Re: [RC] was slaughter update - The numbers problem.. - Ibiteraaarr
Unfortunately, there is very little one can do to
enforce morality when non exists, as we are seeing in the Malaysian abuse
report. Another huge issue that was here in the states was the atrocities at the
Stone Quarter Horse ranch, where neighbors submitted pictures to the authorities
of the emaciated animals and the carcasses that were strewn across the pasture.
If I remember correctly, it proved to be very difficult to have any sort of
action brought against Ms. Stone. It is also very easy for almost anyone to
acquire a horse, including the ignorant, given the price range varies so
much.
This still all seems to me to be but a peripheral issue
of the real problem. Am I the only one that thinks the REASON we have so many
throw-away animals has to do with the PEOPLE who are producing them? How
many horses are churned out every year for the various industries so that they
can find their one or two prospective champions?
I did read that article from the slaughter page, and
looked at all the lovely graphs and charts that claim that only 1% of the equine
population ends up going to slaughter. But according to just the handful of
people on this list who actually DO rescue work, it seems like even that 1% puts
a tremendous strain on the limited resources available to handle the animals
that would otherwise end up in the chutes of a plant. So we're back to where we
started? How exactly should the horse community go about addressing the
issue of reducing the number of animals that have uncertain futures? I have my
doubts that "horse people", (and I use that term loosely), who's animals are a
means to an end would embrace any sort of limitation on the animals they crank
out for the sake of the horse's benefit. If they were the sort of people who
viewed these animals as more then just an implement for profit, then maybe we
wouldn't be in this perdicament.
