I had a long conversation with our local brand
inspector on this topic. I wanted to know what conditions were for the
auctioned horses. In our area, a lot of horses are sold at auction,
including many horses from off the Navajo and Ute reservations in
Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico, and also from local ranchers and
other horse owners, that go through the auction barn in
Cortez, CO. I've seen the condition of these horses - some are fine, but
often more than half are half-starved, lame, in very
poor condition. The ones in poor condition are
usually headed for slaughter. There are horse buyers in the auction
house every week, buying for the slaughter houses. When hay prices are
high, and drought conditions exist so there's less grazing, more horses and more
cattle show up at auction, for obvious reasons.
When poor people can no longer afford to buy
expensive hay, the horses (and cattle, sheep, goats, etc.) will suffer. It
is a fact of life. I would much prefer a humane slaughter process than a
dwindling decline, into death, of any animal. Yes, you can argue, well if
you can't afford to properly care for an animal, don't buy it.
Unfortunately, there are plenty of people who can't afford their animals,
but they have them anyway.
Here's the problem -- if people cannot auction
their animals, they will abandon them. This was the opinion of the brand
inspector, and also mine. If the horse buyers at auctions, can't send
horses to slaughter, they won't buy them. Horses will be simply abandoned
in some cases.
BTW, I just read in our paper that our brand
inspector (Joe Stevenson) has been nominated by his peers as Brand
Inspector of the Year for 2006 in Colorado. He's a good man, and is very
knowledgeable of the industry - from all sides.
slaughter is just as humane for horses as it is
for chickens, goats, sheep, beef, and just about any other food source....much
better than just watching them starve to death...Cora
