 |
Re: [RC] The Old Way (was: Spanish Mustangs) - k s swigartFrom: "Terry Banister" <ebeyrider@xxxxxxxxxxx> And horses are not being killed humanely anymore, and the urbanization of America is not going to let things go back to the old days of a humane local slaughterhouse in every town, or even in every state. We cannot go backward. This argument simply does not hold any water. I live in (sub)urban downtown Fullerton, and I can, tomorrow (not today and certainly not just yesterday) call up Brea Meats and they will send somebody to my house to kill my pig, my goat, my chicken, my cow or whatever, haul it off in their refrigerated truck and render it into meat for me. I can even deliver to them the carcass of the deer or elk or bear or...whatever I shot while out hunting and they will render that into meat for me. But I can't call them and have them do the same for my horse (at least, they cannot legally). I can call the vet and have the vet kill my horse (or even kill my horse myself) and call the horse meat render to haul it off in their non-refrigerated truck and render it into fertilizer for themselves. The difference here has absolutely nothing to do with how the animal is treated, how it is killed, where it is killed, whether it is killed or even who it is killed by. The only difference is that a commercial butcher is not allowed to render a dead horse into horse meat because there is a dumb law against it. And this law has nothing to do with the humane treatment of live horses but rather everything to do with what is done with the carcass when it was dead. And it was passed because foolish, unthinking, and ignorant people were grossed out by the idea of anybody or anything eating horse meat and never thought beyond the idea of "Eeeewwwww." Personally, I would prefer that my dead horse were rendered into dog food than into fertilizer (and it is both more economical and more environmentally friendly to do so), but I am not given that option because there is a law against it. Oh yeah...and it consequently turns vets into butchers as well. If I could call the guy from Brea Meats to put down my horse, then my vet (who DIDN'T go to vet school because he wanted to professionally kill animals) would be spared that unpleasant task. "We cannot slaughter horses anymore because the drive to the slaughterhouse is too long now," simply has no validity. I can, even in the middle of almost totally urbanized Southern California, call the slaughterhouse to come to ME....just so long as the animal I want slaughtered isn't a horse. And I am willing to bet that ten years from now, Brea Meats will still be there, and they will still send a man to my house to turn my pet goat into dinner if I want him to. If not, it won't be because of urbanization, it will be because somebody passed a dumb law abouts goats too. Calling the "knackers" to come to you is the "old way" and yes it would be really great if we could go "back" to that old way for our horses. It certainly would be far more humane than the way horses are treated now and far more humane than what any of the "anti-slaughter" people are proposing for the future. It is pretty pathetic that goats, pigs, and cows have more humane options for end of life than a horse does. More noble purpose for what is done with their carcass as well. kat Orange County, Calif. :) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
|