Volume 1 No. 4           The New Groveland Graphic serving Groveland, Mascotte/Green Swamp Area

date:  December 30, 2011 new releases every two weeks

Horse slaughter - bring it on

Back in November, Congress lifted a 5-year ban on funding horse meat inspections.
Will there be horse slaughter as a result?
We certainly hope so.
Horse slaughter in this country was effectively banned in 2006 when Congress passed the ban on funding inspections. The slaughterhouses closed in 2007.
Since that time horse abandonment and abuse in this country has increased by 60 per cent or more and, with the economic collapse of 2008, reports of horses being left on huge ranches and national parks have increased beyond reported numbers.
According to some animal activists, the slaughter process is messy and inhumane. But consider this: horses that would previously have been slaughtered in this country are now being sent to Canada and Mexico for slaughter. So even if slaughter conditions in Canada and Mexico are idyllic (seems unlikely), the horses have the added stress of what in many cases will be a really, really long road trip. What's more, the total number of horses slaughtered FROM this country each year is right now just about the same as it was before the slaughterhouses here shut their doors.
The American public and the American government cannot regulate how horses are slaughtered in another country, or how horses are cared for while waiting to be slaughtered. We can only do that in this country.
So now lets see.
Horses are still being slaughtered. Shutting the slaughterhouses down has caused to lose control over the way the horses are put down, and are cared for while waiting to be put down. Because so many American horses are being hauled in Mexico and Canada to slaughter, we have less control over ho they are hauled. We have lost American jobs, and we have lost American companies.
Lets look at the whole picture.
Activists shut down the PMU (pregnant mare urine) industry and the horse slaughter industry. Those same activists did nothing to help fund the horse rescue facilities.
We're not talking about those specialty rescue organizations that concentrated on adopting out (and in some cases, selling) colts and fillies from the PMU industry, or the organizations whose highest priority was stopping the slaughter. We're talking rescue facilities that have run for ten years or more, and take a broad approach to horse rescue.
The horse-lovers who stopped the slaughter and took aim on the PMU industry need to donate to their local rescue facility. They need to get the horse associations to set up funds for the rescue facilities. They need to lobby Congress to create grants to aid the horse rescue facilities.
Or maybe they could do what at least one local horse rescuer has done: go without shelter, electricity and, on occasion, food, in order to save the horses.
Is horse slaughter an ideal?
Of course not. But right now, in America, it is the only way to go.
During World War II we had no choice but to eat horse meat. There was no fussing then, so why now. To those who are against horse slaughter, we say either adopt a horse, donate money, lobby for grants grants or shut up.
In the meantime, go ahead and slaughter away.