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Horse Slaughter for Human Consumption Now Legal Thanks to President Obama

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by Allyson Koerner November 29, 2011
Categories: Animals, Causes
Tags: , .
Photo: Flickr/Squeezyboy

If you’re ready to add horse to your eating habits, then you’re in luck thanks to President Obama who has legalized horse slaughter for human consumption, Technorati has reported.

Once again, restrictions on horse slaughter plants and horse meat processing have been lifted in the United States.

The House of Representatives and the United States Senate approved the Conference Committee report on spending bill H2112, which funds the United States Department of Agriculture, on November 18. Before the Thanksgiving holiday, President Obama signed this law allowing Americans to kill and eat horses.

This “little” old law makes Mr. Obama’s pardoning of two turkeys seem laughable. The turkey story was reported on every media station possible, while the approval of horse killings seemed to be swept under the rug.

Previously, the slaughtering of horses was prohibited in the United States, because the finances needed for inspections of horses in transit and at slaughter houses wasn’t there. This all meant horse meat could not be sold for eating.

The House and the Senate maintained two different versions of the bill, with the House retaining the de-funding language, while the Senate’s did not. Even more so, the conference committee in charge of unifying the two versions decided not to and now look at the result.

According to Wyoming state representative Sue Wallis, and her pro-slaughter group, anywhere between 120,000 and 200,000 horses will be killed for consumption per year. In addition, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Georgia and Missouri are all opting to open slaughter plants!

Even though 70 percent of Americans oppose horse slaughter, President Obama signed this bill. He even made a campaign promise to permanently ban horse slaughter and the export of horses for human consumption.

Now it is the taxpayers’ duty to aid in this animal cruelty. What do you think of President Obama approving this new law?

About Allyson Koerner

Allyson Koerner is a graduate from Emerson College where she obtained her Master’s in Print & Multimedia journalism. Passionate about writing, reading and entertainment, she is looking to make her way into the journalism profession.

View all posts by Allyson Koerner →
  • Kirsten Carlson

    First off let me start by saying that I do not condone the slaughter of horses. I fail to distinguish the difference between the slaughter of horses or the slaughter of any other animal for human consumption. Pigs, cows, goats are all thinking, feeling animals. In some countries dogs are killed for food. Hard to imagine the family dog being killed and cooked for dinner. We all like to think that there is a difference but at least the family dog had it good for a while. Other animals are subjected to inhumane treatment and cruel confinement for their entire lives. We have been sold a bill of goods by the food industry that we all need the protein to survive. We are eating more meat than we ever have historically speaking and we have never been so unhealthy as a society as we are now. Heart disease, cancer, and diabetes are at an all time high. We take more pills to combat this rather than doing anything about prevention. Watch the movie Forks over Knives for more information about where a meat based diet has got us as a society. PS. I do not condone eating the family dog either.

    • OBCATE

      Thanks Kirsten, Beautifully said.

      • T. Zullo

        beautifully put. thank you. i do not condone the eating/slaughtering of any animals. i appreciate that you are looking at this logically, not even mentioning if you do or do not eat meat. kudos.

      • http://www.facebook.com/DeeJordan2013 Dee Jordan

        Allyson, I’ve been trying hard to get up with you. I agree wholeheartedly that this bill puts both the backyard pet the family can no longer afford and our mustangs at peril. I am doing an anthology on an international level to help save our wild horses. I’m giving 100% of my royalties to Wild Horse Foundation. I want to quote 2 paragraphs in this article in my dedication. Real horse people ARE outraged. Since this law passed, all you defenders of Obama, slaughter houses have opened in this country. Congress and Obama were sneaky, doing it around Thanksgiving. The national news didn’t even mention it. It took reading about it in a foreign news to discover this travesty! I don’t care if you worship the ground Obama walks on, you’ve sold your soul as a horse person to give him a bye on this. Allyson, please e-mail me at mobiledeelight@gmail.com to learn more about my project.

      • David

        First of all, the fact that horses are being slaughtered for consumption is not going to dramatically change the eating habits of America. Furthermore, it seems that eating horse was always legal in America, it is simply the raising and slaughter for consumption that were prohibited. As you said, there is no logical argument that horses should be treated any differently from pigs, cows, goats, sheep etc. This is America. I was shocked to find out that such a law even existed in the first place. If someone makes a living by raising horses to be eaten, who are we to tell them that is wrong when slaughtering and eating pigs is right?

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Tara-Egan/635740842 Tara Egan

      Ok…Hold your horses!! First of all…I love how the article states that “Obama legalized horse slaughter”. It’s a sensational headline and it sounds awful. But exactly 15 minutes of research has proven this article to be nothing more than another Obamabashing.
      #1) Obama did sign a law, sort of. He signed an an appropriations bill for $128 BILLION dollars! An appropriations bill that was started in the House of Representatives; where ALL appropriations bills must begin their journey. You see, the President cannot spend a single penny of our tax dollars without an appropriations bill approved by the House and then sent to the Senate. So, before it ever got to the President. It was reviewed by 100 US Senators and 435 House Representatives.
      #2) 535 members of Congress approved the bill on Nov 17th to fund parts of the government through next September and other portions through Dec. 16.
      “The House of Representatives voted 298-121 to approve the so-called “minibus” spending bill, which wraps three funding bills — Agriculture, Commerce/Justice/Science and Transportation/Housing and Urban Development — into a single measure. The bill funds programs for the departments through next Sept. 30.
      The bill was then sent to the Senate, which passed it 70-30, thereby averting a government shutdown.
      Attached to the bill is a continuing resolution that will fund the government at current levels through Dec. 16, according to FOX.
      According to The Hill, the measure secured a majority in both parties with 165 Democrats supporting the bill while 20 opposed it, and 133 Republicans supporting it while 101 opposed.
      The bill was then sent to President Barack Obama for signing into law.

      To simplify this huge bill by saying that “Obama legalized Horse Slaughter” is extremely irresponsible and unjust. In this economy, how can you fault a President for trying to keep our government running for another 2 weeks? If you want to blame anyone for the horses…start with your member your own member of Congress and ask them what they plan to do about the horses.

      • llpofac

        That is the best response to the sensationalized headline I have seen yet, facts. Least we all forget those who had the slaughter business shut down did it the wrong way. They failed to consider the unintended consequences that would occur, horses would have to travel farther to counties with NO minimum standards and no USDA. After the USDA inspectors were unfunded the industry offered to pay for the inspectors themselves but that wasn’t allowed by the animal rights advocates who then realized they pith horses in Mexico and the result of their efforts to save all the horses, FAILED by causing horses greater suffering. BRAVO Animal Right people BRAVO. What else did they accomplish? Well they took the floor away from the horse sale industry, meaning there was no bottom dollar a horse was worth, which was always a base price. Big deal we fund USDA inspectors at horse slaughter facilities, we fund them at other livestock facilities. The animal rights groups should concern themselves with cruelty issues where they find them and NOT tell people what they should eat or what animals are exempt from being eaten or causing greater cruelty for horses by their ill thought out anti-slaughter movement.

      • Nat

        exactly. Missouri signed the law in march of 2009 to be presented for approval. The downfall of this whole thing is that it will make horse theft even more so an issue. I have a equine rescue hence I am very much opposed to the passing of the bill. Horses are not like cattle. The problem is that the horse is still seen as lifestock and not as a pet/family member which is much more accurate in most cases. Animal right activists made a crucial mistake right there. This bill would have never passed if the horse would have been declaired a pet years ago.
        I know I could never eat horse meat because my perspective regarding horses is biast because my believe is that horses have great intelligence, are human like in many aspects and of course I work hard to rehabilitate the emaciated and abused ones as well as I give the seniors there last haven.

      • Sadie

        Excellent post. It was Obama, though, who appointed Tom Vilisak as Secretary of Agriculture. He is very much big buddies with factory farms and Monsanto, so Obama is not off the hook here.

      • save the horses

        honestly… Who cares who signed the bill, reviewed it, or legalized it.. The only thing that matters is that it got legalized and needs to be stopped. End of story.

      • http://herwinsvegancafe.blogspot.com/ herwin

        SADIE +1
        very well said Sadie, and so very true. Dont lets play the “he didnt want to but he was forced to” game.
        Not true.
        Obama has sold out about closing Guantanamo, gay marriage, adopting a shelter dog, now abot his horse slaughter campaign promise, and WHAT ELSE.

        Dont lets forget that it was president Bush who actually ENFORCED an anti horse slaughte ban !!

        “Yes We Can” has proven to be nothing more than an empty slogan like “have a coke and a smile”.

        Obama, nice smile, but crooked as the rest. And NO i dont care that Michelle Obama Promotes veggies on Sesame Street !!

      • thinkaboutit

        Beautifully said. It’s astonishing how quickly people jump on the bandwagon of whatever they read! Research it before re-posting it!!

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Andi-Kuhn-Graham/619485044 Andi Kuhn Graham

        AGREE!! Obama was the last stop in a looooooooong chain of folks who authorized this bill – and NOT doing so would’ve disrupted the entire department of agriculture.

      • Realist

        @ herwin

        The way you make it sound is that because Bush enforced a ban on horse-slaughter, he has a one-up on Obama, a president that has slowed down a recession and rid the country of talks of a depression, has put an end to the “torture-camp” at Guantanamo Bay, made education a national priority, and has taken the focus off Iraq and into Afghanistan to fight terrorism, which resulted in the assassination of Bin Laden.

        Yea, George W. Bush was one of the countries finest visionaries.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Roberta-Reynolds/596755935 Roberta Reynolds

        Oh I see – slaughter of any animal will magically save our economy! It is almost irrelevant as to who created/signed this bill, be it House, Senate or Exec. office. I feel a government shut-down is what we need. The bi-partisan nonsense that has halted our country is what causes these heinous decisions and people who raise humans above all other living creatures support these type of actions against animals. We need to WAKE up, see how we-the-people are manipulated, and start telling those we elect and employ what WE want and how we want it. Personally, I want them to do the job I hired them for and lawfully protect animals as they are supposed to do for us.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Darlene-Bolanos/100001639189427 Darlene Bolanos

        It’s disgusting, as are you. Perhaps when this escalates to cats and dogs, your ignorant mind will think differently. Until then, enjoy your horsey dinner nutcase!

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Vicky-Vasvatekis/720994384 Vicky Vasvatekis

      i agree with you 110%. beautifully said.

    • Jazmine~

      I do agree, I am certainly against horse AND dog slaughtering. But I can’t help mentioning, sorry if you’re annoyed by this, I was born in India. In India cows are treated as sacred animals. Cows are like family pets. They’re very respected and they’re just like a family dog, and they look over at America and there is beef galore. So if they eat dogs in some other places, it might seem simply like a beef burger to them, and they don’t care if we look at them in shock. Sorry for the history lesson XD Just thought I might want to point out, every place has different customs. And dogs that are eaten are probably dogs that had much of a better life before it, same with cows here. And there were no emotional ties to it. The same way we look down upon the slaughter of dogs, they do for cows. I don’t eat beef btw[: hahah idk really why I wanted to say this… :O

      But yes, I still agree com plete ly with you[;

    • Kevin

      I respect your opinions and understand your objections to eating meat. However, to say that meat eating is disease causing and inherently unhealthy is deceptive.

      Japanese didn’t eat any livestock meat for many many years. Many then developed a disease related to that (beriberi), that became known in many areas as “Japanese disease”. A large number of caucasian women of childbearing age who initiate a vegetarian diet find that over time they develop anemia. There are clear and immediate benefits to health and robustness from meat eating that historically would have dominated over any long term link to CV disease.

      I can entertain the argument that we have now grown as a society and have the means to supplement our diet to make up for any nutritional deficiencies from vegetarianism. We are wealthy enough generally to absorb the inefficiencies of doing that, as well. However, historically, a vegetarian society located next to a meat eating society would have quite simply had its ass kicked and been taken over due to a lack of physical ability to overcome invasion. Survival of the fittest is the reason for predominance of meat-eating, not marketing.

  • Kerry

    Obama is by far the worst president we have had. Why would even think its ok to slaughter a horse? Thats pretty much saying you would like to slaughter your dog.

    • liver

      You are ignorant and so is this article.

      • CL

        I agree, liver. What people dont realize is that because it has been illegal to slaughter horses in the US, they are transported in God-awful conditions, suffering on long treks to Mexico, without food or water, only to be tortured and murdered by Mexican sadists. While I would never condone killing any healthy animal, sometimes animals need to be put down – for their own sake. But because it is against the law here, we’re sending sick, old, dying horses to suffer and die brutal deaths.

      • Horse Enthusiast

        Ok, just so you know CL….”putting an animal down” is NOT illegal in the US. SLAUGHTERING the horse is/was! I know this because I had to put down my senior equine…hard, but that’s better than sending it off to the slaughter house to be trampled, starved, and inhumanely killed by slashing of the neck. Its completely disgusting to think ANY animal has to endure the slaughter house for ANY purpose….but to fight over it on a website, now this is stupid, I sign petitions and actually physically take part in fighting slaughter. Know the facts before stating stuff or you just look even more stupid than the person before you….

      • save the horses

        amen horse enthusiast. These people are ignorant.

      • Kevin

        You’re all ignorant. Slaughtering a horse was not illegal at any point. The gov’t lacked funding to allow inspections of the horse meat resulting from slaughter to declare it fit for human consumption. Given that, it became infeasible, not illegal, to slaughter, given that one could not market meat that was gov’t approved. Marketing meat that was not gov’t approved would have been illegal.

        This new bill simply provided funding for the gov’t to resume inspections of horse meat.

    • melinda

      There are too many horses in this economy that can not be fed or cared for properly. As the law was no slaughter for human consumption caused many horses to be sold as “pets” then driven to mexico where there is no regulation on their care, and believe me it is really bad there. To humanly slaughter here at least they are handled better. No slaughter would be best. But we know there are several hundred thousand unwanted horses in this country every year – what are we to do with them? We can not let them starve cant turn them loose. Why not let them feed hungry folk around the world who dont think of them as pets. Obama does not want them to go to Mexico and neither do I. Do you actually have a better idea or just hateful comments?

      • Amber

        What makes you think horse slaughter in the US is anything remotely close to humane??!!??!!??!! Have you done your research? I have!

      • Laura

        Well it has to be better than still being slaughtered but being shipped down to Mexico (where humane is never a factor in it), or being left to starve somewhere (which is happening a lot in places like Texas, which have had so many fires and a drought for so long, that there isn’t enough to feed them).

      • Felicia

        Why is the first option slaughter? Why doesn’t Texas and other southern states start with restricting the purchase of these animals? There may be a lot of stray dogs and cats in my neighborhood but you don’t see me snacking on them. Do your research so you don’t sound so ignorant.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Paul-Miles/100001304476490 Paul Miles

      nah, dog tastes like crap, horse tastes absolutely fricken incredible

      • llpofac

        This is a tired old argument. How many of you have actually seen a horse killed by a captive bolt? It’s instant. Not like “humanely euthanizing them”, which basically induces cardiac arrest. After the horse is injected, and it falls over, you wait, wait for the heart to stop and the corneal reflex to stop. About a 20 minute process. Nice and humane. Felicia, you are skirting around the first step to ending slaughter, BREEDING. America needs to restrict breeding, which means your lovely mare and your friends stallion, will NOT BE LEGAL to breed without a special permit because the stallion and mare probably won’t pass for acceptable breeding stock if we implement breed standards for stallions and mares. To effect change you will have to accept the loss of your “right” do as you please with your own horses.

    • Elena

      Nothing in that bill says “It is legal to slaughter and eat horses.” He signed a bill to give the Agriculture industry billions of dollars. He is not telling them what to do with the money. Stop reading blogs and start reading the facts.

  • Anne Novak

    Horses are pets in the USA. Obama broke his campaign promise and sold out to the lobbyists for campaign funding surely. Disgusting. Obama has lost my vote.

    • That tall guy in the corner

      Has anyone seen what else is on that bill? I have tried to look up with no luck….I don’t agree with the slaughter of horses but more often that not certain parties will try to slip a law like underneath a much bigger issue….

      • Mary

        I too have tried to find out about this. Something bogus here.

      • dcm

        http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h2112/actions
        That link tells you much. It was an appropriations bill. it has funding for FHA and VA loans among other things. All the department of agriculture funding for the next year. It was the department of agriculture that REQUESTED funding for horse slaughter inspection and the CONGRESS subcommitte approved it without removing it and the congress passed it 298-121 in the house and 70-30 in the senate. So…. even if obama had vetoed it then the veto would have been overridden. It was the committee and the congressional hearings where they could have removed that line item. Don’t get mad at Obama like he personally did the whole thing. He signed a bill that otherwise would have stopped FHA and VA house loans. People should get facts and realize that LOTS of stuff gets clumped together. Dont’ blame the president. Blame the people who put that item in there in the first place.

    • Kirsten Arianejad

      If you were really smart, he would have NEVER had your vote. Wise up, people!! Obama is nothing but a communist disguised as a patriotic Democrat. He has a far more sinister agenda than just slaughtering of horses. He is gearing up for a shortage of food and civil unrest. He is allowing the masses to eat horse meat now as things in this Country keep deteriorating. WAKE UP EVERYONE!!! Get that criminal out of office!

      • Nikkol

        Thank you!!! Someone who ACTUALLY does research instead of listening to the main stream media. Obama is a globalist and is intentionally destroying our country!

      • Elena

        Hahaha do you hear how crazy you sound?

  • LittleMe

    Well, it’s no different to killing any other animal for food. The fact he made a promise to permanently ban horse slaughter just makes him a liar as well as cold-hearted.

  • rat king

    The fish stinks from his head – Il pesce puzza dalla testa!

  • rat king

    Post scriptum: A man without a face – without any personality! Thanks GOD I’m not living in decaying America! Good riddance! Today I’m really angry!

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Matthew-Harding/100000773236424 Matthew Harding

      Rat King: btw, what decaying country are you living in?

      • rat king

        I’m living in decaying France with our pocket size Napoleon at the head where horse slaughter is legal and everyone fills his and her hanging belly with the stuff! But unfortunately I have to live somewhere on this cursed planet and wait for the time to leave – and I shall not come back – for sure!

  • Norm C

    I cannot believe this! We have to do something! That’s like eating a family member

  • james

    Yummie… Mr Ed… Awesome. We’ve been slaughtering them for dog food and glue, now I can eat them too. Can’t wait to find it on the shelves of my local supermarket.

  • ignorance

    How can one think that killing a pig is any different from a horse? I have a pet pig I treat as my child, a horse is no different. Slaughter is slaughter, regardless of the genetic makeup.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Christie-Reading/34507757 Christie Reading

    This is DISGUSTING!! Without horses we wouldn’t be who we are today. America has a big enough problem is becoming aware that animal cruelty exists and this just blows the top off. I am shocked, appalled, outraged, and I’m seriously going to throw up.
    Horses are NOT for consumption or to be used in by-products or in dog/cat food or what ever.
    I don’t care if he did catch Osama and yada yada yada, I was wary on voting him into office again to begin with; and I’m certainly NOT voting for him again now.
    What a vile person. >:(

    • Anna B.

      Well said Christie. I only thank God I never voted for him.

  • Kaydub

    Thank God! We need horse slaughter plants back in the US. Horses are not pets, they are livestock, plain and simple. What is the difference between slaughtering a cow, hog, chicken, goat, etc. vs. slaughtering a horse? There isn’t a difference. Even hogs have been proven to be one of the smartest animals out there, yet we are still eating them.

    The anti-slaughter folks have made it so much harder on US horses, they don’t even realize. Now you have horses sitting in dry lots starving to death because they are of no value to their owner, horses being turned loose, horses being sold at auction for $25, horses being given away, horses being sold to kill buyers who truck them clear to Mexico or Canada for slaughter …which I can guarentee you, the unlucky US horses which get shipped down to Mexico do not have a humane death.

    What is so wrong with having US slaughter houses well regulated for horse slaughter? I could not be more thrilled that Obama passed this bill and hope this helps the sad sad equine economy and abundant cases of abuse. Being a horse lover, owner, and trainer, I can tell you…we need slaughter plants in the US.

    Those of you against this, go join a horse forum and see for yourself. Ask those who actually see what having no slaughter in the US has caused. Ask those who actually own horses and see for yourself.

    • Lori

      If your such a horse lover why would you be happy about this. horses are just as much loved by humans as humans. they deserve the same amount of respect and are not livestock. no one raises or breeds horses to become slaughtered for meat. it is not the same thing as actual livestock animals who are raised for that. soon humans will be the ones being slaughtered. horses are everything to some people and are meant for riding and showing and they serve an important part in the world. horse racing brings in billions in the equine world. there is no way this is right.

    • Fonda Ghiardi

      Kaydub,

      You have not done your homework and you are a horse consumer not a horse trainer. Anyone who works with horses and is not aware of how much they do for us is either totally clueless or a robot with no emotions. The downshift in the economy has been a big factor in the excess horses as well as the breeders who have grossly overbred for the market. Horses are not raised as livestock or do you ride and train your cows and have your children ride them in shows….besides all of the steroids and drugs like bute are carcinogens and toxic. Do you give your cows bute so you can show them at the jumping competition or take them on the trail ride this weekend? If you think horse slaughter in this country was humane you never visited a slaughter plant. It’s so called “horse people” like you who have prevented a real bill being passed in this country to permanently stop horse slaughter and the transport for slaughter and treat horses with the respect they have earned from years of service to man. This whole article is one of the best examples of inaccurate poor reporting I have ever seen.

    • MB

      Thank you for your comment! I wish more people would realize how good this is for our equines. It seems that people have forgotten that horses are livestock animals not pets. While I love my horse and would never let anyone take it to slaughter, I think that we are heading in the right direction here. There are far too many unwanted horses in the world right now, especially in the US. The USDA does a wonderful job of making sure everything is done humanely. Do you think it is a good idea or humane to let a horse or even a dog go hungry? I’m sure you will agree with me and saying no, I certainly don’t want that either.

      Horses cannot live on grass and hay alone. Leaving them to starve is far worse than this. Would you rather a slow painful death, being unloved? Sometimes you have to do what is best for both you and your horse. I’m not saying that you should give your horse away or even that they want to take you best friend out of your backyard or stable. I wouldn’t even entertain the idea. I would never eat a horse, but slaughter really is the answer.

      Please educate yourselves on this. I think that you’ll find that you agree.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/John-Huscio/645829122 John Huscio

      there wont be any real “jobs” created by this………it doesnt matter if the horses areslaughtered here or in mexico, mexicans will be doing the slaughtering in either case……….

  • tonythepony

    Soon it’s gonna be a dog eat dog world!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Sarah-Barnett/15611894 Sarah Barnett

    I work at HSUS, and hope that everyone outraged will contact their members of Congress, and urge them to support and cosponsor the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act: https://secure.humanesociety.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=5095

    To anyone thinking horse slaughter is humane – it’s not. When there were plants in the US, there was horrible cruelty going on. Over 92% of hroses going to slaughter were in good condition per the USDA. Get the facts (http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/horse_slaughter/facts/facts_horse_slaughter.html), and take action!

  • Maria

    If you don’t like this, contact the White House and express your displeasure. They need to hear from all of us about this: that this was a wrong decision and a bad bill.

  • Deidra

    If people think it’s ok to slaughter horses then they should be ok with slaughtering dogs.

    I’m certainly not ok with slaughtering either! I wouldn’t want to kill my baby Mel even if I was dying of hunger. Domesticated animals are that for reasons, dogs have been and are still being used as more than just pets, they are used to help those that have disabilities among other things. Then there are the multiple uses for horses not to mention what they’ve done for the human race to get us to the point of where we are. Pigs, goats, sheep, chicken haven’t been nor are they used in the capacity as dogs and horses. Horses were used for plowing to help plant food, my great grandfather wouldn’t have been able to do his farming without his horses a hundred years ago. Then where would our country be without the pony express or the wagon trains that transported people from the east coast to the west coast. Our history is full of uses of these animals that could not have been performed by others like pigs and sheep etc. Just because we’ve come up with things that replaced the need to use them the way we used to doesn’t mean that we need to slaughter them and eat them because they are so expensive. Why then do we not slaughter dogs and cats because there are many shelters full of them, wouldn’t that solve the problem not adopting these animals, no it wouldn’t so how is it justifiable to do that to horses.

    I’m for animal consumption, I like beef, pork, chicken, turkey, and venison. But I also don’t get people having those animals as pets but if they choose to that’s their deal. These animals have always been used for nutrition and rarely as pets. I see absolutely no good reason to slaughter and consume horses. I grew up riding horses recreationaly but I never rode a cow, why, because cows aren’t designed for a domesticated use. When my grandpa took us for hay rides in the winter he used his horses not his cows because cows won’t cooperate in that way where horses are.

    Slaughtering horses for human consumption is right up there with people so called “owning” another person as ludicrous, ridiculous, irrational, and ignorant. In moments like this I’m ashamed to call myself a human. Why can’t our leaders grow some balls and do the right thing instead of taking the easy way out. Going the easy way is just a cop out. I bet Obama never road a horse in his whole life because I bet if he did he would’ve never passed that bill.

  • SC Bryan

    I just read the bill, and there is not one mention of horses or their slaughter for human consumption in this law. This is a disgustingly wrong article, obviously written by a right-wing nut job who will write or say anything to attempt to discredit the President…

  • Kelsey

    Why is abusive treatment of horses (i.e. racing with use of whips, long-term boarding which restricts the free-roaming nature of horses, etc.) okay, but horse slaughter is not? Especially with the “train and ditch” attitude so many commercialized horse breeders/trainers have, why shouldn’t there be a form of population control for animals already being forced into living within humans’ standards for them? If we’re so supportive of horses’ rights, why are we not making strides in letting them roam freely, rather than putting them within our own confines? And why is their well-being of significantly less importance to us after they’ve peaked as racers or riding horses?

    The answer lies in actually taking a step back from our superior human attitudes and re-examining the meaning of “humane.”

  • james

    People need to stop listening to radical animal groups. They are all out for themselves and your money. None of these groups or people, yes vegetarians included, know enough about what they are saying. STOP CLOGING UP INTERNET SPACE WITH YOUR PROPAGANDA!!!

  • http://herwinsvegancafe.blogspot.com/ herwin

    ‘Bama shows us that animal rights isnt a liberal thing AT ALL.

    wasnt it 2006 that president Bush signed something that outbanned horse slaughter ?

    2007 the last horse slaughter house closed down. Until than, horses were killed for predators in zoo’s (what about that, Betty ?) and export.

    Thanks to ‘Bama, soon new slaughterhouses will open.
    Another campaign promise SOLD OUT to big busines.

  • Ana

    This is disgusting..

  • Allison

    It is important to remember how the American government works. Laws are passed by Congress, the President just signs them. If you have serious concerns you should write a nicely written and well researched letter to your Senator or one of the other 70 senators or 298 representatives who voted in favor of this bill.

    Also take into consideration that when slaughter houses in the US closed 138,000 horses were shipped to Mexico and Canada to be killed.

    According to this article slaughter houses likely wont reopen in the US anyways…http://www.drf.com/news/language-banning-horse-slaughter-omitted-legislation.

    Read the bill:
    http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr2112rh/pdf/BILLS-112hr2112rh.pdf

    Check out who voted for it:
    http://www.votesmart.org/bill/13994/37382/

    Wild accusations and blatantly biased and poorly researched reporting is a huge issue. Please be think before posting your opinions as facts… you have reached over 6,000 people in 10 hours and half of them now believe Obama has been out personally re-opening slaughterhouses since he finished his apple pie on Thanksgiving.

    • Kelsey

      Well said! People are too quick to believe everything they hear/read and take it at face value.

  • tinycars

    Everyone should just refer to dcm up there. Don’t blame the president, blame the backwards ways of the house and senate.

  • hanna

    This is absolutely ridiculous. I can not believe he would allow Horse slaughter here. Horses are PETS. Large, friendly animals people have been riding since the beginning of time! How the F*** are you people gonna come here and say that they’re the same as any other animal? All animals are the same? So killing dogs and cats would be okay too? Sh*t HUMANS are animals. Are we gonna turn into cannibals too?
    It’s bad enough this country’s obese with all the other innocent animal slaughter! But killing HORSES now? I can’t wait to turn 18 and get the hell out of this f*cked up country.

    • Madisen S.

      and go where?? to Europe or Asia where horse meat is a fine dined meal??? it wont do you any good to cry…

  • M

    HORSE MEAT HAS BEEN CONSUMED FOR A LONG TIME. JUST SHUT UP ALREADY.

  • nk

    Americans eat cows no problem, yet they’re sacred in India. It’s all a matter of culture…Americans cherish dogs, while other countries farm them like live stock….. Same thing in regard to cows in other countries….

    Dogs are delicious. Horses and cows are too. Humans evolved to eat meat. Animals are a form of meat. It doesn’t matter what species they are. Nature doesn’t discriminate food like humans do. Go vegan if you’re against any form of animal use……

  • http://infowars.com Chris

    All of you liberal trendies make me sick. All of a sudden Obama has lost your vote because he has allowed horses to be eaten? What about Obama agreeing to the air raid over Libya? Killing hundreds of thousands of women and children? Only for Libya to be overtaken by Al Qaieda forces? (Look it up they’re waving the Al Qaieda flag in Libya) So regardless of what you thought about Quaddafi. He still bombed that country along with NATO to kingdom come. He didn’t even get congressional approval. Majorly illegal.

    Also what about the gun running he was involved with? The ATF scandal? Running guns into mexico while shipping drugs inside the US? That creature Holder and Janet Napolitano… No backlash on that.

    Also he claims to support the Occupy Wall Street movement yet do you even know who is part of Obamas cabinet? They’re all Wall Street guys!!! He doesn’t support the movement at all! He supports the movement like Joseph Stalin supports human rights and liberty. The guy is a puppet.

    So please… people who want liberty, freedom and justice. Don’t go after Obama for slaughtering horses for human consumption. (Which most of the world it’s legal, including Canada our neighbor) Go after Obama for REAL issues. The Libya debacle and ATF gun running scandal are two great war crimes he should be tried on. Not this frivolous crap. Thank you and god bless.

  • robotca

    OK. I just want to say, as a person who grew up on a farm, and STILL has horses (who are well cared for, loved and treasured as companions), anyone whining about horses now being killed for consumption in the states, has NO idea what has been done with them so far. They are killed by the tens of thousands for “Quelling wild populations”, little to nothing is done with their bodies that is useful. They are slaughtered for pet food, and in smaller quantities ALREADY sent to Canada for consumed meat. There is NO difference between horses and any other food animal. Just like crying while watching “Charlotte’s Web” then eating bacon the next day. Just because an animal is loved and treasured and thought of as MORE than a pet or consumable animal does not mean it is to anyone else. It means is has the POSSIBILITY to be more, unfortunately the overwhelming majority is killed ‘facelessly’ and eaten without concern.

    in 2009… IN AMERICA ALONE…

    * Total number died for food: 59 billion
    Chickens, pigs, steers & calf’s, turkeys, ducks, fish, shellfish
    * Average number died per American meat-eater: 198
    * Average number died per American lifetime: 15,000

    I am a conscious omnivorous. You are responsible for about 200 deaths a year if you eat meat. How many animals have YOU killed and put to death in a humane way? Yeah. So shut up. Just because you had a my little pony when you were a child does not mean you are a horse rights activist. How many of you even have or have EVER had a horse? Much less a working farm FULL of them.

  • hbk

    YUMMMMM

    Has anyone here every tasted horse meat? One of the best tasting and best for you health. There meat has super humane proporties and have shown to have great healing effects

    Eventhough im in canada where eating horse has been legal forever this makes me happy that finally USA is following the rest of the world

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/John-Huscio/645829122 John Huscio

      except its not going to be eaten here. horsemeat is very toxic.

  • Kaycee

    This article is incredibly misleading. Please do us a favor and read the actual bill instead of an obviously slanted article before you report on it. It hurts the cause when we all run around shouting propaganda and looking like fools. The bill did not greenlight mass equine murder. There are several slaughterhouses still in existence regardless. The original wording was intended to force them to shut down but it was unsuccessful. Changing the wording would actually increase regulations and force them to bring their facilities up to code and become more humane. That’s something to think about.

  • Syl

    Holy plagiarism, batman!

  • bingo

    So why is it OK to kill cows, pigs, sheep, deer,llamas, moose etc but not horse? You people are so closeminded its crazy!!! Oh because they are pets… that’s right. Just like rabbits. Hymmm I seem to recall seeing rabbit on many menus in restaurants nation wide along with squirrel and veal. Is veal good to eat? A baby cow deprived of salt and iron, not being let to move its entire life. I wonder what the cowboys ate??? An animal is an animal, we are so sensitive to puppy dog eyes but turn the other cheek when eating mc nuggets or the tripple baconator

  • erin

    Obama can go fuck himself. How could he approve the murder of such a great creature? He needs to be thrown in a slaughter house to witness it for himself. Horses are teammates, not food. Obama needs to shove the pentagon up his ignorant ass and fix his mistake

  • http://none Joyce McIntyre

    The only thing that I can say is this. I LOVE TO RIDE HORSES BECAUSE THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL ANIMALS THAT SHOULD RUN FREE AND ANYONE WHO KILLS AND EATS THEM ARE JACK ASSES THEM SELFS.

    • hbk

      The love humanes have for them is what makes them so tasty

  • David

    Obama must know the economy is going to get worse, well now we can ride our dinner before we eat it. Brings a whole new meaning to the galloping gourmet.

  • M.A. Blessing

    I’m overwhelmed that this could happen. I will not by products with horse contents. Shame on the media for not covering this and wasting coverage on media attention addicts.

  • Baker Backette

    Horse slaughter is ‘necessary’ because of greedy and thoughtless ‘horsemen’ and so called horse trainers who overbreed, overwork and then discard of horses for their own convenience. The American Quarterhorse Association might as well open a breed specific butcher shop. PS this meat does not go to feed the hungry. It is sold for top top dollar in Europe and Asia. And as horses are not raised for consumption in the US the meat is even more toxic and carcinogenic than most meat sources.

  • Robbie

    People all over the world eat horses, they’re livestock like pigs, cows, and chickens (which some people keep as pets). What’s with all of you flipping out? I’m sure most of you don’t personally own horses and I know 70% of Americans don’t, I’m sure that many Americans haven’t even seen a horse in person. So why is everyone taking this bill personally.

  • Abby

    People slaughter cows, which are sacred to some religions; lamb, which could be considered pets to anyone; some birds, while others are protected. Get over it. Don’t buy it. Move on.

  • Lauren

    I am absolutly disgusted and appauled by this…

  • Cheyenne

    This is incredibly cruel. The slaughter of any animal is… I just hope people remember this during elections.

  • Josh

    LOL! I LOVE how people are saying “don’t blame the president! All he did was SIGN the law”! Ummmmm, hello?!? Shouldn’t the president READ the crap he signs before signing it? Isn’t that part of his job?! Seriously, to give the president a free pass in legalizing the slaughter of horses, and to use the rediculous argument that all he did was “sign it into law”, is sad and insane beyond belief.

    • Elena

      Yes, and you should read the bill before you start berating him for signing it.

  • Madisen S.

    Ok, i get your point being aginst it but you have to realize the positive things about it. I am a long time horse owner and the way my family makes there living off of buying and selling horses on the market.
    Since the closing of the slaughter houses there are over 100,000 unwanted horses in the U. S. alone, that number wouldn’t be that high if the houses were still open. Equine slaughter plants would take almost any unwanted horses that didn’t sell at mass livestock sales or horses that were brought to them. The American Horse Council estimates there are 9.2 million horses in the United States. Through there are not reliable statistics on the total number of horses that become unwanted each year, The Counsel does know that there are 90,000 to 100,000 unwanted horses that have been sent to slaughter annually.
    One of the main reasons there is so much neglect, torture, and abuse towards horses these days is because most of these horses aren’t “sellable” and the owner no longer has slaughter as an option to get rid of the horse. Another positive reason for horse slaughter is that once you have an old retired horse, or a horse that has permanent injuries and may be considered “unsound”, and humanely euthanizing him may not be in your best interest considering that it will cost you anywhere from $100-$200 to euthanize an average sized horse. On top of that the cost of the vet going out to your horse may be about $10-$20, and then the cost of having the dead horse hauled off your property. All-in-all it will cost you a lot more to put your horse to sleep than it will take him to a slaughter house. in fact they pay you per pound.
    Ending horse slaughter has in fact had a negative effect on the horse market, the prices of horse feed have sky rocketed, and the prices of horses themselves have dropped severely. I have experienced this myself, there is a horse that I ride a lot, and her name is Spec. Before the closing of the plants she was worth $2,000-$5,000, but when they closed the plants her value dropped to $200-$500. In December of 2009 at a Summit of the Horse conference held in Las Vegas, Mrs. Wright told a group that she worked hard to close the horse slaughter plants. Since closing of the plants, her organization lacks facilities and funding to care for all the unwanted horses brought to her.
    I know first hand all the effects of the slaughter plants. and besides most of the horses that go to slaughter are useless horses. Most of them arent “sound”, breakable/ridable, (and i have gotten a few horses that i cant do anything with…exsample: we got a black mare that needed to be broke and soon after we got her she started to run at people with the intent of hurting them, she also did this to other horses. We mounted her to start her training and she threw a bucking fit and we couldnt get off herr without he intending to harm us. so we had no other choice put to take the pistol and shoot her. She was a useless horse. nothing could be done with her without someone being seriously hurt. one horse isnt worth a human life.

  • Krystal

    what next cannibalism legalized too? Or illegal to protest or speak your mind or own guns or everything american? One nation under obama. The guy wasnt even born here and wouldnt put his hand over his heart during pledge of allegience? Isnt that like automatic disqualification? Wtf our country is screwed. We might as well move to a different country its no different then the ones people used to flee from now theyre going back!

  • Jay

    I know who im not voting for. you disgust me obama

  • Switzerland

    I am a long time Horse owner, I love my horses, and will always have them in my life. I have read what everyone has written on this site. I agree that horses are more than just livestock, I don’t know what I would have done without my horses in my life, they are my bestfriend, my shoulder to cry on and my sport. Horses are a huge part of my life. I live on a farm and I do raise pigs for slaughter, but I also think of them as pets, I know this may sound horrible to some of you but to me its my way of giving back to them. I give them the best possible life I can untill they are slaughtered. I also make sure the slaughter is fast and efficent. In thousands of pounds accross America healthy animals are put down daily because of over population and because they are unwanted. isn’t this the same thing? I would rather see a horse put down and used to benifit someone then to see a hundred of them amaciated and starved but still alive. I love horses and if someone can come up with a better option then slaughtering them then i would be all for it, but leaving them alive so they can starve to death is not the anwser. In fact it makes us a bigger monster in my book. I also don’t agree with eating horse meet. I personally never will, but then again some people wont eat pigs, somewont eat cows. I agree that it is all a matter of your views. I think if more people would stop arguing over wheather or not it is right or wrong and actually try to do something to fix the problem then we might actually be able to help our four legged friends. I do not condone horse slaughter, but I also do not cadone the right to keep something alive just to say it is alive. This article has made me appreciate my beutiful horses all the more, and I wish that every horse could feel loved and cherished, but that isnt possible we cant even cherrish and love every human, untill we can fix our own human world, we can’t expect any other species to get it right either.
    Again I love my horses and do not want to seee them slaughtered and eaten but i also don’t want them to suffer a short miserable life
    So you people that oppose this find a way to fix it instead of complaining about it

  • Jess

    shouldn’t obama being worrying about better things then wasting his time on legalizing something like this? dumb ass.

  • lan

    im glad i dont vote they are all the same liers and if they do that to horses what will it be next who nows but animals are peoples family its bad enough they get abused by people and nobody does anything about it how sad that this country has become these people that abuse animals should be abuse too to see how they like it thats how i feel im a animal lover i grow up with animals they are human people too. they say that the shelter is full and if nobody wants them they put them to sleep that is so cruel that they can do that thats like putting there own family to sleep i cant see that when you watch tv do you ever watch a commical and they show how animals being abused i cry every time i see that they want money but how do we know if they are really getting any help so they say they say they do im sorry but thats how i feel animals are my life i do my best to help them i have 2 animals of my own and they are so spoiled.

  • Kirsty

    I really don’t care who legalized horse consumption in America, rather it be Obama or anyone else. The fact is, now even more horses will be killed and slaughtered then there already is. There’s already tons of beautiful, innocent, helpless horses being slaughtered as it is. Although it’s just becoming legal in America…it’s always gone on in different countries, and thousands of horses per year have been shipped to those countries in horrible circumstances. They’re taken on long trips without food/water or any kind of moving space at all. They’re shoved into huge trailers so close that by the time they reach they’re destination, they have broken legs and severe injuries from being so closely kept. And, if they don’t have any physical injuries, then they’re usually dehydrated, week, and sick from lack of food and water. It’s bad enough these animals are being killed, slaughter houses companies could atleast make they’re last days good ones. I don’t feel that ANY horse that is living, breathing, and has a fighting chance should EVER be slaughtered or killed, but if it has to be done, do it in a humane way. I hate to see slaughter of horses become legal in America or any place for that matter, but I would hope that in America, better care is taken of the horses until they have to be killed. And, hopefully oneday it will be illegal everywhere, and won’t have to see beautiful horses being killed. But, until then….watch who you sell your horses to, so they don’t end up at the slaughter house.

  • tit

    I eat horse it yummy …thanks obama

  • Whoever…

    President Obama… What a joke!!

    The truth, that is if you want to know it:

    - http://www.youtube.com/user/TheAlexJonesChannel#p/c/1/eAaQNACwaLw

    Oh, and all of those who believe everyone has the ‘right’ to eat animals shouldn’t condemn those tribes, still out there, where eating human flesh is considered normal…

    Since there are 7 billion people on this planet – too many!! – why not starting killing humans and selling their flesh!?

    Where’s the harm in that? And please don’t reply with any religious crap!!

  • kim

    Both sides have just points. Have owned horses for 35 yrs. The second horse I ever owned was stolen and ended up at the “killers”. Prices were high and it was very profitable to steal horses. I was 11 and never forgot it.
    On the flip side, as much as I hate to think about it, sometimes the “killer plant” is the only option for some people. Death at the plant is quicker than starving to death or dying from abuse. I have also seen that. I’m helping a neighbor right now make sure 2 horses are being cared for in our neighborhood because their owner is too stupid to sell them or give them to a good home but he doesn’t want to take proper care of them.
    Horses are different from cattle because we do show them and ride them for pleasure, etc. I will never eat horse meat. But I don’t have a better solution. We have to figure out what is the lesser of the evils…

    • Michelle

      Well said Kim. I love my horses, but I understand that there is an overpopulation of horses, and that because of this they are dirt cheap. Therefore any person can get one without knowing how much they truly cost and require in care. Then the animals have to suffer for rash decisions. As much as I hate it, if it was a regulated, humane slaughterhouse, then there is not much I can say.
      It truly breaks my heart to think that there are terrible cruel people out there who would not only abuse these gentle creatures but also steal them from loving families. I can’t imagine the fear on my beautiful horses face if they were ever subjected to this.

    • Joanne

      Yes, if they are too old or sore or you cannot look after them anymore and they have been a loving pet for you for a number of years… do them the owner of euthanasing them, instead of making a profit from their death.

  • Dee

    Iid like to know who presented this bill & is there a bill allowing is to slaughter Obama

  • Katie

    This is RIDICULOUS, SICK! Its all fucking MONEY…As if i didn’t have enough reasons to hate Obama…now i have one more! Say goodbye to the wild horses of America and hold close your pets! This guy needs to go!

  • Rowan

    i’m disgusted

  • Joanne

    This is disgusting!!! I cannot believed a supposed civilized country like America would do something so backwards. The pork, lamb and cattle markets need to be fixed, there is so much animal cruelty going on, especially with the feed lot situation. And now to add the horse into the mix, I am so utterly disappointed. A man like Obama who claims to be about how america can change and speaking up for the little guy or the 99% is full of it. He is a dirty liar.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Christine-Thomas/100000418394627 Christine Thomas

    This makes me sick to my stomach, from now on every time I eat somewhere I’ll be wondering if it’s horse. As far as obama he is a horse’s ass, he can’t remember how to pronounce Marine Corp. let alone what he promised during his campaign. We all know it’s michele who wears the pants in that family.

  • Matt meadath

    Yet another broken promise.

  • Louis Oliverio

    To slaughter horses for human consumption is inhumane and anyone who agrees to this ought to be ashamed I have a more ufamazation on how I feel but I’ll keep it civil!

  • http://sevenstarsanctaury.com clinton c boyce jr

    this is insane. im a true horse lover and always will be. these beautiful animals built this land we live on and r also very adoring. im diffently going to regisiter to vote so i can tell obama what i think. i just wish i could call him and give him some nice words. plus the facty that he broke a promise is really bothersum. you dont do that in my book. we need obama out of there asap and we need to make horse slaughter illegal again.

  • Venessa

    PLEASE HELP SING THIS PETITION TO STOP THE HORSE SLAUGHTER! http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-horse-slaughter-3
    This is terrible, please help <3

    • Tylendal

      Horse slaughter? We’ve got bigger issues. Every day, countless pigs are slaughtered for food. They’re much more intelligent than horses, and make great pets. We can worry about horses later, it’s the pigs we really need to save. /sarcasm

  • Derek Myers

    This is no different than any other animal that is being eaten now. People are going to rage and protest about , but in the end it will just be like eating cow or pig

    • don_miguelo

      You just stated the very reason why so many people go vegetarian/vegan when you said “This is no different than any other animal that is being eaten now”. Some places they would eat your pet cat or dog too. Why don’t you just start scoffing down Fido now because it’s inevitable?

      • Tylendal

        My family has four cats, I love cats. Would I eat cat meat if the chance arose? Sure, why not? Anyone who opposes the slaughter of horses for meat is either a vegan, or, much more likely, a hypocrite.

  • Mary nietz

    obama is off my list, this is outrageous!!!

  • Jill Medicine Heart Combs

    PETA are hypocrites. I bet they got a HEFTY donation from someone and this is the end result.

  • elka

    You do realize the president doesn’t actually write the bills correct? Congress writes the laws as stated in the article above. Your title is misleading. And yes the president may veto a bill but for a spending bill there is no line by line veto power… either fund the Dept of Agriculture or don’t fund it. See this article which reports the Supreme Court [yet another branch that you cannot blame it's actions on the president] throwing out line by line veto power on spending bills way back in ’98: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/supcourt/stories/wp062698.htm

    Now if Congress had done it’s job and done its budget at the beginning of the year like it was supposed to then this stuff wouldn’t be rushed through last minute. Blame the house– all spending and appropriation bills are required by constitutional law to originate there. Rep. John Boehner is the person to take the blame not the president.

    • james

      Well stated. Let’s just give the whole place back to the Indians.

    • Tylendal

      What are you talking about? Of course it’s Obama’s fault. He’s made of pure evil after all. I’m sure he kicks puppies for exercise, and uses orphans as foot-stools. This bill, which I’m sure is nothing more than a piece of paper with “Eat Horses: Yes/No” printed on it in big letters is of course entirely his work. :P

    • Timmmaj

      Holy Crap!!! Quit making sense! You might hurt some of these clueless americans….

      No but for real, this little snip it was probably plugged into the bill by some governor who wanted this to be done. and would only vote to pass the overall bill if this was included. In case some of you all haven’t figured out, the government and congress is all about “jockeying” (pardon the bad joke) to get position and take care of what each particular congressman/woman would like to see happen. i believe this practice is call log-rolling or something like that. It is a corrupt and terrible practice, But it happens on every bill no matter what. Obama didn’t just go out decide that he wanted to kill a ton of horses one day. Get Educated people, Take a POLS class, Learn something about the government. because without understanding, poor journalism breeds hatred, and that is what is tearing down our country!

  • Margaret Luft

    I think it is awful that this restriction of horse killing for consumption has been reversed. Maybe Obama believes this will get him votes. I think he would do just about anything. Promises were made and were broken. He now recently states he did not plan on doing all these “big projects” by himself, he also says things will take a long time before improving. Okay then why don’t you sit down in your seat at the White House and stop flying all over the country for vacations and campaigning. There has to be a way to get this overturned, we must stop it!

    • Kacie Carroll

      I totally agree. This brought me to tears just hearing about it. Considering I have 10 beautiful horses in my backyard. We must think of a way to overturn this immediatly.

  • Thinker

    Calm down, folks. This is sensationalism at its finest. First of all, this is a general Department of Agriculture funding bill with a lot of things in it. It is not a “horsekilling bill”. Secondly, BOTH houses of congress approved this and Obama would have to veto THE WHOLE BILL to stop it (not gonna happen). Thirdly, the idea that this will lead to 200,000 horses being killed is extremely debatable. People are outraging over one element of the bill that funds one segment of the Department of Argriculture that includes horse inspections under the Horse Protection Act. The full text of the bill is here: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h2112/text There’s nothing in it that says “we gonna kill us some horses!” This is rage bait. Plain and simple.

    • http://herwinsvegancafe.blogspot.com/ herwin

      There we go again.
      NO, we dont expect that Obama VETOES a whole bill, we simply hold him and his friends responsible for allowing that small horse slaughter thing in that big bill with lots of issues, from the beginning and not stopping/removing it from the whole goddam bill fro the beginning.
      OBAMA will play the same game, telling that he cant veto a whole bill, forgetting that he should have removed the horse slaghter thing FROM THE BEGINNING.

      • meme

        He didn’t write the bill, congress wrote the bill. The legislative branch writes bills, not the executive branch.

  • skinshifter

    I will bet that 90 percent of people opposed to this have never in anyway been involved in farming, raising horses, showing horses, the slaughter industry or the retail meat buisness. I am involved in all of them and I agree that legal horse slaughter plants are the best solution to many questions faced by all the horse industry concerning unwanted horses. It also helps stabilize horse prices for all sectors of the industry. And yes, horses are a money making industry that employees tens of thousands across the US. Horses are a livestock animal, always have been and as such they are consumed around the world. The Japanese would.be very offended if you turned your nose up at something they consider a delicious. I dontagree with allowing the slaughter of wild mustangs just for population control but as a place for unwanted animals rather than see them abused or.s

    • http://herwinsvegancafe.blogspot.com/ herwin

      Josef Mengele defending his work in the nazi concentration camps..

  • http://katalystcoaching.org Emily Johnston

    Please sign and share this petition to overturn this bill of slaughtering horses for human consumption!!
    http://www.change.org/petitions/overturn-the-legalization-of-horse-slaughter-for-human-consumption

  • Horseriderusa

    Another liar in office. He doesn't care about people or animals…just big business and keeping his so-called job.

    • Anonymous

      oh please… do a little reading here would you… or don’t you care about the facts — just Obama bashing.

  • EqualityForALL

    If you do a little looking, there's another element at play here. The consumption of horse flesh was made illegal in Europe with the elimination of traditional Pagan cultures. They used horse meat in their Freyfaxi celebration. I'm not for seeing horseburgers on the rack in every grocery store, but this is (perhaps inadvertently) also providing freedom for people trying to reconstruct those old practices.

  • Annette

    Just like a president to say one thing and do the other. He is not the only one guilty here, look at your senators. I know we need to create jobs, but not at the expense of killing these horses.

  • Arieybby

    This is complete fuxking bullshit this is exactly why Obama should have Never been electid. He is pathetic I mean he’s going to sighn off the lives of hundreds and thousands of horses to make a buck ! That is Cruelty & should NOT under any circumstances be LEGAL ! He should be locked up for this !!!! I am Exteremly Against this ! ! ! I’m SOO Disgusted !

    • Anonymous

      Please learn to spell before making comments.No one will take you serious if you don’t at least put forth an effort..Now go do your lessons before getting back on the computer! Go on now..Git!

  • Game

    Lol, people love humanizing animals! PETA & The HSUS have y’all brain washed!

  • krbatte

    It’s so easy to blame the president…people should take time to read up on a subject before they throw false blame…Everyone needs to stop blowing this out of proportion…read before you open your mouth!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Allison-Kerpash/100000924866374 Allison Kerpash

    I personally thing its funny the things people get upset over. Millions of people die from starvation every year, but you’re not setting up rescue groups for them. Currently, the US is the only country that doesn’t eat horse meat. Get over it.

  • Anonymous

    It’s about time..Just look at all the horses just left to rot when they could have been used to feed the homeless and those on govt. aid.Not to mention a fair market for selling it to ordinary folks,especially if it is less expensive than beef.

  • ldg

    Reelcheeper, you posted the same drivel on another site recently. And humans are a source of food, too so why not eat them as well?

  • smartysgal

    I hate Obama with a passion. Even more so (if that’s even possible) with his legalization of horse slaughter! I am so outraged I can’t even see to type this! This idiot has GOT to be stopped before he puts all seniors up for human consumption! He’ll probably think we are worthless to his holy crown and be kind and euthanize us so he doesn’t have to pay us Social Security and what other minor little tidbits we enjoy in our “old age.” GET OUT AND VOTE THIS QUACK OUT OF OFFICE, PLEASE! He is heading us toward Socialism, can’t everybody see that???

  • Mallory

    To those of you who are saying that “anyone truly involved with horses, any trainers, breeders, riders and owners” would agree that slaughter plants need to be opened, you should think again. I’ve been around horses for years and am a proud horse owner, and I couldn’t be more against it. I agree completely that the rate of abuse, population and mistreatment in equines is far too high and that the equine economy is not doing well, but how will this truly fix it? Horse slaughter plants wouldn’t be capable of opening enough jobs to make a large difference to America and the jobs would be minimum wage at best. And how could this honestly change how horses are being mistreated NOW? You can take as many skinny horses, unwanted horses, auction horses and OTTB’s to those plants as you want, but they cannot be cleared for human consumption. Horse owners, ever read the label on your vaccines, wormers, ointments and medications saying they can’t be used on an animal intended for consumption? Many of these medications have no withdrawal rate from the animal’s body. If a horse isn’t raised to be eaten, according to the FDA, it cannot be safely consumed by humans. So are we going to kill all the horses between the ages of two and thirty and just let them rot? Is that the solution? Slaughter plants will do nothing but suck money out of the economy due to the high price of ensuring a humane and painless death for the animals, and I hope nobody is under the illusion that every plant will be safe and follow guidelines. Yes, many horses today are suffering, but in the long run, these plants will not do to make them suffer less.

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