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Both young and older horses can end up slaughtered for
human consumption. |
Most Americans are shocked to learn that horses are slaughtered for foreign food exports.
In the fall of 2006, federal legislation to permanently stop horse slaughter, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, passed the U.S. House of Representatives, in a landslide, bipartisan vote of 263-146. In September 2005, the Senate passed a funding limitation amendment to ban horse slaughter by a 69-28 margin, and in April 2007, the Senate Commerce Committee passed S. 311 by a 15-7 vote.
All three foreign-owned slaughter plants in the United States have been stopped from slaughtering horses, but the horse slaughter industry continues to haul American horses to slaughter in Mexico and Canada. Our horses are forced to endure an agonizing transport, and once they arrive at the slaughter plant, they are stabbed to death or suffer multiple gun shots to the head.
In order to stop the suffering experienced by horses and put an end to slaughter practices that most Americans abhor, efforts are underway this Congress to pass this legislation (S. 311/H.R. 503) which would establish a permanent ban on horse slaughter. Opponents of the bill are trying to confuse the issue by the untenable argument that the slaughter industry somehow benefits horses.
Myth: A ban could result in "unregulated shipment of horses to slaughter" and horses being shipped longer distances to slaughter.
Fact: Untrue. The passage of The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act will prohibit the slaughter of horses for human consumption, as well as the trade and transport of horseflesh and live horses intended for human consumption. This legislation will terminate any legal option for sending American horses to slaughter within the United States and over the border.
Myth: There has been an increase in the number of abandoned and unwanted horses in the United States, and a slaughter ban will lead to an increase in horse abuse and starvation or neglect cases.
Fact: There is no evidence to support these claims.
The vast majority of horses that currently wind up at slaughterhouses are in good condition (92.3 percent according to the USDA Guidelines for Handling and Transporting Equines to Slaughter) and will not be neglected or abandoned.
The remaining 7 to 8 percent who may need rescue will either be placed at one of the more than 400 horse rescue and sanctuary facilities in the United States or will simply be humanely euthanized.
Market forces dictate horse slaughter—not the number of “unwanted horses.” Further proof of this is found in the fact that at least 5,000 horses have been imported into one of the three foreign-owned slaughter plants in the United States for slaughter since August 2004.
Furthermore, a ban on horse slaughter will not lead to an increase in horse abuse and neglect. In California, where horse slaughter was banned in 1998, there has been no corresponding rise in cruelty and neglect cases either, though horse theft dropped 34 percent after the ban. Allowing one's horse to starve is not an option—state anti-cruelty laws prohibit such neglect.
Most horses that go to slaughter are not unwanted, but rather wind up in the hands of killer buyers by happenstance. Horse abandonment and abuse is a sad reality whether or not slaughter is an available option—there is no causal connection between the two issues. High hay prices, drought, poor economic conditions and owner education are all driving forces for horse abuse. Continuing horse slaughter—a form of horse abuse in itself—does not alleviate these problems.
Myth: Transport guidelines protect horses during shipping process.
Fact: The 2002 guidelines allow horses to be shipped for more than 24 hours without food, water or rest, with injured limbs, with eyes missing, even heavily pregnant.
Industry pushed to delay the prohibition on use of double-decker trucks until Dec. 7, 2006. The regulations, as interpreted by USDA, only cover the final journey to the slaughterhouse. If horses are loaded and unloaded at various places as part of their route to slaughter, only the final leg of the trip is covered. Enforcement of these guidelines will only occur once the truck reaches the slaughter plant, so the guidelines have little preventative effect.
These guidelines are wholly inadequate and allow extreme suffering in transport to continue.
Myth: Horse slaughter is a form of humane euthanasia.
Fact: Horse slaughter is a far cry from humane euthanasia.
"Euthanasia" means a gentle, painless death provided in order to prevent suffering. Horse slaughter is a death fraught with terror, pain, and suffering. Horses are shipped for more than 24 hours at a time in crowded double-decker cattle trucks without food, water, or rest. Pregnant mares, foals, injured horses, and even blind horses must endure the journey.
Once they arrive, their suffering intensifies—undercover footage obtained by The Humane Society of the United States demonstrates that fully conscious horses are shackled and hoisted by the rear leg and have their throats slit. Because horses are skittish by nature, it is particularly difficult to align them correctly and ensure the captive bolt stun gun renders them unconscious.
Unwanted horses should be humanely euthanized by a licensed veterinarian when no other option exists, rather than placed on a truck, cruelly transported, and then butchered. Most horse owners already use humane euthanasia for their older or ill horses.
Even though the states have shut their plants, our horses are still being subjected to intense suffering and abuse though transport and slaughter over the border. Undercover footage shows live horses being dragged, whipped, and crammed into trucks in 110 degrees on their way to a horrific form of slaughter in Mexico and Canada. These horses are stabbed multiple times in the neck with a "puntilla knife" to sever their spinal cords. This procedure does not render the horse unconscious, and is not a stunning method. Rather, it paralyzes the horse, leaving him/her twitching on the ground, unable to move or breathe, and then they die from suffocation (because their lungs stop working) or from blood loss during dismemberment.
Myth: If horses can no longer be slaughtered, their welfare is at risk due to the lack of adequate equine rescue facilities and uniform standards for them.
Fact: Standards of care have already been developed and embraced by the hundreds of equine rescue and retirement facilities that exist throughout the country that routinely rescue horses from slaughter.
All must comply with state and local animal welfare statutes. In an effort to end the slaughter of racehorses, the New York Racing Association has partnered with other groups to launch the "Ferdinand Fee" to raise funds for the care of retired racehorses, and to honor Ferdinand, a former Kentucky Derby winner who went to slaughter. The organizations leading the charge in favor of a slaughter ban are the very organizations that are actively working to provide sanctuaries and solutions for any horses that would otherwise go to slaughter.
Myth: If a slaughter ban is passed, the federal government will face the financial burden of care for horses no longer going to slaughter.
Fact: This assertion rests on the false premise that all horses currently going to slaughter would become the financial responsibility of the federal government.
Horse owners, not the government, will remain responsible for the care of their horses. Owners who no longer wish to keep their horses and who cannot sell or place their horses in a new home will have the option of humane euthanasia. The average cost for veterinarian-administered euthanasia and carcass disposal—approximately $225, the cost of one month's care—is simply a part of responsible horse ownership.
Myth: Ending horse slaughter will cause environmental harm.
Fact: Approximately 950,000 horses die annually and are safely disposed of by means other than slaughter, and the infrastructure can absorb an increase in numbers.
Conversely, the operation of the horse slaughterhouses in the United States had a very real negative environmental impact- two out of the three were in violation of current environmental law related to the disposal of blood and other waste materials. Prior to its closure, Mayor Paula Bacon of Kaufman, Texas—the home of one of the three formerly-operating horse slaughter plants in the United States—desperately stated "Dallas-Crown is operating in violation of a multitude of local laws pertaining to waste management, air quality and other environmental concerns...Residents are also fed up with the situation. Long-established neighbors living adjacent to the plant cannot open their windows or run air conditioners without enduring the most horrific stench."
Myth: A prohibition on horse slaughter creates a negative precedent for beef, pork and poultry producers by legitimizing efforts to end consumption of food derived from any animal.
Fact: Americans don't eat horses, and unlike other animals, we don't breed them for human consumption.
Additionally, horses are different from cattle (and other animals specifically bred, sold, and transported for human consumption) due to their instinctive flight response in stressful conditions, making it difficult to accurately stun them prior to slaughter. Undercover footage has demonstrated that many horses are dismembered while fully conscious, underscoring the need to ban this utterly inhumane process. The American public overwhelming supports a ban on horse slaughter—horses have a special place in our heritage and they are beloved companions to millions today.
Myth: There has been no formal public discussion on this issue.
Fact: For years, legislation that would prohibit horse slaughter has been under consideration in the Senate.
The U.S. House of Representatives witnessed thoughtful and substantial public floor debate on this issue which led to passage of a permanent ban on horse slaughter by a landslide bipartisan vote (263-146). Further, there has been extensive media coverage on this issue by newspapers and television networks nationwide including CNN, The L.A. Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, and many others. Final enactment of a ban on horse slaughter—and the export of horses for slaughter over the border—is past due.
Myth: Zoos will be prevented from feeding their big cats an adequate diet.
Fact: Zoos will still be able to legally feed horse meat to their big cats, as the bill will only ban the domestic slaughter of horses for human consumption.
However, there is a growing trend to feed a beef-based diet to captive big cats. Several USDA-licensed facilities that keep big cats like lions and tigers have switched to such diets because it is a healthier alternative for these species. Horses are routinely treated with many drugs that are prohibited for use in animals raised for food.
Updated Dec 11, 2007.
