Horse Slaughter in the U.S. - A Crying Shame

There is much to be said about horse slaughter, and many on the World Wide Web who are saying it. While there are no groups or entities that come right out and state that they are in favor of it, many major organizations and associations seem to believe that it is a "necessary evil". Take the American Horse Council, for example. While telling their members that they work very hard to see to the best interests of the horse industry, they actively pass weak, meaningless guidelines (NOT laws) regarding transport of horses to slaughter. Since these guidelines have been passed, horses continue to be transported in double decker trailers (a practice the AHC has no problem with, apparently), and offenders continue to receive just a slap on the hand for their continued cruelty to animals.

The slaughter process in a nutshell:
Avoiding being as graphic as we could be here, this is what slaughter entails:

Horses are bashed in the head, sometimes repeatedly, in order to stun them so that they will fall down and lie still for the 'process'. The stun is not intended to kill them, and it does not, unfortunately. Once down, the horses are caught by the hind leg and hoisted into the air, where they are dangled down a line to an individual who slits their throat causing them to bleed to death.

Texas is the "horse-kill" capitol of the United States. There are two slaughterhouses here, Dallas Crown in Kauffman, and Bel-Tex in Ft Worth.

Slaughterhouses promote their grisly business with slogans such as "Eat and Drink American" and "The Best Color for a Horse is Fat", these foreign-owned slaughterhouses kill thousands of horses each year. Supplied by greed, these plants operate in secrecy. Although many people know of their existence, most of the general public does not. Both Bel-Tex and Dallas Crown flaunt the laws of our State, openly and without excuse.

A "Summit for the Unwanted Horse" was held in Washington, DC on April 19, 2005, at the annual meeting of the American Horse Council. The American Association of Equine Practitioners announced that it would continue its opposition to the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, during it's Annual Meeting. The American Veterinary Medical Association recently announced that its executive board approved of it actively pursuing the defeat of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, because of the potential for the bill to negatively affect horse welfare. The AVMA is the org that has donated (or is donating) $5,000.00 to an organization called the, "Horse Welfare Coalition". USESR asks, "The whose welfare coalition????"

How much money do these super-intelligent, college-degreed Veterinarians think they make off of a slaughtered horse?

We all know that money makes the world go around and that in any given industry, money is at the center of it. The nonprofit field is no different. Without your generous donations, USESR would not be able to adequately care for equine in our care. 99.5% of equine accepted into the USESR program, wind up costing us money that no fundraisers or adoption fees can recuperate. Without the Valvoline Corporation's generous $800.00 donation for Misty's West Nile Virus, we would have been forced to put this sweet little mare down.
USESR volunteers saved Misty, a young, completely unhandled filly, from certain slaughter through a trip to the auction. She had no registration papers, nothing but a big negative (being unhandled) on her side, and her pretty coat color, which was solid. Misty generated over $1,000.00 for some lucky veterinarian. How much could any vet have made off of her if she had been slaughtered? So, what are these big Veterinary organizations thinking?

They are thinking that there are too many horses. The overpopulation problem is a horrible, nasty myth that absolutely cannot be proven using national statistics over any three year period in the past 12 years. On the other hand, the opposite - that there is no overpopulation problem, is easily proven statistically, by anyone having the interest to go look at it. Slaughter statistics and equine population growth are no longer big mysteries. Both are available online in various places. The overpopulation myth is something we rescuers have been shooting ourselves in the foot with since we first heard it and it sounded logical. The only way a rescuer can believe that there is an overpopulation problem is he or she refuses to consider the actual historical statistics and insists on basing their belief purely on what they see in their own little corner of the world. USESR volunteers have spoken to actual heads of rescue organizations who are not against slaughter at all. They firmly believe in the overpopulation problem and refuse to consider any numerical statistics. One pro-slaughter head of a rescue I spoke with was also a breeder and was in favor of slaughter because it held the prices of the foals up. She refused to consider the simple law of supply and demand. Granted, this was her livelihood and she needed the money, but it's blood money!

So, the AVMA and the AAEP are both in favor of killing off their patients? Do you think your veterinarian is aware of this? What would you do if every Veterinarian in your area either refused to tell you how they felt (meaning they are in favor of it but do not want to lose you as a client because of it), or they told you they were pro-slaughter? As a rescuer, could you, would you, continue taking your rescued equine there? How many miles can you afford to drive in an emergency situation? Should your veterinarian be located in the next county?

Does your Veterinarian know that the AVMA has pledged or donated $5,000.00 for the purpose of preserving horse slaughter for human consumption? Have you thought of starting a letter-writing campaign to all the Veterinarians in your county and outside counties?

And, the reason the AVMA is against the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act is because it will/may "potentially" have a "negative affect" on "horse welfare". Picturing a horse being bashed about the head and shoulders repeatedly, then being strung up by one hind leg, then having its' throat slit and it's skin peeled off while it is yet bleeding to death, does not sound harmonious to "welfare" or "positive" in USESR's official opinion!

This supposed, Horse "Welfare" Coalition must be off their rockers if they think they are helping any horses by dooming them to slaughter and the horrors associated with transport for those purposes. "Dense" is a word that describes their way of thinking. Their web site says that horses that go to slaughter (they dare not call it slaughter; instead, they call it a "processing facility") because they are old, sick, dangerous, broken down, or their owners are no longer able to care for them. Yes, USESR supposes that the horse that the Equine Protection Network reported on at the New Holland sales auction would have gone to slaughter because her owners could no longer care for her. She was brought to the auction bandaged from hoof to stifle. All the bandaging wasn't enough to stop the heavy flow of blood from her injury. Her owners dared not take her into the sale ring, so they arranged for a killer-buyer to put her on his truck in the morning. As they made their clandestine plans for this poor, suffering horse, her blood pooled on the ground under the trailer she stood suffering and dying in. A veterinarian at the auction pronounced her sound to transport to slaughter. Can you believe it???? Those involved decided the horse would be loaded on the slaughter truck the next day, but when they arrived to load her, she had died...alone and in pain. No, those owners probably could not have persuaded a vet to give them credit and allow them to make payments. They did not stop in at any of the four vet clinics that were open during the hours they drove past them on their way to New Holland, though.

As for the Horse Welfare Coalation's opinions and beliefs, Vivian Farrel of The Voice For Horses, says this:
"They call themselves The Horse Welfare Coalition and their website is called www.commonhorsesense.com. This is one of the worst cases of a "wolf in sheep's clothing" I have ever seen."

Warning! The following paragraphs contain graphic descriptions of slaughterhouse working conditions

The following excerpts are from the book, "Slaughterhouse" by Gail A. Eisnitz, Prometheus Books, New York, 1997:
Quote from a slaughterhouse worker: "You move so fast, you don't have time to wait till a horse bleeds out. You skin him as he bleeds. Sometimes a horse's nose is down in the blood, blowing bubbles, and he suffocates."
The emotional toll on workers: "I've taken out my job pressure on the animals, on my wife,... and on myself, with heavy drinking...with an animal who pisses you off, you don't just kill it. You ... blow the windpipe, make it drown in its own blood, split its nose... I would cut its eye out... and this hog would just scream. One time I... sliced off the end of a hog's nose. The hog went crazy, so I took a handful of salt brine and ground it into his nose. Now that hog really went nuts..."

Safety: Workers operate sharp instruments standing on a floor slippery with blood and gore, surrounded by conscious animals kicking for their lives, and pressed by a speeding slaughter line. 36 percent incur injuries. Workers who get disabled and those who complain about working conditions are fired and frequently replaced with undocumented aliens. "The conditions are very dangerous, and workers aren't well trained for the machinery. One machine has a whirring blade that catches people in it. Workers lose fingers. One woman's breast got caught in it and was torn off. Another's shirt got caught and her face was dragged into it."
Slaughterhouse is available from FARM (P.O. Box 30654, Bethesda, MD 20824), and many bookstores.

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