made good on its promise to not pay Paragallo stallion fees if he was convicted of felony horse abuse? He was convicted, and lost his appeal, but I have seen no announcement from the Jockey Club.

    The American public has no duty to make horse slaughter better to serve scum like Paragallo. For one thing, horse slaughter can’t be made better, and for another private Americans have no access to the slaughter plants, auctions or transport vehicles where rampant abuse happens.

    Why on earth would anybody expect to shift the responsibility for horse slaughter to those who oppose it? The slaughter of US horses puts the lives of unborn humans at risk. The slaughter industry is totally lacking in common decency, to horses and people.

    It’s time for all of us to accept the fact that horse slaughter is a failure. It enables abusers like Paragallo to sell the evidence – abused horses – and avoid prosecution, and it enables over-breeding, and using up race horses in a few years, then dumping them and pocketing the tax credits subsidized by the American taxpayers.

    Americans need to work together to pass the Federal ban now, before these brutal plants open on US soil. We don’t have the stomach – or the money – to enable this dirty business any more.

  • “Those facilities that are existing, that are already processing large mammals and that could be relatively, quickly, retrofitted for the unique characteristics of HUMANS.”

    That would be much of a better idea since world population is already above the 7 billion mark. Definitely a surplus of heartless and cruel homo sapiens, which makes it very uneconomical for the progress of man kind and civilization. What is the difference between animal slaughter and a person being raped? I see the use of force against a living being’s right and will to live and breath. If this is permitted and accepted in our society, then we should all stripped down and live in caves instead. Disgusting and despicable.

  • Many times you will see people that believe opening horse slaughter houses in the US will take care of the “unwanted” or “overpopulated” horse situation in the US. However most of the time it is because one is not educated on what horse slaughter is and how abusive it was here in the US. If one takes the time to do the research before falling for the pro horse slaughter camp’s proclaim that having horse slaughter here in the US will solve all of our problems they will find all of the information that has been proven and documented over the last 10 years. Horse slaughter in the US did nothing but increase abuse and fabricate the “unwanted” horse market.

    This statement is true now that there are no horse slaughter houses in America and it was true when there were horse slaughter houses in America. The fact is that many of the kill buyers (slaughter horse buyers) in the US contracted with Mexican and Canadian slaughter houses for years and years before the slaughter houses in the US closed. One killer buyer in particular starts in Colorado with horses on the truck, goes to Amarillo auctions with those horses and leaves Amarillo with those same horses or less or plus some depending on if money can be made off them or not. Then heads up east and does the same collecting horses on his truck and then back to Colorado with some of the same horses he left with. Passing Cavel (horse slaughter house in Illinois while it was in operation) all the way home. Then sorts and loads his truck again and then heads up to Canada with a “load” this after passing by 3 horse slaughter plants in the US. Oh I didn’t make this up he told me so.

    Now try mapping those miles.

    The videos, that pro slaughter say are make believe and part of a scare tactic of the pro horse people are absolutely horrifying and they are real. The people that believe they are not are fools trying to fool themselves. The pro slaughter camp will also tell you that horse slaughter in Mexico is regulated, humane and there is not a damn thing wrong with it. That is the story they will give you when fighting the bills to keep the borders open. On the other hand they will tell you we need horse slaughter here because Mexico is inhumane, so we need horse slaughter here in the US. I can’t tell you which day of the week they will decide one or the other. You can Google horse slaughter Mexico and Canada and see the truth if you really want the truth.

    What I can tell you is that the majority of the American horses (show, sport, companion, stolen from unsuspecting horse owners, etc.) go to EU approved slaughter houses in Mexico and Canada. The EU does have humane laws that the plants have to enforce. According to pro slaughter they do enforce those laws and operation horse slaughter Mexico and Canada are perfectly humane. However if you look into the documentation the reality is, it is as “humane” as it was here in the US. You can see US regulated “humane” horse slaughter at http://www.kaufmanzoning.net but make sure you have the guts to really look. Don’t just say you did and then proclaim it is not that bad because that would make you a liar. The pictures are from the USDA so none of us pro horse people made them up or anything.

    I suggest people wanting to make a statement about opening a slaughter house in the US use their brains and look at the distances and abuse horses travel before they are tortured and butchered alive. There is plenty of information available for you to read. I have yet to see videos from the pro slaughter side videos documenting the wonderful humane transport and slaughter of horses to slaughter plants no matter what country the horses were slaughtered in. As a matter of fact have you looked at those USDA photos yet? Taken at an American horse slaughter plant, in Texas as a matter of fact.

    Horses sent to slaughter from America are based on supply and demand. Google that too then you will see why American horses are slaughtered. “American horse meat is the best horse meat there is” said by a slaughter house owner in Canada, still slaughtering American horses today. They want American horse meat. Yes American horse meat must be very good considering they are mostly sport horses, race horses, pets and friends… Full of disease causing drugs that are prohibited to be used in food animals.

    Another fact is that the real pro horse people are not going away. Yes, us the ones you see working so hard to spare suffering to the American horse. We won’t ever give up, we are here to stay. Our only reward will be to see the American Horse given the dignity and respect they deserve after they have given us everything we stand for. After all where would America be today if it weren’t for the American Horse? War, work, therapy, pleasure. sport. friend, you can google that too.

  • For those sites who are “considering” implementation of a “horse harvesting” facility in your community. A few things that need to be considered in the overall scope of the project.:

    Tax records – when “horse harvesting” was still a practice in the US.- The parent companies of these facilities are foreign owned, as horse meat is not a popular commodity in the US. Tax records posted publicly on the Kaufman Zoning site show an annual tax bill in the neighborhood of FIVE DOLLARS? How is that going to benefit your community, given the COST of maintenance and disposal of the waste products – many of them toxic – from the processing facilities? Additionally, history has PROVEN that stewardship of the land that they operate on is not a primary concern for these companies – not their country, not their problem. Take the money until the community wises up, and then move on. Why do you suppose that the states that USED to house processing facilities no longer want them there?

    Job creation – oh yeah – minimum wage positions – so gruesome that the majority of those who are willing to take the position are desperate, and have no conscience with regard to the welfare or treatment of the animals they are “harvesting”. After all, they’re just a piece of meat – they just happen to be breathing prior to the process they are about to endure.

    Traffic – many large semi trucks – rolling into your neighborhood – waiting their turn to offload their “product” – some of whom will be dead on arrival – Those animals cannot be “harvested” – and usually are piled up in an “undisclosed location” on the property to “compost”. You can look forward to enjoying the fragrance of their decomposing bodies on a warm summer’s evening while you’re grilling you food on the patio. And occasionally, if your dog manages to get out and go for a run, he’ll bring you a “souvenir” from his ramblings… Hopefully, it will just be an unidentifiable bone, and you won’t have to see the horror on your children or guests face when he brings home an identifiable horse part!

    Just a few things to consider before you invite them into your neighborhood ….

  • hi. I am French and never had horse. Last thing most people would have here actually. In my country, we ride horses, we don’t eat them. We love them. So pleaz have respect for those who made history. Horses love children. Horses are sacred. They deserve a decent life. And decent death= veterinary. Thank you for respecting these animals and what they have been doing for centuries.

  • I dont know what to say about all of it. The way we kill aniamals should be humane but its not. Now we want to bring back slaughter houses to kill horses, I never knew that people could or would eat dog/cat/horses. I understand were all different but to what extent are we when we abuse the animals that are our friends/confort and companions? Please think about what you vote on and take a GOOD LOOK AT THE ANIMALS THAT DEPEND ON US FOR SO MUCH.

    Regards,

    Mary Giuliani

  • I’ve been a horse trainer/instructor/college instructor of accredited Equine Management courses, a horse show judge, etc for over 35 years, and here is my opinion on what’s going on:
    ***Paragraph and link removed by admin because it was a personal attack against another person. As stated in a previous message, if you verbally personally attack another person or make a threat against them, you run the risk of having your comment post denied.**

    This is why the real users in this racket, the mass production breeders who don’t have to pay for humane euthanasia and disposal of horse carcasses for their unwanted horses because they simply ship them to slaughter instead, the trainers who start horses too young in heavy, repetitious training as long yearlings/early 2 year olds, the kill buyers, the transporters, the slaughterhouse owners, (and I will not say the people who work in the slaughterhouses because they only get paid minimum wage, if that, often they are illegals and/or felons, so they aren’t making much money at all) are the ONLY people who benefit from horse slaughter, and because its all about money for them, either making money and/or saving money, they will NEVER stop unless they are smacked in the wallet with taxes, fines for going over quotas of numbers of horses being produced and also sent to slaughter (IOW, it should cost them to send a horse or horses to slaughter), fines for abusing (crippling) horses, etc. Right now, its pure profit and/or pure savings of thousands upon thousands of dollars individually, and they get away with it with help from politicians of all kinds and always at the taxpayers expense.

    For this reason, rather than try to appeal to the majority of the population of the United States from an emotional standpoint only, in order to get those folks out there who couldn’t care less whether horses are slaughtered or not, (and there are also the people who couldn’t care less whether every, single last wild horse and burro is captured off the Open Range), we need to appeal to their sense of being taken advantage of as a taxpayer with NO BENEFITS to them at all. In other words, why should any of we taxpayers have to pay anything toward private business entities running their businesses and staying in business? I think it would be wonderful if taxpayers were forced to support and subsidize my private business, but alas, not only will that never happen, but I also possess a conscience, a sense of independence, and yes, empathy regarding the plight of other people (taxpayers) that would not allow me to accept money in order to run my business unless I can do it without help from other people. Not true for so many others who demand and take more and more from we taxpayers, many who can barely feed themselves, let alone support other peoples businesses that they do not benefit from one iota.

    For further info on oxytocin and the empathy gene, all I did was Google those key words and many articles came up on it. I think this is key to our approach in uniting more people to our cause, not just from an emotional standpoint, but also from more of a realistic, “I don’t like to be taken advantage of” standpoint as well.

    **Link referred to below is a link removed by admin – if you want to find it, google it.

    It tells the story of violent crimes (rapes, murders, assaults, robbery, etc) dramatically increasing anywhere near slaughterhouses. Not just the pollution and decrease in property prices are a problem; the violent crimes are a HUGE issue. Not only are individuals put in danger (but because many people are just objects just like a stick of wood to the pro-slaughter extremists, people living near slaughterhouses being in danger from violent crime does not matter to them one bit) from violent crimes, but once again, they have to pay more and more of their tax payer dollars to hire more law enforcement to protect them (and the pro-slaughter nutballs don’t care about this either because that would mean they must feel empathy for these tax payers plight). Both issues created by slaughterhouses being located near towns and cities tie-in with the lack of empathy on our oppositions side. And yes, some people who have no opinion on the subject because they too don’t possess empathy perhaps will care from a tax payer dollars and cents approach and private interest businesses costing them money with no return to them at all (and actually perhaps being detrimental to their safety and perhaps their very lives if a slaughterhouse is located in or near their town, city or county where they live).

    As everyone involved in this issue knows, when the day comes (yes, that day will come) that these users have to pay taxes on and/or are fined for going over a certain set quota of foals produced, and also have to pay by the pound to send horses to slaughter, and are perhaps fined and/or prosecuted for horse abuse, only then will we see any changes in the “business as usual” attitude that we see now; when they have to spend money for disposing of horses instead of being able to get everything for FREE.

    As horse advocates against horse slaughter, but also as American taxpayers, we also need to start a database of pro-slaughter “people” (robots) and organizations who ship horses to slaughter so that WHEN the day comes that lawsuits are brought against the United States for shipping tainted horse meat to foreign countries, only those names that appear in the database will be held legally and monetarily responsible for the illegal shipping of poisonous horse meat, and those of us who oppose horse slaughter will not be targeted for prosecution, fines or jail time. At this point, that would mean that President Obama’s name must be in the database too for signing this Bill. No more passing the buck for these pro-horse slaughter fanatics; they need to be held accountable when the poop hit’s the fan!

    **Another paragraph removed by admin due to direct personal attack against an individual.

    Bottom line is that most pro-horse slaughter extremists are in it for the MONEY, either saving and/or making money, and it is past time for the gravy train of making or saving money to be de-railed once and for all and force these users to go out and get real jobs like the rest of us instead of collecting blood money and forcing us taxpayers to pay their way!

  • BLM has 40,000 wild horses in holding–it’s their harvest. The taxpayers do not want the roundups/warehousing to continue BLM doesn’t care about the public–nothing and no one has stopped them yet. They are on a mission of extinction for profit. The horses (live) are not worth anything to them–they are just a problem. And BLM will solve that problem. You just wait….

  • to Ann Fox:
    Canadian pro-slaughter activists like to pull out the “Horsemeat is the third largest exported meat”. It is a tiny part of the meat industry. The beef, pork and poultry industries are huge then after that everything is small – horse, lamb, veal.
    Pork – $2.7 BILLION – 1.1 MILLION tonnes
    Beef – $1.35 BILLION – 392,859 tonnes
    chicken – 623 MILLION head
    Veal – 255,388 head
    Lamb – 171,042 head
    Horse – 111,236 head , 20,912 tonnes

    The horsemeat business in the large scheme of the meat industry is nothing. As per the horse welfare alliance of canada it is simply an “economically feasible end of life option for horse owners”. The LIVE horse industry is worth about $2 Billion. Horsemeat is a very small portion of that.
    **Link removed. Not that it was offensive, but I earlier stated I would not share links provided by commentors on this story.

  • A dead horse brings nothing to the economy. My horses bring profits to the feed store….and the tack store…and help the farrier and the veterinarian stay in business. They support the local farmer who supplies our hay.

    Horse meat is not safe for human consumption. During their lives horses are regularly given de-wormer and often other drugs that are not intended for use in animals destined for human consumption.

    For those who blame the US ban on horse slaughter for the decrease on horse prices, I would like to point out that housing prices have also plummeted during that same period of time. It makes as much sense to blame the ban on horse slaughter for the decrease in housing prices as it does to make the same comparison regarding horse prices. To borrow a well known phrase…it’s the economy, stupid.

    Horse slaughter is not euthanasia and it is not humane.

    Don’t bring this barbaric practice back to our country…..protect our horses from this horrible fate in other countries. It’s the right thing to do.

  • I just don’t understand it. You breed horses and breed horses (AQHA and thoroughbred breeders I’m talking to YOU) and then wring your hands because you have horses who have no place to go. Of course, there are some breeders who are responsible, albeit a smalll amount. So you have a horse who is sick, or you just cannot afford anymore. What to do? The ONLY reason to send that horse to slaughter is GREED. Pure and simple. Let’s make the last buck off of him/ her that we can. You cannot EVER give a moral reason for sending your horse to slaughter. Period. A moral, caring and responsible human would HUMANELY euthanize the horse. Humane euthanasia is an INTRAVENOUS INJECTION folks! Not being laoded onto a trailer, scared, possibly hurt and DEFINITELY confused to be sent to a place where all you hear are the screams and whinnies of your kind and the smell of blood and offal all around you, knowing that this is your fate too. This is outrageous that Americans are even considering a return of horse slaughter and Canada and Mexico should bow their heads in shame that they allow this to happen in their country. Ashamed to be an American!!!!

  • Let’s be honest here. The most humane way for anybody’s horse to be put down is at home, with owner by their side, quietly assisted by the veterinarian they know and trust, if at all possible. If a horse is healthy of course, it should have a chance at a home with someone who can afford to feed and care for it well, whether it is being ridden or not, a horse has a lot to offer. They are wonderful companions, depend on us to care for them and to see to it that they are not stunned with a bolt, hung upside down and cut to bleed out while still alive. Do slaughter houses give them a pain killer or sedative to ease their fear or pain? No. Given a choice, how many people would choose that kind of death for their horse? With that end in mind, should we not ban all horse transport for slaughter, and get these disgusting horse processing plants shut down so we are not feeding foreigners highly toxic horse meat from an animal that was not bred or raised for human consumption? Do we want to become a country that raises horses for the meat market to stimulate the economy of a foreign-owned slaughter house? In this case, are we encouraging the increase of horse theft so opportunists can conveniently rob us of part of our family for a quick buck, since the slaughter house will be readily available for a quick kill, while the owner has no recourse and no way to protect their own animals? Are you aware there are no laws protecting the horse from inhumane slaughter, and no definition of what is humane slaughter for a horse? As pet and companion, do horses deserve to have any rights? Do horse owners have any rights? How can we protect those horses we love from such an indescribable and inhumane death if per chance they fall into the wrong hands (thievery, sale to deceptive home (ignoring first right of refusal), death of owner, etc.?) As responsible horse owners, we must realize when there is a problem, adapt and resolve this before taking the easy way out, turning our cheek and sending them away to slaughter, pretending that they are humanely put down without trauma, fear and pain. If someone cannot afford to put their horse down, they need to step up and ask for help. It is available. There are far too many options before it comes down to inhumane slaughter.

    Let’s not make this about a business of making money off horse meat, please!

  • Don’t be fooled, there’s NOTHING humane about Horse Slaughter. This is what uninformed people or those that simply don’t care about more animals suffering (as long as money is involved) are supporting:

    As awfully horrific as horse slaughter actually is, the untold suffering many horses go through from point of sale to slaughter is astounding: At the point at which the Kill Buyer owns the horse that is loaded on a large *crowded* tractor semi trailer, his biggest expense is fuel for the truck not food (or water) for the horses; which often are injured by the time they arrive at their first US feedlot stop many hours later. Regardless of whether the horses are being hauled to a slaughter plant in the United States or across International borders to Canada and Mexico, many laws are commonly broken with each load of horses:

    1)Regardless of country horses are slaughtered in, DOT and USDA Laws are often broken by driving too many hours. CDL drivers hauling slaughter bound animals too long without resting themselves have caused serious highway accidents, maiming/killing people and animals they are hauling.

    2)Regardless of country horses are slaughtered in, drivers do not provide horses rest, food and water at required intervals that are set forth in the Transport to Slaughter Act because places to unload may be miles and miles from the main transport to slaughter routes (and they cost MONEY and TIME). So
    they simply are not part of the “transport to slaughter process” for the majority of horses traveling hundreds of miles in crowded trailers (year around) for anywhere from 12, 16, 24, 30 or more hours without food, water or rest before their slaughter. This common practice violates United States “Transport to Slaughter” laws because the laws are not enforced.

    Also it is not possible for state patrol people check Coggins papers against a crowded load of loose horses in a transport trailer where there is no place to unload them.. These are just some of the violated laws.
    Since laws are not enforced, Animals that are supposed to be protected suffer *before* the horrific death with the act of slaughter itself, regardless of the country where the horse is slaughtered.

    Whether the slaughter house is in the United States of America, Canada or Mexico: intentionally the captive bolt, nor 22, nor knives are used to kill the horse. The heart MUST be pumping in order to pump the blood out of the horse that is hung upside down prior to slaughter. The problem with using captive bolt, 22, or knives in horse slaughter is that unlike with other species of livestock, often several attempts (multiple strikes) are required to render the horse unconscious, resulting in immense suffering of each horse prior to slaughter. This is not only due to the anatomy of the horse’s skull and long neck, but also the natural animal behavior including (flight instinct) in a horse. When a horse is in this extreme fear state, not only does he have explosive strength; but his head continually moves with a range of motion during the multiple captive bolt, 22, or knife strike attempts used to render him unconscious. As many as 4 minutes have been documented that the horse was conscious during and after these injuries. Film has also evidenced a horse on its side, still flailing in the kill box; after regaining consciousness after the injury and horrific pain of a captive bolt or 22 it had already experienced. Once the chains are applied to the back legs of the horse on its side in the kill box, and the horse’s throat is slit: the horse then goes down the production line (now unconscious) hanging upside by its hind legs, behind the horses he saw and heard screaming before him as he smelled their blood before his own death experience. There is NO humane horse slaughter, nor was there when it was legal in the US for the purpose of human consumption. No designs or processes have changed.

    On top of that, for a visual, put fly spray, wormer, bute, tranquilizer or other chemicals banned for use in animals for human consumption on a dinner plate. That is what is in tainted horse meat being shipped off to foreign countries and eaten off of their dinner plates by virtue of what the horse has been exposed to in its life~***unlike other slaughter livestock intended for human consumption from point of birth***. It is important to understand that only a minute percentage** of the >100,000 annually slaughtered American horses, mules and donkeys (equines) have *not been exposed to these chemicals (some are BANNED for use in food animals, while others have a 6 month residual period by law). The Phrase “From Stable to Table in Seven Days” says it all. If slaughter were to be legalized in US for human consumption, those poisons still are there, except more tainted meat might possibly stay in the US, instead of ship to European countries.. In some pro slaughter circles, reportedly it has been suggested that our school children eat it (if it were to be legalized for human consumption in the United States).

    Just like the environmentally dangerous act of dumping tankers of slaughter house blood onto soils and into water tables, disposal is simply disposal. But it is *not* a solution to a bigger problem nor are events leading up to slaughter and the slaughter act itself of unwanted living breathing horses people have given away, sold cheaply or dumped at an auction a solution for poor choices and horse management by those in the horse industry~regardless of the country it occurs in. What about USDA inspections? Well currently, just as with law enforcement, there are holes and complacency with regard to enforcing USDA regulations and enforcing prosecution for USDA violations to begin with. Even if there were no USDA violations, a huge problem remains because: what do you then do with a large percentage of >100,000 horses per year that end up in the slaughter pipeline, that also have chemicals in their bodies that are BANNED for use in animals for human consumption? Lastly, Humane Euthanasia is Sedated Euthanasia (as many including myself have sought out and experienced) with their beloved companion animals. Even in this “throw away” society, they would not think of putting a beloved animal into the slaughter pipeline. There IS NO HUMANE horse slaughter. These statements are not based on supposition, but derived from fact and extensive documentation surrounding this issue. The information that backs these statements is available in FOIA, USDA documents as well as DOT and other public information sources.

    On and above that, many from the public sector, as well as experts are not comfortable with others (regardless of the country) eating meat tainted with chemicals that cause health problems including cancer. Chemical warfare itself is designed on that very premise and therefore morally there are repercussions for a nation to knowingly ship off tainted meat intended for others to eat, regardless of whether or not we choose to eat it. You can’t change these any of those things by slaughtering horses inside our US borders!!!!!!!!

    Lastly: The humanity that a society has can be seen in how it treats its animals; its actions show the potential for cruelty or mercy on its very people.

  • I am a horse trainer. The slaughter industry is not good for the horse industry. It creates an artificial bottom value for horses that has nothing to do with training, veterinary care, farriery, etc. The breeder who invests in the future of his horses by providing these services can not compete with the breeder who does not, who does not have to because he can always sell them for meat if nobody else buys them. Why then support the trainers? The farriers? All the tack dealers? The vets? Support the professionals that surround the horse industry — vote no on horses for meat!
    Amy in TX

  • weel we dont need to change slaughter houses to fit the needs to butcher horses because no one wants them to be killed how would we lik it if we were taken out of homes and killed then eaten we wouldnt k\like it so why do we do it to animals because wre in hume and some people just dont give a crap and the president wont listen to us but we wont give up and som might take it into their own hands
    THIS IS REDICULOUS WE NEED TO END HORSE SLAUGHTER ITS NOT RIGHT TO DO THIS

  • Stolen horses don’t go to slaughter at least that is what the folks at Horse Grooming Supplies forum say. One poor lady is fearing the plant that they want to open in MO which is too close for her comfort.
    Go ahead and battle with them, they attacked her just for being scared for her horses.

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