Horse Slaughter

[guest@endurance.net]

PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO GUEST@ENDURANCE.NET!!!
You must post replies to the actual sender listed below.

From: Antoinette Bartee 
Email: broknbel@ntws.net

I have been following the recent thread regarding horse slaughter and have observed some very interesting comments that I would like to address.
First of all, this is a touchy subject because of the passion involved in the issue.  Most people are simply unaware of the process of horses being slaughtered, and they also believe that horses are used for dog food. This is unfortunately not true.
Many people have their own opinions on changing the laws to different degrees, including improving transport laws, ect. to make the process "more humane". I am no differnt - I feel very passionately about this issue and can think of no way to make slaughter humane (my favorite suggestion includes the one where the person who slits their throats must apologize to each horse before he slits their throat).  
Actually, there is a slaughter mailing list for people who wish to discuss the issue, but passions runing high as they naturally do, everyone seems to have made each other mad, so hardly anyone is taking part in discussions right now. And while RideCamp isn't really the forum for this topic, horse slaughter does affect every horse-owner in one way or another.
I would specifically like to address Diane's post in the following way, because she did bring up some good points:

"Everyone is whining about the fact that these horses are getting sent to
slaughter because they are old, lame or the owner just doesn't want them."

It isn't just the old, lame, and unwanted.  It is the young, healthy, gentle and sound horses, too. Not all owners realize that the nice man who just bought their horse (cheap because they needed it to sell quickly) is taking their beloved pet straight to slaughter.

"So if this bothers you so much, why aren't you at the auctions buying these
horses and bringing them home.  Probably for the same reason that the previous
owner sent them there...they can't afford it."

Everyone can afford to save or help save the horses if they care to. There are tons of horse rescues availale who always need donations and are grateful for donations of any size.

"Because horse meat is not accepted in our culture, that doesn't mean that it
is wrong.  Look at India, they won't eat cows -- they are sacred.  How many of
us had beef to eat in the last week?"

How many of us specifically eat India's sacred cows? And considering the culture, how does everyone think Indians who tortured, butchered, and shippped the country's own sacred cows to the U.S. for us to eat would be viewed in their native country?  When in Rhome, do as the Romans do, but don't go to Spain and do as the Romans do, or you may find yourself very unpopular.
And since several persons who live outside of the U.S. subscribe to this list, I would like to make the point that we all use wormers, vaccines, pain killers, fly sprays, etc. here and each product is labeled "not for use on animals intended for human consumption", but when someone eats a pet that is not ever under any circumstances, raised or bred for human consumption, this is a danger that they face.
I'm not trying to start a fire here, I just thought Diane's comments were too good to pass up, and Diane, I mean that in a good way, as a compliment.
Thanks for reading,
Antoinette Bartee
H.O.R.S.E.S. in Texas
www.geocities.com/Heartland/Village/8590/