Re: [RC] One of Americas dirty little secrets - Heidi Smith
>With slaughter they have to be
transported alive and then killed. With rendering they are already
dead from some reason and used for dog food or jell-o or car tires or all the
other things they use horse bone, cartilage etc. for. I have only eaten
horse once while in Europe and was unaware of the flesh i was eating and found
it somewhat unsettling. But the cultures are different and there they eat
them. What i find hard to fathom is that the majority of the flesh comes
from a place that does not condone eating it. Second, i would find a more
humane way to kill them than a 4" spike into the head and sliting their throat
to bleed before they lose consciousness.
<snip>
>This is a very touchy subject and i would hope that
rational thought and sensibility would outweigh the emotions that can
evolve. tom sites
Yes, Tom, this IS a very touchy subject, and I agree that rational thought
and sensibility need to prevail. Let's look at this from another vantage
point. First, the way they are killed--it is called a captive bolt, and it
is the same way cattle are killed for slaughter. And no, their throats are
not slit before they lose consciousness--just like with a gunshot,
unconsciousness (in fact, death) is instantaneous. The throat is slit
within seconds because the heart beats by reflex a few times after death to the
brain, and those heartbeats can be utilized to pump the blood out of the body
more quickly. That's why the throat is slit. But the horse does not
suffer if this is done properly. I can't vouch for the big outfits, but
I've been on the kill floor in a small plant, and it was efficient, humane,
and as peaceful as euthanasia.
Second, yes, let's look at transport. In and
of itself, transport is not inhumane. What IS inhumane is loading a bunch
of strange horses on big trucks, all jammed in together, and then crossing a
dozen states to reach a kill plant. This did not used to be the situation,
when there used to be small plants in many areas. With the small plants,
owners could actually make appointments on kill day, and bring the horse right
to the plant in his own trailer, and he would be through the chute and to the
kill floor within 10 to 15 minutes of arrival. No mixing with strange
horses, no lengthy transport. And it is the bunching of strange horses and
the violations of transport regulations that are inhumane. It has been the
people against slaughter who have increased the inhumanity of it--they have
forced the closure of the small local plants where the main indignities did not
have to happen in order to get there.
Third, have you considered the fate of unwanted
horses if there was NOT slaughter as an alternative? Go around with a
veterinarian or a humane officer sometime and see how much unwanted animals
suffer in life. A captive bolt to the brain is far more humane than death
by starvation, or by dehydration, or by painful crippling debility. At
least with slaughter, a fair number of unwanted horses meet their end before
they reach such a state.
While I share your abhorrence of eating horse meat,
I'm glad that you point out that this is a cultural thing. Realistically,
I don't think we can ever stop the breeding of horses that are not useful as
riding horses, nor can we legislate morality with regard to taking care of
companions who are no longer suitable due to injury or age. Look at the
millions of dogs and cats that go through shelters and end up being euthanized
in this country. Given the size of the carcasses and the difficulty of
disposing of large carcasses that have been killed with chemicals (and hence are
inedible--and no, Tom, rendered carcasses cannot go for dog food, either, and
rendering cannot even begin to handle the volume if all of the unwanted horses
were euthanized), slaughter is often the most humane alternative to dealing with
the unwanted. I don't like it, but I like the alternative even less--which
is to have them stand around and suffer.
I do not think that it is appropriate for
organizations to take a stand on such a volatile issue. Those who would do
away with slaughter altogether simply do not realize the magnitude of the
problem of unwanted horses. Where effort needs to be spent is in making
sure that regulations are met with regard to holding and transport, and that the
process is carried out properly so that it IS humane. And the last thing
we need is legislation to drive the entire process out of the country. At
least if it is done here, we HAVE the ability to regulate it. If it goes
across the line to Mexico, we have no input into the process at all. Much
has already been driven to Canada--and that makes me uncomfortable enough,
although I do think that our Canadian neighbors share more of our own standards
with regard to being humane than do our Mexican neighbors--just my impression
given the equine sporting events that go on in the two countries.
"Abolishing" slaughter here just sweeps it under the rug--it will still go on,
but just not where we can see it, and not where we can have any say in how it is
done. That is the part where the anti-slaughter lobbyists have on
rose-colored glasses, IMO.
