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RE: [RC] Reality bites - heidi

Time for a reality check. 
 
Yes, indeed, the US has exported horse meat.  Um, that's what those "foreign business people" did that you objected to so much.  Except many of them weren't foreign.
 
And yes, indeed, horse meat has historically been on plates in the US--granted, not as a major meat source, but it has been there.  It has even been sold in grocery stores in some parts of the country.
 
And a further reality check--when there were local plants, batching and transporting was minimal.  So no, it wasn't slaughter that caused the batching and transport--it was the closing of the local plants.  Get that one straight, at least, even if you want to rewrite US history to suit your own agenda.
 
I hope that someday you have the "privilege" of seeing in person what happens to horses when the options become limited.  Then come back and tell me how people will simply wait until it is the horse's "time to die," when slaughter is not an option.  Well, yeah, in a way you've got that one right--but I for one have a problem with watching horses starve, watching horses turned out to winter with inadequate care, watching horses suffer due to dental problems and chronic illnesses that are not addressed, etc.  THAT, Ms. Bannister, in the final summation, is the real consequence of your rose-colored-glasses agenda.  And it is inhumane.
 
Enough said.
 
Heidi


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: [RC]   Reality bites
From: Terry Banister <ebeyrider@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, August 23, 2007 11:27 pm
To: <heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: ridecamp <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

                          WHY is it ok if this country exports beef and not ok if it exports horsemeat?
 
My goodness, the U.S. never has exported horsemeat or dogmeat or catmeat or . . . That has always been the standard of this country. I did not create this "double" standard.

                      It isn't the slaughter that is the issue--it is indeed the batching and transport. 
 
That is correct. And the sheer quantity of horses that were being dumped at auction were causing the need for batching and transport already. THAT is why the legislation was pushed. And the REALITY is, the horse owners/breeders who are/were using the convenience of the slaughterhouses and want them reinstated, are unfortunately FAR OUTNUMBERED by the rest of the horseowners along with the rest of the non-horseowning population of  USA who have not and never will use a slaughterhouse . . . and do not want those facilities anywhere within a 100 miles of their homes.  
 
                        abhor the suffering that goes on because people have run out of options
 
They wouldn't need those options if they didn't have too many horses for their financial situation in the first place  
 
 
                          why is it ok to feed him to your dog or give the meat away. . .
 
It goes to the reason why the horse would be killed. Good chance people are only going to kill a horse if it is ready to die, and would not kill their horse to feed it to th e dog otherwise if they aren't getting money for it.   
 
 
                             THE HORSE DOES NOT CARE WHO EATS HIM!
 
But the people who raised them, loved them and only euthanized them if necessary . . . DO CARE. It is just a matter of RESPECT. Again, the standard of this country when it comes to eating horses, dogs and cats has been set in history. That has not changed. The fact that the majority of the population (whether horse owner or not) does not want foreign countries to take our horses and eat them just comes down to a very non-economical term ~ RESPECT
 
                            abhor the suffering that goes on because people have run out of options
 
It is inte resting that pro-slaughter people say they care about the horses' welfare, but aren't focused on the fact that the legislation just did not go far enough and further work is needed to police the illegal transporting and to find other solutions. Rather, they only want to go backward and put things back the way they were because they are the ones who were using the slaughterhouses. But Things were already bad for horses sent to auction and ultimately, slaughterhouses. The nation is increasingly urban. There is no way the zillions of excess horses that are created by our mobile lifestyles would not end up being batched and transported badly. Pro-slaughter advocates are self-serving in motivation, and trying to make it sound like it is all for the benefit of the Horse. THINGS WERE ALREADY BAD.
 
 
 

> Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2007 19:17:06 -0700
> From: heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: RE: [RC] Reality bites
> To: ebeyrider@xxxxxxxxxxx
> CC: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> > "So, it is ok if we export beef to foreign countries, but not if we export horsemeat?"
> >
> > Yes, that is correct. Shipping for petfood is not financially profitable to be worthwhile to that industry. However, it is highly profitable to the foreign-owned businesses that are reselling it for human consumption. So the legislation is worded that horses are not to be transported and slaughtered for the purpose of human consumption. Farming horsemeat for human consumption is not a legitimate business in the United States.
>
> This is exactly the kind of double standard that drives me buggy. I didn't say a thing about "farming horsemeat"--and as I already pointed out, that is not a profitable business anyway, since horses are not efficient feed converters. WHY is it ok if this country exports beef and not ok if it exports horsemeat? You didn't address the question, although I'll give you full marks for admitting that you have a double standard.
> > > "And as long as you ensure the humanity of the horse's death"
> >
> > That is exactly the point: No one has been ensuring the sentenced horses' humane treatment during the long ordeal from being dumped down the auction laundry chute through the transport and storage prior to the final moment.
>
> But you MISS the point. It isn't the slaughter that is the issue--it is indeed the batching and transport. AND THE DIRECT CAUSE OF THAT HAS BEEN THE ANTI-SLAUGHTER LOBBY!
>
> > ". . . unethical choice of leaving a perfectly good carcass out for the coyotes"
> >
> > There is no law that says a carcass cannot be cut up and fed to dogs or other animals. There is no law that says an individual cannot give horsemeat away for such purpose. It is just not legal to make a business of slaughtering horses for human consumption.
>
> Again, a double standard. The average horse owner does not have the means of doing this. Why is it WRONG for a commercial enter prise to perform this function, if it is ok to do it at all?? And again, THE HORSE DOES NOT CARE WHO EATS HIM! So why is it ok to feed him to your dog or give the meat away, but not ok to sell it to your neighbor, be it your neighbor down the road, or your neighbor in Belgium?
>
> > "dollars encourage a marginal owner to end the horse's life while he is still healthy . . ."
> >
> > Exactly. And there is much of this. Some people abhor the waste of the innocent horses' lives because of human mismanagement.
>
> Well, I, for one, abhor the suffering that goes on because people have run out of options. So you think it is ok, then, for people to leave horses to suffer, just because they are innocent? I think that is a terrible price to have to pay for innocence.
>
> > "opening of small and relatively local plants to eliminate the parts of the process that are truly inhumane".
> >
> > Or any other method that would accomplish the same thing!
> > Amen.
>
> Good--I hope you are writing your congressman to STOP the anti-slaughter nonsense, and pointing out that local plants are a part of the solution.
>
> Heidi


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