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BETRAYING OUR EQUINE ALLY
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Horse sanctuaries and rescue organizations provide
care for horses who have suffered from abuse or neglect. Many are
able to be adopted to loving homes for the remainder of their lives
with veterinary treatment and care.
(Stephanie
Shain)
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Horses have served humans throughout history, carrying us on their
backs, tilling our fields, drawing wagons and carriages, enriching our
lives as friends and companions. In the United States, horses have never
been raised for human consumption, yet American horses are being killed so
their meat can satisfy the palates of overseas diners in countries such as
Italy, France, Belgium and Japan. Show horses, racehorses, foals born as a
“byproduct” of the Premarin© industry (a female hormone replacement drug),
wild horses and family horses all fall prey to this detestable foreign
industry.
The horsemeat trade is hidden from most Americans and the industry
wants to keep it that way. Warren Smith, operations manager of a Canadian
horse slaughterhouse, was quoted in the Edmonton Journal (3/10/01):
“Talking about horses is kind of a scary thing, especially in the West,
where people think it’s more of a pet than protein. When anybody starts
writing about horses, everybody gets up in arms. Every time we say
anything about horse in the paper, there’s always an uproar, so I don’t
want to talk about it.”
Most horses who end up being slaughtered are brought in by
killer-buyers who serve as middlemen for the slaughterhouses.
Killer-buyers readily purchase as many horses as possible at livestock
auctions around the country and haul them to the plants to be butchered.
Many horses are sold at auction by irresponsible owners seeking an easy
means to dispose of animals they no longer want. Others, however, are
consigned by caring owners who simply have no idea of the fate awaiting
the animals.
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Horses played a vital role in the history of the
United States both as a means of transportation and assistance on
the family farm. Today, they continue to serve us and our lives are
enriched greatly by them.
(USDA)
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Additionally, hundreds —perhaps
thousands—of horses are stolen each year. Horse thieves make quick money
by unloading illegally obtained horses to killer-buyers and
slaughterhouses. Slaughterhouses typically kill and process horses within
24 hours, making it impossible to trace and recover animals in time.
ILLEGALLY ACQUIRED HORSES
Judy Taylor of Kentucky sought help in caring for her two beloved
Appaloosa horses, Poco and PJ, due to her own serious health problems. At
the recommendation of a friend, she contacted Lisa and Jeff Burgess. The
couple agreed to take care of the animals with the understanding that, if
they were unable to continue doing so, the horses were to be returned to
Judy. Despite this agreement, within seven days of receiving the horses,
the Burgesses sold them to a known killer-buyer for $1,000. Soon after,
Judy discovered what had happened and frantically searched for her
fraudulently acquired horses.
Eventually she learned the horrifying truth—her
horses had been slaughtered for their meat. Successful charges were
brought against the Burgesses. The Kentucky Court of Appeals noted “the
Burgesses’ conduct clearly rises to the level of being outrageous and
intolerable in that it offends generally accepted standards of decency and
morality, certainly a situation in which the recitation of the facts to an
average member of the community would arouse his resentment against the
actor, and lead him to exclaim, ‘Outrageous!’”
WILD HORSES SLATED FOR SLAUGHTER
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The wild stallion, Cloud, subject of two popular
PBS specials and companion books, is at risk of round-up and
slaughter because of recent legislative changes to the 1971 Wild
Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.
(Ginger
Kathrens/Taurus Productions)
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In the 1950s Velma Johnston, better known as “Wild Horse Annie,”
revulsed by the cruelty she witnessed at horse roundups and during
transport, began a campaign to protect wild horses from this butchery. Her
work culminated in the passage of The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros
Act in 1971 that stated in part, “It is the policy of Congress that
wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture,
branding, harassment, or death....”
A recent backdoor Congressional amendment, engineered by Senator Conrad
Burns (R –MT),
gutted this law. Now, the Bureau of Land Management, the agency
responsible for protecting wild horses, must sell “excess” horses (those
10 years of age or older or not adopted after three tries) at livestock
auctions. As a result, thousands of wild horses will be removed from their
range and sold for slaughter.
A BRUTAL DEATH
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The transportation, handling and slaughter process
are rife with cruelty. Failure to properly stun animals at the
slaughter plant results in horses being shackled and dismembered
while still conscious. Slaughter is not humane euthanasia.
(Gail Eisnitz/HFA)
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Currently, three foreign-owned slaughterhouses in the United States are
killing horses for human consumption. They are Beltex Corporation in Ft.
Worth, Texas; Dallas Crown in Kaufman, Texas and Cavel International in
DeKalb, Illinois. According to the US Department of Agriculture over
100,000
horses were slaughtered in 2006.
In addition to the horses killed in the three US-based plants, thousands
more are transported under deplorable conditions across our borders into
Canada and Mexico to be slaughtered.
Conditions of transport are appalling. Horses are typically hauled for
more than 24 hours without rest, water or food in trailers that provide
little protection from weather extremes. They are often forced onto
cattle trailers with ceilings so low they injure their
heads. Many horses —sick,
lame, pregnant or blind—are in distress even before being loaded.
Once at the slaughterhouse, the suffering continues unabated. Horses
are left for long periods in tightly packed trailers, subjected to further
extremes of heat and cold. In hot weather, thirst is acute. Downed animals
are unable to rise. All the horses are moved off forcibly when it’s time
to unload. Callous workers, using fiberglass rods or electric prods, poke
and beat the horses’ faces, necks, backs and legs as they are shoved
through the facility and into the kill box.
Subject to extreme overcrowding, abuse, deafening sounds and the smell
of blood, the horses become more and more desperate, exhibiting fear
typical of “flight” behavior—pacing
in prance-like movements with their ears pinned back against their heads
and eyes wide open.
Despite the federal mandate that horses be rendered unconscious before
having their throats slit, repeated blows with captive bolt pistols are
often necessary to stun the animals. Terrified horses writhe in the
holding stalls (known as the “kill box”), legs buckling under their weight
after each traumatic, misguided and ineffective blow to their heads.
Death, the final betrayal of these noble animals, is protracted and
excruciating.
You can make a difference
Many of the horses sold into slaughter have been abused and neglected.
Be sure to report all instances of cruelty to your local animal control
office and law enforcement office.
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Therapeutic riding programs benefit children and
horses.
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Please report stolen horses to local and state authorities. The
Internet has numerous websites for reporting and looking for stolen
horses. These sites allow individuals around the country to share
information and photos.
Do not sell your horse at an auction; many of the horses at auctions
are bought by killer-buyers. Consider the following options:
- donating your horse to an equine rescue organization; making
arrangements with a retirement farm;
- donating, selling or leasing your horse to a therapeutic
riding program;
- selling the horse privately to an individual with proper
references and a detailed agreement that the horse will never be
sold to slaughter.
- Even humane euthanasia by a licensed veterinarian is
preferable to cruel transport and slaughter.
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Please write the Secretary of
Interior opposing the Bureau of Land Management’s overzealous wild
horse round-up policy. Thousands of wild horses continue to be
removed from their traditional range, and now many of them will be
slated for slaughter. Write to:
Secretary of the Interior
US Department of Interior
1849 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20240
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