hossingaround

I'm curious what people here think about the proposal of anti-horse slaughtering legislation. There are people who think it is always wrong to slaughter horses for human consumption and several foreign-owned slaughterhouses were closed already. There are those who are against the legislation claiming it would cause more problems due to no recourse for those who can't afford or don't want their horses anymore.

Link to story: http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/arti...ection=Opinion

sallyanna

My take is this. I can't say that horses should not be used for consumption. I eat beef, which to other cultures is taboo. Same goes for pork. So it wouldn't be a stretch to say that some cultures eat horse. Some eat dog too.

Slaughter for unwanted horses though, I don't like that. I don't like killing for anything other than food. I feel the same for unwanted cats and dogs too.
I have no solutions for the unwanted horses, except to not buy them if you can't afford it to begin with.

MorganManiac

While I don't like the idea of horses being slaughtered for any reason, I can see why it's done. As a previous poster mentioned, just because we don't eat horse meat doesn't mean it's bad. As a kid, I grew up with animals being raised just to end up in the freezer. Gram raised chickens, pigs and cows and helped pretty much the whole family with meat. Horses are the same in other cultures.

Adelaide

Agreed and I am glad to see sense has prevailed here. Ultimately no matter how much you love a horse, it is still an animal and no different than a cow or sheep or pig, or other animal of consumption.

As a meat eater I don't feel qualified to make those kinds of judgements.

purplefdu

I don't like slaughtering anything, even for food. I am not a vegetarian but I do try and purchase meat from brands that don't grossly mistreat their animals before slaughter. So long as the animal is quickly dispatched and feels no pain its ok with me. However in the raising, transporting and slaughter of many animals there is gross neglect and abuse. I also agree there needs to be something to do with the thousands of horses every year that people breed and never sell or simply can't take care of after getting free/cheap. Whether that be slaughter for meat or simple slaughter for burial is something that law makers can argue. But outlawing slaughter in the US can caused horses to be shipped further in worse conditions than ever before so something needs to be done about it. Having the FDA oversee and regulate this process seems like the best option for now.