Finger licking good? It’s not exactly the thought that comes to mind when most people think of the noble horse which has fought bravely in battle, carried humans through storms, along dangerous mountain passes, helped herd cattle and proudly served humans as well as dogs have.
All this seems to be lost on Savannah’s Jack Kingston (Georgia State Representative) who told news media that he understood how people formed an emotional attachment to horses, just as in India they viewed the cow as sacred, but that reopening slaughter houses in the US would ultimately help protect horses from abuse and provide needed jobs and revenue to the US.
Many more horse rescues in Georgia approved the move of President Obama to reopen horse slaughter houses in the US stating that they have seen more horses abandoned and left to starve since the slaughter houses were closed in 2006.
They argued that horses were shipped to Mexico and Canada where they were still slaughtered, but that the US was unable to regulate the slaughter houses there and reasoned the horses must be treated more cruelly outside the US than they would be in the US and that shipping them to slaughter houses in the US would be less stressful than shipping them over the border.
Little mention was made of increasing penalties toward those who abused horses or making humane euthanasia and burial/disposal affordable.
As someone who had to put down a horse recently due to a medical condition, I can say that it runs about $200 to humanely put a horse to death and another $250 to have a hole dug on the property to bury the horse, so for many who cannot afford to feed and care for horses, this added cost is not an option.
Still, we asked people how they would feel if dog slaughter was made legal and dog meat sat alongside chicken and beef in the supermarket and most of them cringed and thought this was barbaric.
As a horse owner and horse lover, I feel the same way when people mention slaughtering horses for meat.
There are a few horses I would not really mind seeing go to slaughter or at least put to death. These beasts are usually dangerous and mean spirited or dull witted and unwilling to work even when treated kindly, and are more likely to injure and kill humans or do serious harm to their fellow horsese, but the vast majority of the horses I have worked with were noble beasts, magnificent, loyal, intelligent and willing to do anything in their power to make their owners happy. These creatures are not deserving of a bolt in the head and being hung from a hook while still alive to have their throats slit to become food for someone in an Asian country, where, as Jack Kingston said, people are less emotionally attached to where or in this case, what, their meat comes from.
The issue of horse slaughter also brings up another question that plagues cities and suburban areas where horses are viewed as livestock, not companion animals.
Chatham County in Savannah has gone on a witch hunt of late, forcing those with long term small farms, that have had neighborhoods and multi-housing units built up around them, to give up their animals, from horses to donkeys, pigs and chickens, even rabbits!
The county claims these animals are “farm” animals and do not belong on small acreage where people live nearby, even if the animals are well cared for, the manure kept picked up and the animals are no more disruptive than a barking dog or a blue jay family.
Mention horse slaughter to horse owners and you will discover that many are for it and many are not and each can react violently when confronted by the other side.
While there is evidence to support the pros and cons of slaughter and humane euthanasia and horse rescues cannot save all the horses that owners can no longer care for, especially older horses and horses with nonrehabilitative injuries, disease or behavioral issue; slaughter does not address the problem of over breeding, poor training, natural disasters, rising cost of feed and hay, and financial hardships. These issues can lead to poor living conditions for horses and allowing slaughter will not totally eliminate the situation.
One must use caution when placing horses in the category of livestock and farm animals while forgetting that the horse serves us as well as any dog and that all animals can be loving and loyal and are deserving of our love and respect in return.
If in doubt of the value of the horse to the human psyche, just look at the growing use of horses in the treatment of post traumatic stress, autism, learning disorders and the pysically disabled, who all seem to respond positively to riding and caring programs that help make them more aware of their actions and how a change in their behavior affects the way the horse responds to them.
In any event, those who put horses in the same lot with cows have obviously never read their Bibles. The only animals, repeatedly mentioned as living in heaven are horses. God’s army does not ride against the demons on cows, nor do they run in with dogs, they ride in on horses.
While the horse may have been replaced by the automobile as a means of transport, we should still not fall into the trap of seeing the horse as a commodity to be used as we please. That is, afterall, the reason why so many horses end up in slaughter houses to begin with and allowing slaughter does not ease the problem it only encourages people to continue to abuse the situation and see the horse as an expendable commodity, not a human companion as valuable as the dog.
For all those horse owners who provide good homes to horses, who allow older horses to live a long and dignified life of retirement, who use non severely injured horses as companion animals rather than put them to death or abandon them to die of starvation; thank you!
To those who would send horses off to slaughter with the excuse that they are just animals and have no emotions, no feelings, no attachments to the humans who raised them – go visit a slaughter house and watch the horses being taken in and killed and then come back and let us know if you still think it is a good thing for humans or for horses.
