Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

BTW if anyone wants a copy, I have the Animal Welfare Council, Inc. paper on the THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF A BAN ON THE HUMANE SLAUGHTER (PROCESSING) OF HORSES IN THE UNITED STATES.

 

Email me privately.

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From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Smith, Dave
Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2007 12:22 PM
To: ridecamp
Subject: [RC] Horse Slaughter

“And to paraphrase something I said before, the HORSE does not care, once he is dead, if the person eating him is local or foreign, any more than he cares if the person is rich or poor, or if the critter is even a person.  The focus here needs to be on the HORSE, and the best solution for the HORSE would be if Congress grew enough backbone to tell the anti-slaughter zealots what really happens as a result of their efforts and then encouraged the opening of small and relatively local plants to eliminate the parts of the process that are truly inhumane.”

 

 

Heidi, while there are times I disagree with your point of view, this is not one of them.  I think it clear that most of those on this website who oppose humane horse slaughter/processing operations do so with good intentions. However, by now, the unintended consequences of the slaughter ban must be obvious to all – more horse suffering, not less.  As far as Congress growing a backbone and buck this ill-advised ban, you probably can write that off.  To our legislators, this was never about doing what is right by our horses.  Otherwise, they would have listened to just about every breed and veterinarian association in the land who took a strong stance against the ban for the very reasons that are now becoming so painfully clear.  But the issue to our legislators was about reelection votes – particularly votes from non-horsemen living in big cities who will not have to deal with or even witness the consequences of their feel-good opposition to humane slaughter. And there is a heck of a lot more votes coming from that sector than from those of us who keep horses that eventually will, each and every one of them, grow old and feeble and have to be put down.   --Dave